Art Gallery
||
Carroll Shelby ||
Chili Recipes ||
Club History ||
Cobra Showcase ||
Drag Racing ||
Magazine ||
Photo Archive
Video Channel
||
Links
||
HOME
2012 Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca
LAGUNA SECA PACKAGE TAKES NEW 2012 FORD
MUSTANG BOSS 302
TO TRACK-READY CONDITION
Laguna Seca package pares the race-inspired 2012
Mustang Boss 302 down to its essential elements, with aggressive
suspension, chassis and aerodynamic tuning creating a ready-for-racing
Boss
Ford Mustang team members developed the package to provide weekend racers
with a factory track car that could be driven to the course, take the win,
then driven back home again
R-compound tires, rear seat-delete, aggressive front splitter for track
use, and rear spoiler and rear cross-car bracing shave seconds off track
times and boost lateral acceleration to 1.03 g
MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 13, 2010 – How do you amp up a performance car
package as complete as the new 2012 Mustang Boss 302 – already a
street-legal race car in its own right? Pull out everything that doesn’t
make it go faster and add in more of what does. The result is the
limited-production Laguna Seca package – the ultimate 2012 Boss, named to
commemorate the first-place Boss 302 finish at the 1970 Trans-Am series
opener.
“The Laguna Seca package puts a race-ready version of the new Mustang Boss
302 directly into enthusiasts’ hands,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of
The Americas. “Laguna Seca isn’t intended for Boss buyers who simply want
an exhilarating daily driver. Think of it like a factory-built race car,
which we hope avid racers and track-day fans are going to love.”
Boss Laguna Seca builds on the bumper-to-bumper improvements found on the
standard Boss while further stiffening the chassis and installing an
aerodynamics package carried over almost in its entirety from the Ford
Racing Boss 302R.
“Drivers who know how to get the most from a tuned race car on a closed
course are going to be amazed by what the Laguna Seca is capable of,” said
Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development. “The
balance, agility and tuning of each vehicle system places the driver at
the center of the machine, completely connected to everything the car is
doing.”
Chassis enhancements
Laguna Seca cars are powered by the same smooth, high-winding 440-hp
5.0-liter V8 as the standard Boss, since the engine was already tuned
specifically for road racing. Instead, engineers turned their attention
toward delivering power to the ground most efficiently, and getting the
car around a track in the quickest possible time.
“When we built the Boss, we had to step back and ask ourselves ‘How do we
improve on this?’” said David Pericak, Ford Mustang chief engineer. “That
car is so strong we realized the Laguna Seca package was going to have to
be just a fraction of a step back from the Ford Racing 302R to top it. So
we went back and threw daily-driver practicality out the window, cut some
things we couldn’t cut on the volume model, like the back seat, and built
it the way we would set up a production Boss for pure competition.”
Laguna Seca cars eliminate the rear seats, instead adding a cross-car
X-brace that couples the structure between the rear wheels. The brace
offers chassis stiffness improvements of as much as 10 percent and allows
the suspension tuning – precisely calibrated by Mustang team members – to
better do its job.
Standard Recaro front seats were designed by Ford SVT in cooperation with
Recaro for high performance Mustang models, and are shared between the
Boss and GT500. An Alcantara-covered race steering wheel provides a solid
grip for hard cornering.
Engine power routes through a six-speed close-ratio manual gearbox to a
standard 3.73-ratio Torsen limited-slip differential, helping the revised
rear suspension deliver maximum torque and traction under the punishing
conditions encountered on the track.
Higher spring rates and a larger rear stabilizer bar – all upgraded over
Boss specifications – help generate unrelenting grip. And drivers can dial
in exactly the level of shock stiffness a particular track requires using
the four standard, independently adjustable dampers with Laguna Seca-specific
valving.
The final touch for a proper race car was to add the proper wheels and
tires: Laguna Seca models use lightweight 19-inch alloy racing wheels in
staggered widths: 9 inches in front, 10 inches in the rear. R-compound
ultra-high-performance tires, 255/40ZR-19 in the front, 285/35ZR-19 in the
rear, maintain contact with the pavement – a job that ended up being
trickier than expected.
“The R-compound tires on the Laguna Seca are so sticky we had to really
work on the rear suspension tuning to make sure drivers can get the most
out of them,” explains Pericak. “The rear stabilizer bar is the largest
we’ve ever installed on a production Mustang – including any SVT product.
The rear spring rate was also maximized to work with the massive rear
tires and balance the car for minimal lap times.”
While standard Boss 302 cars get vented brake dust shields to help cool
the rotors, Laguna Seca models receive Ford Racing front brake ducts that
force outside air directly onto the 14-inch vented front rotors, helping
to eliminate brake fade and ensure hard, repeatable late braking on the
track. Combined, the braking changes help refine the sense for drivers of
being directly connected to the pads – an essential edge during car-to-car
combat on a road course.
Added up, the further improvements to Boss Laguna Seca result in the
best-handling Mustang ever, with more than 1.03 g of lateral acceleration,
stopping distances shortened by three feet from 60 mph over Boss, 0-60
acceleration improvements of one tenth of a second, and an overall
expected lap time improvement of one to two seconds over the standard Boss
on a typical road course.
Styling evokes racing, improves aerodynamics
As a race car should, Boss 302 models with the Laguna Seca package look
like nothing else on the road. A bright red C-stripe offsets either Black
or Ingot Silver paint, and is complemented by a red roof panel. Red also
sets off the front grille, mirror caps and rear pedestal spoiler, while
Laguna Seca rear badging and unique two-tone red and silver wheels
complete the transformation.
Adding both to appearance and aerodynamics, an aggressive front splitter
for track use adds downforce at the front of the car, while helping
channel air under and around the car. At the same time, air impacting the
front end is funneled into the radiator and brake ducts, supporting
cooling even under grueling race conditions.
“The Laguna Seca front splitter is really a Ford Racing piece we’ve
lightly adapted for our purposes,” explains Pericak. “It’s been tested and
refined for the last six months on the Boss 302R to perform exactly as
required on the track; we just made a few changes so it could be adapted
to the production Boss – though owners will still want to avoid speed
bumps and parking blocks.”
At the back, a large rear spoiler is sized to exactly complement the
effect provided by the front splitter and underbody aero treatments, with
the combination adding as much as 90 pounds of downforce at 140 mph.
“Balance is the key on Boss, and even more so on Laguna Seca,” said
Pericak. “A winning race car has to do everything well, and we’ve had the
ability to test all the engineering that went into Boss Laguna Seca on the
Ford Racing 302R. It’s not for everyone: It’s stiffer, there’s no back
seat, and the aero package is designed for downforce, not speed bumps in
the mall parking lot. But for hard-core Mustang racers who want something
they can occasionally drive on the street, to shows or whatever, Laguna
Seca is the car they’ve been waiting for, and they’re not going to be
disappointed.”
|