2010 Ford Mustang receives Track Pack and FR3 Handling Pack

The 2010 Ford Mustang, already in dealer lots, builds on a proud, unbroken 45-year heritage of fast, fun and affordable with an all-new exterior design, available cutting-edge technology and performance enhancements pioneered on Ford’s extensive racing and special programs.

Started from this summer, fans can get new optional package upgrades for 2010 Mustang GT. Ford will be offering the car with optional Track Pack and Ford Racing developed FR3 Handling Package. Track Pack upgrade from the factory promises to boost grip, while those that have already ordered or bought their Mustangs can have an even hotter FR3 Handling Pack from Ford Racing fitted.

The dealership will handle installation of the FR3 Handling Pack, which includes a new set of springs with 75lb heavier rates, stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars, a strut tower brace, retuned dampers to match the new springs and ride height lowered by more than an inch.

There is a hard core FR3 Handling Pack from Ford Racing that uses a lot of the components from the KONI Challenge car. "The FR3 Handling Pack is derived from our extensive experience with the Ford Mustang FR500C competing in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge and FIA GT4," said Andy Slankard, Engineering Supervisor, Ford Racing.

Thankfully, unlike most aftermarket parts, the official stuff from Ford Racing comes with a full warranty, and upgrades are also available for both V6 and GT models. The FR3 pack costs $1,335 and can be ordered on your own or through a dealer.

The Track Pack, which can be ordered straight from the factory, offers a slightly less aggressive improvement in grip, while also boosting the 'bling' with 19in wheels. Also included in the package are stiffer dampers plus stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars designed with influence from the Shelby GT500 program.

"By reducing the roll gradient, the car stays flatter in turns," said Tom Barnes, Vehicle Engineering Manager, 2010 Mustang. "And when the car is flatter, the driver is more in command and more confident in what the car's doing.

"Great handling comes from great control. A driver's control of the vehicle is facilitated by information. This Track Pack communicates to the driver through the tires and suspension so well that is it easy to drive very quickly. It rewards smooth driving, while offering great capacity to cover driver error."

Those 19s are shod in Pirelli summer tires, however, so while the Track Pack will only cost you $1,495, expect to pay that much every time you need new tires as well.

On the other hand, the 3.73 axle and carbon-fiber-plate limited-slip differential that's also included as part of the Track Pack could well make up for the costly tires. Performance Friction brake pads, retuned traction control and ABS plus the standard 2010 GT three-mode switch for the AdvanceTrac control (on, off or sport) all combine to make the Track Pack a significant upgrade over the base GT.

Win a Custom 2010 Ford Mustang GT from Chip Foose

It’s not exaggerated to say that Chip Foose's gets in the realm of car design and custom hot rods, each of the vehicles he builds ends up being a work of art. Now Chip Foose builds a Custom 2010 Ford Mustang GT to the winner of a free contest.

The car's build sheet reads like a sponsor dream list, with Magnaflow exhaust, Edelbrock supercharger, Foose wheels, Pirelli tires, Baer brakes, Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, Royal Purple lubricants and Roush body work. It was actually built by Foost as part of Spike TV's MuscleCar series.

The contest is being run through Spike's PowerblockTV site. Those who wish to be part of the contest can register for free at the site. The contest will run until October 12 this year. So get going!

2010 Ford Mustang GT Road Test

A Mustang with a Track pack?

Corvettes and Vipers grab the glory for Old Glory at temples of speed such as Le Mans. The lumbering, log-axle Mustang is just a quarter-miler for the tattoo-and-tobacco crowd, right?

Actually, mes amis, the Mustang is America’s other road-racing workhorse. It has its own pro series, the eight-race Mustang Challenge. And there were more than a dozen Mustangs on the grid at Daytona this past January when a Roush-prepared Mustang finished second in the three-hour Koni Challenge race. It made all its rights and lefts better than Porsche 911s and BMW M3s.

No, we wouldn’t expect that hierarchy to hold on the street, even if the 2010 Track-pack Mustang GT is billed as the hairpin-and-carousel king of the newly reskinned Mustang lineup. Still, Ford’s old pony has a long history of making incremental improvements as it ages, and the Track package shows that the late-night lights still burn in some windows at Ford.

Building a Track-pack Mustang on the order form starts with a GT Premium and its 315-hp, 4.6-liter V-8 and five-speed manual, for $31,845. The $1495 Track package swaps out the 3.31 or 3.55 axle for a 3.73 limited-slip rear end with carbon friction plates. The shocks are less forgiving in both compression and rebound, the anti-roll bars are thicker, and dual-piston front brake calipers with performance pads from the 2009 Bullitt model do the stopping. Also, the stability-control system is retuned to tolerate more sideways play.

Finally, some very expensive Pirelli P Zero summer tires are fitted with white gloves. The size is 255/40ZR-19. The replacement price at Tire Rack: $398. Each. Avoid parking in dark alleys.
Off to the track we marched, taking along a standard Mustang GT rolling on its Pirelli P Zero Nero all-season tires for comparison. The results were illuminating.

Besides new sheetmetal, all 2010 Mustangs are recalibrated for less squish, less wiggle, less pogo, and less teeter-totter in the turns. Lay on the Track-pack version, and the strings are pulled even tauter.

The body isn’t allowed to slump to the outside as much. Helm response quickens, and corner placement gets finer. The sticky Pirellis earn their tariff, maintaining a gummy, squeal-free grip that keeps the front end carving smooth arcs.











Mustang steering has always been numb, and the Track pack doesn’t force any more circulation into it. Don’t bring along a Miata, as we did, or you’ll just get depressed. The Mustang’s flat seats allow you to flop around—we had knee bruises at day’s end—and the brake pedal started melting after a few laps, requiring frequent cool-downs.

At $33,340 before discounts, a Mustang GT with the Track package stampedes into territory prowled by the Nissan 370Z, among others. Some would say, “So what?” More is at issue than test numbers cavorting on paper. The Mustang is America, Manifest Destiny rolling on radials. Lining it up next to a Z—we did it once, back in 2002—is like serving sashimi with succotash.

And the Mustang is as fun as firecrackers on the Fourth. Everything is oversized and executed at volume 11, from the broad sweep of the double-hump dash to the big-grab shifter to the Yankee roar of the V-8 getting to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds.

It’s easy to be fast and pitch it sideways in a drift. And a sport mode in the new-for-2010 stability control allows a little more hooliganism within the safety net.

The quality is better for 2010, especially inside, where stitched panels on the doors and tighter-fitting, squishable plastics have relieved the gloom of cheapness in the previous model. But curses were muttered when the jagged splinter of an indifferently applied spot weld in the trunk tore an expensive down comforter. A Friday build, perhaps?

Though freeway ride suffers some with the Track package, Mustang fans who prefer candy-cane curbs to Christmas trees get a lot more control of their fillies. And for not much extra cabbage.

2010 Ford Mustang GT Road Test

A Mustang with a Track pack?

Corvettes and Vipers grab the glory for Old Glory at temples of speed such as Le Mans. The lumbering, log-axle Mustang is just a quarter-miler for the tattoo-and-tobacco crowd, right?

Actually, mes amis, the Mustang is America’s other road-racing workhorse. It has its own pro series, the eight-race Mustang Challenge. And there were more than a dozen Mustangs on the grid at Daytona this past January when a Roush-prepared Mustang finished second in the three-hour Koni Challenge race. It made all its rights and lefts better than Porsche 911s and BMW M3s.

No, we wouldn’t expect that hierarchy to hold on the street, even if the 2010 Track-pack Mustang GT is billed as the hairpin-and-carousel king of the newly reskinned Mustang lineup. Still, Ford’s old pony has a long history of making incremental improvements as it ages, and the Track package shows that the late-night lights still burn in some windows at Ford.

Building a Track-pack Mustang on the order form starts with a GT Premium and its 315-hp, 4.6-liter V-8 and five-speed manual, for $31,845. The $1495 Track package swaps out the 3.31 or 3.55 axle for a 3.73 limited-slip rear end with carbon friction plates. The shocks are less forgiving in both compression and rebound, the anti-roll bars are thicker, and dual-piston front brake calipers with performance pads from the 2009 Bullitt model do the stopping. Also, the stability-control system is retuned to tolerate more sideways play.

Finally, some very expensive Pirelli P Zero summer tires are fitted with white gloves. The size is 255/40ZR-19. The replacement price at Tire Rack: $398. Each. Avoid parking in dark alleys.
Off to the track we marched, taking along a standard Mustang GT rolling on its Pirelli P Zero Nero all-season tires for comparison. The results were illuminating.

Besides new sheetmetal, all 2010 Mustangs are recalibrated for less squish, less wiggle, less pogo, and less teeter-totter in the turns. Lay on the Track-pack version, and the strings are pulled even tauter.

The body isn’t allowed to slump to the outside as much. Helm response quickens, and corner placement gets finer. The sticky Pirellis earn their tariff, maintaining a gummy, squeal-free grip that keeps the front end carving smooth arcs.











Mustang steering has always been numb, and the Track pack doesn’t force any more circulation into it. Don’t bring along a Miata, as we did, or you’ll just get depressed. The Mustang’s flat seats allow you to flop around—we had knee bruises at day’s end—and the brake pedal started melting after a few laps, requiring frequent cool-downs.

At $33,340 before discounts, a Mustang GT with the Track package stampedes into territory prowled by the Nissan 370Z, among others. Some would say, “So what?” More is at issue than test numbers cavorting on paper. The Mustang is America, Manifest Destiny rolling on radials. Lining it up next to a Z—we did it once, back in 2002—is like serving sashimi with succotash.

And the Mustang is as fun as firecrackers on the Fourth. Everything is oversized and executed at volume 11, from the broad sweep of the double-hump dash to the big-grab shifter to the Yankee roar of the V-8 getting to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds.

It’s easy to be fast and pitch it sideways in a drift. And a sport mode in the new-for-2010 stability control allows a little more hooliganism within the safety net.

The quality is better for 2010, especially inside, where stitched panels on the doors and tighter-fitting, squishable plastics have relieved the gloom of cheapness in the previous model. But curses were muttered when the jagged splinter of an indifferently applied spot weld in the trunk tore an expensive down comforter. A Friday build, perhaps?

Though freeway ride suffers some with the Track package, Mustang fans who prefer candy-cane curbs to Christmas trees get a lot more control of their fillies. And for not much extra cabbage.