Fall Auto Rally 2001
held at the Volo Auto Museum -- Volo, Illinois
by Rick Smith
The Roush Mustang is a race car that can be driven on the street. Unfortunately, it can't handle wet roads or potholes very well. After tapping the accelerator hard, I backed off immediately, because any more power would have caused the Mustang to "fishtail" into the ditch. This was the same road I had traveled only a few minutes before with the Subaru WRX, with impressive results, so I was disappointed. The difference was overwhelming. I was told to watch pavement dips and potholes, because the front spoiler has only a 3 inch ground clearance (and these ground effects aren't made of flexible rubber). These two restrictions took much of the fun out of driving this car, so I feel that the Roush Mustang must be driven on high quality DRY roads (can you say racetrack?) and only then will its true performance potential be reached.
Roush Mustang
Certainly a change in look, since the first Mustang rolled of the assembly line back in 1964 -- but it still retains the "pony" and its surrounding "corral".
Engine compartment detail
This 4.6 litter V8 develops 360 horsepower at 5250 RPM and 375 foot-pounds of torque. This translates to a 0-60 speed of 4.3 seconds (manual transmission) and a quarter mile time of 12.3 seconds @ 111 MPH. (Of course it runs on premium fuel -- 91 octane minimum.)
Instrument cluster detail 
Radio console detail
Center Console
Roush nameplate
This really cool nameplate made for each car will DEFINITELY impress your friends when you take them for a drive in this car.
Skirts and spoilers create the impressive look of the Roush Mustang. But I wouldn't trust this car on the streets of Chicago that are filled with potholes -- those type of roads would wreck this awesome vehicle in only minutes.
With its impressive performance specs, this is the view that most other drivers will be seeing.
Trunk lid features built-in toolkit An excellent feature -- BMW, Rolls Royce and the DeTomaso Pantera have included trunk toolkits -- I feel that all sports/specialty cars should include them.
Dated: February 3, 2002 (updated September 2002)
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