Why can't Ford do this?...Boss 302

[sawman70]

Funny, warranties come in handy when people have problems with any vehicle .$20 K yea thats a bit much. I don't own a Saleen but i'm guessing that the S281 s/c does pretty well against 03/04 cobra's ? If not there's always the extreme i think it had 445 h.p. So having it's ass handed to it is a little strong don't you think.

No it is not, S281 are dogs for what they cost. Low dyno #'s with a crappy generic tune. The extreme has at least had the engine cracked open, but still doesn't warrant the cost.

So anyways, the Extreme is what $57K if my memory serves me and has the wopping 445 you speak of with a maxed out 4.6. Now Ford releases the GT500 for $43K and has 500 hp. and isn't even uncorked yet. I dunno, just doesn't add up for me. The Term did it in 03 and the GT500 is doing it again, that being making Saleen owners look like non car enthusiasts who just want attention.

Back on topic, I still say the Boss here is a great looking car. For the cost though, it should have a better motor with more power.

 

[BLUE OVAL NUT]

let me see: 03/04 Saleen S-281 EXTREME here's what this magazine had to say about them.E=Extreme
After only one year on the market, you'd be forgiven if you thought Saleen would stand pat with the S-281 Extreme, the top of the line Saleen ponycar. After all, it comes with a handbuilt 4.6, specially prepared for boost and insane velocities with forged internals and custom-ground cams. But Saleen did not stand pat. A 75mm throttle body replaces the previous 65mm unit, the supercharger blows through the new intercooler from the S-281, and the same high-flow exhaust system is fitted as well. A reprogrammed PowerFlash ties it all together and the result is 445 hp at 6,000 rpm and 450 lb-ft of torque at 4,000, increases of 20 and 10, respectively. Making the delivery even more enthralling is a 3.55:1 final drive, versus 3.08 in 2002. So you can imagine what our reaction was when Saleen wanted to know if we'd drag test one.

But not just any S-281E. While every one of these very limited production vehicles is special, we got to sample the very Lizstick Red model shot featured in The Fast & Furious, 2. We felt like such celebrities, even though the car gets blown up in the flick.

So it was off to Raceway Park for a little drag-o-rama. First we'd test it on the factory-issue Pirelli PZero Rosso tires (P265/35ZR18), then we'd give it a whirl on Mickey Thompson slicks. After that, it was a date with the dyno at Crazy Horse Racing.

Actually, let's give you the dyno results first. Corrected to 56 degrees, 12.5 percent humidity and a barometer of 30.05 percent, the Extreme punished the CHR dyno to the tune of 416.6 hp and 405.2 lb-ft of torque. Little wonder our drag strip numbers were as good as they were.

How good? Let's just say our worst pass on street tires was a 12.567 at 113.89. We followed that up with a pair of 12.23s at over 116 mph (best 60-foot of 2.004). After a brief cool down, we gave it one last shot on radials. Test driver Evan Smith slipped the clutch while feeding the throttle and got off with a very clean 1.902 60-foot. He found all four gears en route to a blistering 12.195 at 114.71 mph. That is far superior to our best-ever 12.43/113 in a stock '03 Cobra.

With 28x10.5-inch slicks, we had both good and less than great results. In the plus column, we clicked off a pair of 11s, an 11.945 at 116.24 and an 11.855 at 115.54. To the negative, no matter how high we launched the little 4.6, the car bogged--like going from 5,000 rpm to 500 before recovery. We attributed this to the combination of an aluminum flywheel and lack of gearing. This same car with 4.10s would be an easy mid-11-second ride.

Still, it's hard to argue with anything that goes 12.19 in factory trim. That's ZO6 Corvette territory, albeit at a greater price. With an MSRP of $60,586, the Saleen is nearly $10k more than the Vette. Of course, for this you get far greater exclusivity (fewer than 100 built per annum
now the 03/04 cobra: When we heard the SVT Cobra under acceleration, it was clearly choked off. It made no intake noise whatsoever and if it's one thing we love around here it's intake noise. And free beer and pizza. But that's another story. We were obviously pleased when our Cobra twisted the rollers at Crazy Horse Racing (South Amboy, N.J.) to the tune of 381 corrected rwhp. The 374 lbs.-ft. of torque didn't disappoint us either. What blew us away was what the dyno said after we yanked the air silencer and factory filter out. Usually, the silencer is worth 3 hp and the filter maybe a couple more. But when the dyno said 394 horsepower and 375 lbs.-ft., we almost fainted--13 rwhp from a simple trick?

 

[BLUE OVAL NUT]

No it is not, S281 are dogs for what they cost. Low dyno #'s with a crappy generic tune. The extreme has at least had the engine cracked open, but still doesn't warrant the cost.

So anyways, the Extreme is what $57K if my memory serves me and has the wopping 445 you speak of with a maxed out 4.6. Now Ford releases the GT500 for $43K and has 500 hp. and isn't even uncorked yet. I dunno, just doesn't add up for me. The Term did it in 03 and the GT500 is doing it again, that being making Saleen owners look like non car enthusiasts who just want attention.

Back on topic, I still say the Boss here is a great looking car. For the cost though, it should have a better motor with more power.

If you haven't noticed Saleen Extreme for 06 has over 500 hp.

 

[Viperluke]

...making Saleen owners look like non car enthusiasts who just want attention.

Back on topic, I still say the Boss here is a great looking car. For the cost though, it should have a better motor with more power.

I agree with you about the Boss. But is there anything wrong with buying a car because you fall in love with the way it looks? I don't think that makes you a non enthusiast. It also doesn't mean you're looking for attention.

 

[Randy Fontenot]

Well I own a 2003 S281Cobra,and it has 460HP,at the fly-wheel,and 404 at the rear after saleen built it. Believe me it is one bad Saleen/snake. I also have a 2007 Shelby Gt500 comming in at $45,060.00,MSRP,yes . They tried to get more in the tune of $15,000.00,over MSRP,received a certified letter this past saturday,with thst news,needless to say boy was I upset,along with the other two buyers that also received the same letter of the price market up. Well I made a call really Quick,and they were really going to put it to us on the price market up,but in the end ,I received a Phone call this morning at 9:00 AM,and will honor the orginal agreement of selling it at MSRP,$45,060.00,and will not do this price market value to us refering to me and the other two buyers . THey also were extremly upset,but I guess with the threat of Legal advise,which we all did and the rest of the story is we will have our orginal deal honored. So I really Happy today compared to saturday when I received a certified letter stating the market up. So we will buy our Shelbys GT500 for MSRP. I'm really humble that this dealer will honor there word of there MSRP pricing to all 3 of us.