2005 Ford Mustang Saleen 351

The major performance differences between the two are demonstrated most significantly at higher speed. The time the supercharged S281 took to reach 100 mph was 2.4 seconds quicker than our last Mustang GT [“21st-Century Muscle Cars,” C/D, January 2005]. By 130 mph, the difference was 7.1 seconds and growing. That’s called driving away. 

But the differences are less profound in the quarter-mile sprint, where the Saleen reaches the lights just 0.6 second ahead of the GT (although it’s already traveling 7 mph faster). A lot counts on getting a decent launch at the drag strip, and we’ll admit our testing facilities have been badly ravaged by winter storms, making grip hard to come by.