The boss is back

If you are old enough to remember the original Mustang Boss 302, you’ll remember its wild paint jobs, unique graphics and amazing track performance. So good, in fact, that Parnelli Jones won the 1970 Trans-Am Championship in one.

However, if you’re not old enough to remember the original, never fear––the Mustang Boss 302 is returning as a 2012 model and is better than ever.

The Boss 302 is returning in two distinct sub-models. The regular Boss 302 and a hardcore, track-oriented Boss 302 Laguna Seca, named after the famed race track in California where Parnelli Jones won in the original Boss 302.

The regular Boss 302 is by no means “regular.” Ford made sure that the Boss 302 package would be by no means just an appearance package. In order to accomplish this, Ford improved many of the GT’s characteristics, concentrating especially on the engine and suspension.

The Boss 302’s 5.0L engine has been thoroughly revised to inch as much horse power as possible, and it achieves 440 hp, up from the GT’s already impressive 412. It does this through more performance-oriented engine controls, a more aggressive camshaft and forged pistons, to name a few.

All that new found power is pretty much useless unless you have an upgraded drive train to go with it. So Ford is using a short throw six speed manual transmission with a new clutch to harness the extra power.

The rear end gets a 3.73:1 axle ratio and a limited slip differential, and a Torsen unit is available as an option.

One of the coolest things about the new Boss 302 is its new quad exhaust system. This system has the basic two pipes that exit the rear through a muffler, but it also has two extra pipes that exit at the side of the car just ahead of the rear wheels. This provides the Boss with a very unique sounding exhaust, but if you ask me, I believe this is just a way for ford to get away with noise regulations while leaving owners an easy option to just take off the two pipes in the rear for a true race sounding exhaust.

Ford has also made sure to make the Boss 302 very distinct from the outside with paint colors as wild as the original’s and a c-stripe graphic on the car with the iconic “Boss 302” on the side. Other distinguishable features of the Boss include blocked up holes where the fog lights on a Mustang usually reside and a new spoiler on the trunk lid.

As great as these upgrades are, it’s what you don’t see that makes the biggest difference in the interior--and the fact that Ford shaved off ten pounds of sound deadening material to let you hear all of the wonderful sounds from the American muscle sitting in front of you.

The Laguna Seca model is truly a street legal racing machine, think Dodge Viper ACR. It has features on it that come directly from the race version of the Boss 302, the 302r. Although the engine remains the same, the rest of the Laguna Seca is a brand new.

The body kit on the Laguna Seca model looks as if came from the 302r with little changes. The front diffuser is so low that it wouldn’t last ten minutes on public roads. It also gets a higher spoiler that is track oriented, contrasting colors for the vinyl and even the wheels are different. Needless to say, it definitely looks the part of a track beast.

Another innovation on the Laguna Seca is the lack of back seats which creates a neat looking X brace for more stability. The seats are Recaro racing seats that are just begging for a 4-point restraint system. The Interior also gets a nice three gauge pack on the dash which displays things like oil pressure and engine temperatures.

Ford calls the new Boss 302 the “quickest, best handling, straight-production Mustang ever offered by Ford.” I don’t doubt their predictions, and I personally cannot wait to get my hands on one to test that statement out.