FFR Type 65 Coupe Performance

People find it hard to believe the actual performance numbers that we produce every day (verified on a calibrated Vericom VC2000 accelerometer).  The real world performance of our cars boils down to some very simple facts. A rigid chassis, low vehicle weight, good balance, and modest horsepower all combine to deliver world class speed and handling that equals or exceeds the world’s finest Supercars.

The FFR cars listed in the chart below are as follows. Car #1 is our factory street demo roadster. It was made with all stock running gear from a 1989 Mustang 5.0 donor. The street car was originally built for $14,240. Car #2 is our factory competition car. It was built with many more performance parts and features an independent rear suspension, a lightweight body, a 500 hp 302 motor, full competition brakes, and racing tires. The cost to build this race car was around $26,000. Car #3 is the FFR Challenge Series "Spec Racer". It (like the street car) was built from our kit and a Mustang donor car. The Spec racer was put together for about $16,000 and was tested in absolute stock form by Car and Driver Magazine at the Chrysler proving grounds in July 2000. Car #4 is the FFR Coupe. The Coupe cost just over $30,000 to assemble. It is powered by a 430 hp 351 Windsor motor and features numerous aftermarket performance options.

1. Factory Five  Roadster, Demo street car. Vehicle using B.F. Goodrich radial T/A tires, 235/60R-15’s front and 275/50R15’s rear. Engine is standard 5.0 liter Mustang w/stock transmission and 3.55 ratio rear-end gears. Horsepower estimated at 240 bhp.

2. Factory Five  Roadster, Comp car. Vehicle using Goodyear race slicks. 275/40R-18’s front and 275/40R17’s rear. Engine is special FFR prepped twin turbocharged 302 w/FFR IRS, TremecÔ TKO transmission and 3.55 rear gear set. Horsepower measured on rear wheel dynomometer 05/99.

3. Factory Five Racing  roadster, Spec Racer. Vehicle using Hoosier R3S03 tires, 275/40R17’s front, 275/40R17’s rear. Engine is stock 1991 Ford Mustang 5.0 liter with stock transmission and stock 2.73 rear gear set. Horsepower is 225 bhp.

4. Factory Five Racing Coupe. Vehicle using Goodyear race slicks. 10" x 26" 15’s. Engine is 351 Windsor built by Jasper Performance, w/FFR IRS and Tremec TKO transmission and 3.27 rear gear set. Horsepower measured at 430 bhp.

Just for fun, let’s look at the numbers for some of the world’s fastest cars (the last three cars are GT1 class race cars).

Vehicle 0-60 mph ¼ mile Source or tested by/date

0-60 mph
Zero to sixty mph is a contest of rear traction and horsepower to weight ratio. The Mustang 5.0 rear end is a traction lock rear end that outperforms a lot of higher end equipment. We’ve done several things to make our cars the all-time fastest 0-60 mph machines. The combination of an extremely rigid chassis, a rearward positioned engine, and the utilization of the tough Traction LOKÔ Ford 8.8" rear end with anti-squat is unbeatable. We feel 0-60 mph is one of the most important real world tests of a car’s performance. The bottom line is that for many of us, driving a car like this means that no matter what lines up next to you, you’re faster.

¼ Mile
The quarter mile performances are quite predictable given the horsepower to weight ratios of the given vehicles. In summary, the Factory Five Racing roadsters run as fast as the fastest cars on the planet. The competition car rips through the ¼ mile quicker than almost any other production sports car! With a power to weight ratio that can be as low as 3.5 lbs. per horsepower, the FFR car is capable of sub ten second ¼ mile passes.

Fastest FFR ET’s to date have included Greg Lapoint’s, 10.380 sec at the 1998 Run and Gun Replica Nationals held at Gateway Race Park near St. Louis, Missouri. All time champion so far has been Don Gibson who put his FFR roadster through the traps at an amazing 9.96 seconds!

60-0 mph Braking
Braking is also quite impressive. We measured 60-0 foot distances of 121 feet to haul the street car to a stop. That’s impressive given that it is running stock Mustang 5.0 drum brakes in back! We found that for 99% of all street driving, the stock 5.0 brakes work great. An impressive drop is seen when the disc brakes are used all around. We recorded a 112 foot distance when the stock car was upgraded to the Motorsports rear disc brake conversion set (approximately $600).

Handling/Ride Quality
The most common misconception about our car is that, being a race car, the ride is too harsh. We use the stock quad-shock suspension from the Mustang but remove one coil from the variable rate coil spring in the rear to result in a surprisingly comfortable ride. Performance modifications are not really required to deliver race track ready handling, since the weight advantage is so significant.

For the guy who wants to be as fast as possible, normal improvements include everything from simply upgrading the factory control arms to FFR tubular units (only $200), to our fully independent rear suspension upgrade package. Call one of our engineers and ask about the actual differences in each set-up. Keep in mind, our guys drive and race FFR cars. Their advice is based on actual experience, not a sales pitch.

Reliability and Maintenance
For those using stock Mustang running gear, the maintenance intervals for the car are similar to the Mustang 5.0. The reliability of the running gear just happens to be a bit better, owing to the lighter weight and increased rigidity of the overall chassis. A big advantage of using drivetrain parts from one car is reliability. The Mustang parts were specifically engineered to work together and when you remove 1200 lbs. from the vehicle the duty cycle increases exponentially.

The running gear is bulletproof and all that you really need to keep an eye on is the British trim items. These vintage parts can come loose every 2,000 miles or so. You’ll learn to travel with a small tool kit for things like the door latch cover, tail-light lenses and windwings. For those using stock Mustang running gear, the maintenance intervals for the car are similar to the Mustang 5.0.