Mustang Saleen

For the first four seconds, you feel like you're at the wheel of a dragster with a stuck throttle in a giant pan of cooking oil. Slipping and sluing, the tach builds revs in a needle-blurring burst through first gear, then second. Your toes curl around the top of the gas pedal, trying to feel for traction that isn't there. You've backed off to half throttle, yet both double-wide rear Dunlops churn in a fog of rubber smoke.

Then at about 60 mph, the shift to third puts things right. Finally, the available grip can absorb most of this car's horsepower. Pulling through 4000 rpm, the pancreas-flattening rush is awesome. Fourth gear is even better. The g's barely diminished by the rising aerodynamic loads, you're pinned to the Recaro seatback more forcefully than in anything short of an F-15 in full climb.

Just when you're ready to scream, through 5500 rpm, the power begins to flatten, but there's no point in going for fifth this close to the end of the quarter mile. Before you can ponder this any further, you're shooting past the finish on the high side of 120 mph, then standing hard on the brakes.

You can inhale now. The timing gear displays a 119.3-mph quarter-mile terminal speed, a number that's difficult to relate to the performance range of normal cars. Muscular production cars, like the Corvette, just crest 100 mph in the quarter mile; really fast ones, like Porsche's 911 Turbo, can even exceed 110. But tripping the lights at close to 120 mph is a whole other level of thrill. To a driver seasoned in conventional cars, it creates a sensation akin to teleportation. It's a feeling to which Saleen S351 R drivers first become acclimated, then addicted.

The R-Code Saleen S351 is far from a conventional car, even though it's based on a production Mustang. Steve Saleen likes it that way. This is a real production vehicle, not a one-off. And you can order one through any Ford dealer, or see it at any of the 75 Team Saleen Ford dealerships that keep the model in stock. Each is an emissions-certified vehicle as easy to buy as an Escort, albeit for a lot more money.

Performance is the single standout feature here. And that's been Saleen's obsession since he began tinkering in earnest with Ford's ponycar in 1984. Today his company offers three different models. On the bottom end is the S281 (coupe, convertible, or Speedster), a modest evolution of the new modular-engined Mustang GT. The next step up is the S351 (around since late '94), which adds a 5.8-liter/371-horsepower OHV V-8 engine to the mix, among a host of other performance and cosmetic items. Slap the R-Code option on that puppy, and horsepower jumps to a peak of 480. At the pinnacle of the line is the SR, which gives you all the R-Code S351 stuff and less. Less back seat, less cushy civility, and most of all, less weight. Roughly 300 pounds lighter, the SR is the strongest performer in the Saleen line; however, in our estimation it's too stripped down to serve as a daily driver.