Spy Photos: 2011 Mustang GT Test Mule at Spring Mountain

Last week sub5zero.com was invited to Spring Mountain Motor Sports Ranch for a track day. When we arrived, the parking lot was filled with an amazing plethora of exotics, many of them with extensive modifications. The incredible collection of metal that had come to drive the road course had me grinning like the Cheshire Cat, and did more to wake me up than the 3 cups of McDonald's coffee I had drank earlier. But when I saw this Mustang at the end of the row, I knew something was up. No way someone brought regular Mustang GT out here.

It seemed a bit out of place at a private racing club, especially with it's rattle-can paint job and yellow mirrors. After investigating, I found out it wasn't just a 2010 GT with a $5 paint-job. Not even close. This is a 2011 Ford Mustang GT test mule. The drivers were Ford engineers, who had been given the horrifying task of putting over 100,000 track miles on the new 412hp,  5.0 Liter V-8. 

The interior may have been missing a speaker, but who listens to music on a racetrack when you have a 5.0 liter soundtrack to enjoy? Inside I found datalogging computers and more wires than the A/V Club could ever want. All day long the car was taken out on the track and thoroughly flogged, roaring around corners and thundering down the straightaway. The sound from the new engine is penomenol, and with so many track miles, it's clear Ford's working hard to give its customers what they want. Theyre not done tuning though.

Look closely at the back of the car, and you can see the shine from the oil coming out of the exhaust. Oil or not, with horsepower close to that from the Camaro SS and Challenger SRT8, this Mustang is a true performance car. The crew of TheSmokingTire were lucky enough to catch the Mustang on video, which you can watch here. I wish my guidance counselor had told me not all engineers are chained to a desk with a calculator glued to their hand.