Superheroes conceal their life-saving activities with help from masks to protect the loved ones around them and blend in with the rest of the people as regular civilians. You could say that some automobile owners do the same thing, leaving their cars pretty much stock on the surface, only to be able to surprise their rivals with the power hidden underneath.
Of course, with the motor tucked neatly beneath the hood, it’s not that hard to hide a secret in the automotive world. After all, one can always take a naturally aspirated engine of the V8 variety and make it a forced induction wonder without anyone suspecting anything about it. At least initially.
And that setup usually works wonders with Ford’s S550 Mustang, the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 from the GT variant, and the quarter-mile drag strip showdowns. The “Drag Racing and Car Stuff” YouTube channel has brought a lot of evidence to support the theory lately, thanks in part to the abundance of Mustang battles that took place earlier this month at the Street Car Takeover events (Atlanta and Bristol Dragways).
The catch is that Mustang owners can go down either the turbo (and twin-turbo) route or pack a traditional supercharger setup. The Whipple series is always one of the prime suspects for the latter, and this silver Mustang GT with a very unassuming stance goes a long way to show why these kits are so wildly popular among racers.
According to the description provided by the D.R.A.C.S. channel, we’re dealing with a 2018 example featuring a Gen 5 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger. It seems this was the very first time its owner lined up the new setup at the strip, and it was clearly in the face of mighty competition.
That’s because in the left lane sat a Jeep TrackhawkSUV, one that also underwent some interventions of its own, adding an aftermarket intake, exhaust, and headers to go along with the E85 fuel blend. Was it enough?
Well, at first, it really was, since the Trackhawk is well known for its great starts off the mark. Afterward, the Whipple setup really woke that Mustang up, and the result speaks for itself, as the GT took the victory with a cool ET of 9.63 seconds versus the Jeep’s 10.48s.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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