New Saleen to be unveiled this Wednesday in Anahein Ca.
Greetings everyone,
I’ve pretty much spent the last few months quietly perusing this site trying to get a better idea of what might be coming up with the new generation Cobra, but I just got home after getting a sneak peek at the new Saleen that they plan to unveil at the Anaheim, CA. auto show this coming Wednesday (will be at the L.A. show following that) and I thought some of you might be interesed in a taste of what they will be showing.
First off, I want to say that I’m a fan of Saleen’s styling and have always liked what they do with their cars as oposed to what I’ve seen from some of the other manufacturers. I’ve not always been overly impressed with what's under the hood or on the chasis, but the clean lines of their cars do get my attention.
Also, as much as this is going to kill some of you, I don’t have any pics to offer because I thought it rather rude to whip out my camera when I was their guest observing the photo/video shoot for the footage they will be using at upcoming events.
However, I thought I’d offer up what I saw, was told and overheard, and let others post some pics in a couple days after the show opens.
And lastly, I’m not entirely familar with all the details of the ’05 mustangs since, up to this point, I hadn’t seen one in person, so if I’m not 100% accurate with some of my comparisons my apologies to all.
So, with that being said....
First off, the car that I saw (metallic silver/gray paint scheme) is, in my opinion, one of their best works to date. It appears to flow wonderfully, but really doesn’t have overly aggressive lines, so those of you who are leaning towards the beefy bad-boy street brawler look may not like what they have done. When I got the chance to talk to Steve he explained that he could have gotten more agressive with the styling but he wanted a bit more style and refinement out of the new model. Which I think is a pretty accurate description.
Ok, starting at the front end... the car carries an entirely new front fascia with a small lower air dam that has the two inlet openings on each side with massaged outside curves that remind me of the S7, There is a large opening in the lower center a-la S281. The grille has all been redone and gone are the second set of driving lights that were previously inset, replaced by a single black piece that looks clean and appropiate. The headlights have also been reworked and the car is now sporting a pair of HID’s as it’s main source of illumination. The small body area between the lights and the grille now contain a set of smaller running lights that have been massaged in the body and look, for the most part, unobtrusively ok.
The hood carries a very mild cowl - if you can call it that - it's about equal to what you’d find on the 1999-2004’s (about 1” or so) with a set of rectangular vents on each side about 3/4’s of the way to the windshield. The vents are different than I’ve yet to see on a car, black, approx 4” x 14” with 3 or 4 vanes running front to back with the car.
The rear end actually looks pretty sweet as they have completely blacked out the center area between the taillights, There is a custom rear fascia that is probably what I’d call the most agressive piece on the car, complete with small recesses on the underside to tuck up the dual center mounted pipes.
The car carries a rear wing, but for the life of me I couldn’t stop thinking S351 everytime I looked at it. But, it does sit very close to the decklid and extends only a very small amount off the rear of the car so it’s got a definite hunkered down appearance to it.
The car was wearing traditional Saleen decaling and badging.... sorry, no racing stripes and, according to Steve, no plans to do any in the future. It did have the usual windshield decal, double slash fade-out stripes on the doors/front 1/4 panel, Saleen side emblems as well as is a custom 281 badge on the left rear of the trunk.
The car was rolling on 20” color matched rims that, although seemed to look ok on the car, failed to excite me in even the smallest amount.
14" front rotors (don't think they were drilled) and black calipers carrying the Saleen name in yellow on the front with what looked to be stock rotors on the rear. Can't remember if there as a matching black caliper back there or if it was stock.
The interior was dark gray leather and had very few alterations besides a new set of custom Saleen seats with some rather unique stitching down the center of the backrests. There appears to be an adjustable headrest that is relatively square and containes a large screen or net type of insert in the center. The seats also appeared to have a decent side bolster. My first reaction to the seats made me think older Fox body Saleen with cool looking new-age upholstery.
There is a new dual tear-drop shaped gauge pod that sits top center on the dash and pretty much resembles a pair of bullet turn signals sitting side by side. Gauges matched the others in the dash in both face designs and trim rings.
Under the hood.... this was a tough one as it was near completley dark by the time Steve popped the bonnet and let me take a look. But, I’d have to be blind and covered in a pillow case to have missed the blower that was sitting on the top of the engine. Unfortunately, the unit had a large flat black covering similar to Ferrari's and such so getting a good look at the blower casing was pretty difficult. But regardless, it looked big, and seemed to ride relatively low. Steve confirmed that it will fit under a stock hood. When I asked if they outsourced the SC he said it was all in-house, required a large amount of R&D and was pretty similar to the one that is being used on the GT40. Steve did refer to it as a “Big” twin screw so I’ll have to take his word on that one. All things considered, I actually like the way it is partially hidden under that black top plate because it looks rather descrete and has a very OEM looking appearance. I kept looking for a water reservoir but being my first look under the hood I wasn’t sure where everthing was suppossed to be - however, I did see a somewhat familar looking black plastic tank very similar to the SC 281’s sitting right next to the radiator.
When I asked about HP numbers I was told it’s making 400 - which I assume is bhp not rwhp.
FWIW, I was told this car carries something like 10 times the amount of Saleen goodies as opposed to their previous cars. Also, a limited slip will also be made available as an option.
One seemingly cool feature that was explained to me was that the car uses dual on demand exhaust pipes... meaning, for day to day driving the engine flows thru the two main pipes in the rear center, but when you jump on it a valve opens allowing the exhaust to exit thru two additional pipes that are tucked up and under a little farther out from the center pipes.
The exhaust note was an extremely mild deep-toned rumble, but in it's defense the car was moving a mere 10 mph as they made passes for the camera. When I asked what it sounded like at speed they descrbed it as "not too bad". (Whatever that means) They then added, it was relatively loud, but due to D.O.T. “pass by” testing requirements they had to turn the secondary pipes downward at the tips so the sound was bounced off the pavement rather than flowing straight out the rear. I took that to mean it could have been louder but due to DOT’s sound requirements they had to make some allowances. But that was ok with me, I kinda like that.... not so much for how quiet the pipes were, but the stealth feature of them being hidden up under the rear end.
When I asked about paint I was told that there is some “stuff” in the works. From the tone it sounded more like they were still working out final colors rather than keeping some big secret. I imgaine given their past history they will be going with relatively standard colors with the usual upgrades avalable at request.
I was told production will be split somewhere between CA and Detroit with both plants filling orders for their respective geographic zones. Also, Saleen is in the process of upgrading their factory out here which they say will greatly improve their paint operations division.
Sometime in the spring there is an “E” version scheduled for release and is suppossed to remain in line with their current pricing. I asked about any secrets for that and was told probably the usual stuff such as limited slip being standard, suspension upgrades and some additional interior stuff. Oh, and the ponies are supposed to jump to 500hp. A convertible release is planned but totally dependent on Ford’s time tables.
Guess that’s about all. Wish I could offer up some pics, but like I said, kinda difficult to pull that one off when they tell you that the Ford exces haven’t even seen the car yet. Oh well, no doubt they’ll be up in a couple days just as soon as someone gets home form the show.
Regards,
B
Greetings everyone,
I’ve pretty much spent the last few months quietly perusing this site trying to get a better idea of what might be coming up with the new generation Cobra, but I just got home after getting a sneak peek at the new Saleen that they plan to unveil at the Anaheim, CA. auto show this coming Wednesday (will be at the L.A. show following that) and I thought some of you might be interesed in a taste of what they will be showing.
First off, I want to say that I’m a fan of Saleen’s styling and have always liked what they do with their cars as oposed to what I’ve seen from some of the other manufacturers. I’ve not always been overly impressed with what's under the hood or on the chasis, but the clean lines of their cars do get my attention.
Also, as much as this is going to kill some of you, I don’t have any pics to offer because I thought it rather rude to whip out my camera when I was their guest observing the photo/video shoot for the footage they will be using at upcoming events.
However, I thought I’d offer up what I saw, was told and overheard, and let others post some pics in a couple days after the show opens.
And lastly, I’m not entirely familar with all the details of the ’05 mustangs since, up to this point, I hadn’t seen one in person, so if I’m not 100% accurate with some of my comparisons my apologies to all.
So, with that being said....
First off, the car that I saw (metallic silver/gray paint scheme) is, in my opinion, one of their best works to date. It appears to flow wonderfully, but really doesn’t have overly aggressive lines, so those of you who are leaning towards the beefy bad-boy street brawler look may not like what they have done. When I got the chance to talk to Steve he explained that he could have gotten more agressive with the styling but he wanted a bit more style and refinement out of the new model. Which I think is a pretty accurate description.
Ok, starting at the front end... the car carries an entirely new front fascia with a small lower air dam that has the two inlet openings on each side with massaged outside curves that remind me of the S7, There is a large opening in the lower center a-la S281. The grille has all been redone and gone are the second set of driving lights that were previously inset, replaced by a single black piece that looks clean and appropiate. The headlights have also been reworked and the car is now sporting a pair of HID’s as it’s main source of illumination. The small body area between the lights and the grille now contain a set of smaller running lights that have been massaged in the body and look, for the most part, unobtrusively ok.
The hood carries a very mild cowl - if you can call it that - it's about equal to what you’d find on the 1999-2004’s (about 1” or so) with a set of rectangular vents on each side about 3/4’s of the way to the windshield. The vents are different than I’ve yet to see on a car, black, approx 4” x 14” with 3 or 4 vanes running front to back with the car.
The rear end actually looks pretty sweet as they have completely blacked out the center area between the taillights, There is a custom rear fascia that is probably what I’d call the most agressive piece on the car, complete with small recesses on the underside to tuck up the dual center mounted pipes.
The car carries a rear wing, but for the life of me I couldn’t stop thinking S351 everytime I looked at it. But, it does sit very close to the decklid and extends only a very small amount off the rear of the car so it’s got a definite hunkered down appearance to it.
The car was wearing traditional Saleen decaling and badging.... sorry, no racing stripes and, according to Steve, no plans to do any in the future. It did have the usual windshield decal, double slash fade-out stripes on the doors/front 1/4 panel, Saleen side emblems as well as is a custom 281 badge on the left rear of the trunk.
The car was rolling on 20” color matched rims that, although seemed to look ok on the car, failed to excite me in even the smallest amount.
14" front rotors (don't think they were drilled) and black calipers carrying the Saleen name in yellow on the front with what looked to be stock rotors on the rear. Can't remember if there as a matching black caliper back there or if it was stock.
The interior was dark gray leather and had very few alterations besides a new set of custom Saleen seats with some rather unique stitching down the center of the backrests. There appears to be an adjustable headrest that is relatively square and containes a large screen or net type of insert in the center. The seats also appeared to have a decent side bolster. My first reaction to the seats made me think older Fox body Saleen with cool looking new-age upholstery.
There is a new dual tear-drop shaped gauge pod that sits top center on the dash and pretty much resembles a pair of bullet turn signals sitting side by side. Gauges matched the others in the dash in both face designs and trim rings.
Under the hood.... this was a tough one as it was near completley dark by the time Steve popped the bonnet and let me take a look. But, I’d have to be blind and covered in a pillow case to have missed the blower that was sitting on the top of the engine. Unfortunately, the unit had a large flat black covering similar to Ferrari's and such so getting a good look at the blower casing was pretty difficult. But regardless, it looked big, and seemed to ride relatively low. Steve confirmed that it will fit under a stock hood. When I asked if they outsourced the SC he said it was all in-house, required a large amount of R&D and was pretty similar to the one that is being used on the GT40. Steve did refer to it as a “Big” twin screw so I’ll have to take his word on that one. All things considered, I actually like the way it is partially hidden under that black top plate because it looks rather descrete and has a very OEM looking appearance. I kept looking for a water reservoir but being my first look under the hood I wasn’t sure where everthing was suppossed to be - however, I did see a somewhat familar looking black plastic tank very similar to the SC 281’s sitting right next to the radiator.
When I asked about HP numbers I was told it’s making 400 - which I assume is bhp not rwhp.
FWIW, I was told this car carries something like 10 times the amount of Saleen goodies as opposed to their previous cars. Also, a limited slip will also be made available as an option.
One seemingly cool feature that was explained to me was that the car uses dual on demand exhaust pipes... meaning, for day to day driving the engine flows thru the two main pipes in the rear center, but when you jump on it a valve opens allowing the exhaust to exit thru two additional pipes that are tucked up and under a little farther out from the center pipes.
The exhaust note was an extremely mild deep-toned rumble, but in it's defense the car was moving a mere 10 mph as they made passes for the camera. When I asked what it sounded like at speed they descrbed it as "not too bad". (Whatever that means) They then added, it was relatively loud, but due to D.O.T. “pass by” testing requirements they had to turn the secondary pipes downward at the tips so the sound was bounced off the pavement rather than flowing straight out the rear. I took that to mean it could have been louder but due to DOT’s sound requirements they had to make some allowances. But that was ok with me, I kinda like that.... not so much for how quiet the pipes were, but the stealth feature of them being hidden up under the rear end.
When I asked about paint I was told that there is some “stuff” in the works. From the tone it sounded more like they were still working out final colors rather than keeping some big secret. I imgaine given their past history they will be going with relatively standard colors with the usual upgrades avalable at request.
I was told production will be split somewhere between CA and Detroit with both plants filling orders for their respective geographic zones. Also, Saleen is in the process of upgrading their factory out here which they say will greatly improve their paint operations division.
Sometime in the spring there is an “E” version scheduled for release and is suppossed to remain in line with their current pricing. I asked about any secrets for that and was told probably the usual stuff such as limited slip being standard, suspension upgrades and some additional interior stuff. Oh, and the ponies are supposed to jump to 500hp. A convertible release is planned but totally dependent on Ford’s time tables.
Guess that’s about all. Wish I could offer up some pics, but like I said, kinda difficult to pull that one off when they tell you that the Ford exces haven’t even seen the car yet. Oh well, no doubt they’ll be up in a couple days just as soon as someone gets home form the show.
Regards,
B
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