It's official the Boss 302 is back

[GTSpartan]

Totally badass in every way!!!

I wouldn't change a thing........Well, maybe slap on some LT headers and cat delete!

 

[RDJ]

LOL! Chuck! It may grow on us, you know cars sometimes do that, you have seen it many times, just like me.

I kind of like the red with black stripes. but since I like it I will bet the LS won't come like that

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

For road use I'd want a different splitter...it's fugly, but damn gangster of a design for the functionality of it. Gaudy vinyl stripes, stock painted fugly rims, all that can be easily fixed. This car's really nice. I wish they had options like this on a GT500. I really wouldn't mind having that rear seat delete. It's beautiful. Also if the GT500's splitter had the same thought into it's functionality as this car....that'd be really nice. Overall a killer car. Just curious to see the price tag and dealer markup on it since it's "Limited".

Your blacked out 500 is a truly awesome looking car!
You will be able to get just about anything you want for your current car from a BOSS to fit.
I believe the exception would be the splitter which requires either a BOSS fascia or the Cali special, it does fit those.

The rear seat delete has to fit both cars.

The iron block however is going to hurt your cornering speeds, the 11 and up 500s are really significantly faster.

It will be interesting to see how close lap times are between current 500s and The new BOSS.

Both cars are awesome!

 

[DavidHasselhoff]

Your blacked out 500 is a truly awesome looking car!
You will be able to get just about anything you want for your current car from a BOSS to fit.
I believe the exception would be the splitter which requires either a BOSS fascia or the Cali special, it does fit those.

The rear seat delete has to fit both cars.

The iron block however is going to hurt your cornering speeds, the 11 and up 500s are really significantly faster.

It will be interesting to see how close lap times are between current 500s and The new BOSS.

Both cars are awesome!

Yeah I'm cool with having 100lbs in the front. The aluminum block would be nice, but also I like the fact that I know my engines proven to handle some nasty HP...not too sure about the new 11's and their aluminum block. I shaved some weight off and dramatically improved my suspension so I'm happy with how my car would handle a road course. I honestly want to see when this thing comes out someone copy that and sell it as a rear seat delete. I'd be all over that then. I think the Boss is equivalent to the C6 grandsport in terms of being a middle man in between the C6 Base and C6 Z06, or as in Ford's case the 5.0 GT and the GT500. I think the boss will be close, but it'll fall short due to it's lesser HP. It'll keep up in the turns though definitely, but do remember now....GT500's are more mod friendly even though those 5.0's are very accepting of mods as well...mod friendly FI over mod friendly NA anyday. Just my opinion. Either way this is a very solid car, and definitely shows Ford is the new King of the affordable car world. BANG 4 THE BUCK...:coolman:

 

[chuckstang]

I feel like I'm dreaming or misread.

So this 5.0 in the new Boss, is not just a GT motor slapped in it?

custom heads, camshafts, intake, exhaust, and a fully forged bottom end?

There is zero chance this car could be sold for $40k msrp IMO

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

I feel like I'm dreaming or misread.

So this 5.0 in the new Boss, is not just a GT motor slapped in it?

custom heads (CNC), camshafts, intake, exhaust, and a fully forged bottom end?

There is zero chance this car could be sold for $40k msrp IMO

I am 100% convinced that aside from market adjustments you are going to be wrong about this.

The Laguna, possibly.

The regular BOSS, I am sure is targeted well under 40K.

Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but look at the engine they stuck in Terminators off a standard line.

They have already been making all this stuff for the BOSS R.
I believe it will adapt to production easily.

I hope I'm right.

 

[chuckstang]

But a normal GT Mustang already can cost $40k

Either the mods to this new Boss are hype or I'm misreading/understanding, or the price must be incorrect.

I love my car but if all of this is true, regardless of price, this Boss will spank any Term or GT500 on a road course unless the snake is heavily modded

 

[GTSpartan]

I'd almost surely bet that Ford will bring in the base price under $40K (psychological barrier), topping out somewhere in $43-44K range.

 

[Todd03Blown]

But a normal GT Mustang already can cost $40k

Either the mods to this new Boss are hype or I'm misreading/understanding, or the price must be incorrect.

I love my car but if all of this is true, regardless of price, this Boss will spank any Term or GT500 on a road course unless the snake is heavily modded

True but that is fully loaded with NAV, glass roof, etc.

I am awaiting the price point for this car as well and my original guess was high 30's or 40k plus the option package of recaro's and Torsen LSD. I really wanted one but from what I have been told and read from a couple of people involved in the Boss 302 program these cars won't be hitting the streets until April/may 2011 which is to late as I have to turn in my leased car in Feb 2011 which means I will have to go with a loaded GT hardtop and catch the Boss in another couple of years from someone that paid top dollar and ADM and buy it from them and place it in my garage to enjoy on track days.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

Those 40K GTs are freaking loaded to the gills!
In true Mustang tradition Ford has been very serious about allowing a huge amount of personalization on these cars and if you go nutz it shows up at the bottom of the sticker.

Depending on end pricing, what sort of job I end up with and how strong the used market is, I may build my own from a used 11 GT.

Every single part will be available yet every single part surely is not needed to build a crazy fast track car! Some aftermarket parts are going to be superior, and I am thinking The Grand Am stuff from FRPP.

I almost think I'd rather have a truetrac instead of a Torsen anyway since I have read of several breaking in the last couple of years. Plus it's $100 cheaper diff if doing a you built it BOSS.

 

[GTSpartan]

Depending on end pricing, what sort of job I end up with and how strong the used market is, I may build my own from a used 11 GT.

That could be a good idea, especially if you can live without the Boss name and a factory warranty.

A used '11 GT with basic engine mods, some Griggs suspension pieces and some wheels/tires would probably beat a stock Boss.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

That could be a good idea, especially if you can live without the Boss name and a factory warranty.

A used '11 GT with basic engine mods, some Griggs suspension pieces and some wheels/tires would probably beat a stock Boss.

Even one with less than a full Griggs LSA front end could be a budget flyer!.

Full Griggs suspention on an otherwise bone stock, sticky tire 2011 would kill a BOSS, even an LS with stickies.
That Griggs stuff is seriously hard core!

Guys are going to put that stuff on BOSS car too though! LOL!

Someone will always be faster!

EDIT: caution don't run a stock 2011 oil pan with sticky tires, I don't even on mine!

 

[satx]

Every single part will be available yet every single part surely is not needed to build a crazy fast track car! Some aftermarket parts are going to be superior, and I am thinking The Grand Am stuff from FRPP.

I almost think I'd rather have a truetrac instead of a Torsen anyway since I have read of several breaking in the last couple of years. Plus it's $100 cheaper diff if doing a you built it BOSS.

screw that, you want the Boss.

 

[chuckstang]

Ya but a used 2011 GT will not have the Boss302R race motor in it like the Boss 302 street car.

Isint that the main attraction here?

fully forged motor, heads, intake, exhaust, 7500-8000rpm redline

I get wood just thinking about that sound of a modern day american exotic at those BMW/Ferrari territory rpms!

 

[GTSpartan]

Ya but a used 2011 GT will not have the Boss302R race motor in it like the Boss 302 street car.

Do we have clarity/confirmation that the Boss will in fact have the R race motor in it, or is it somewhere in between? I think the street Boss uses powder/sinter forged rods FWIW

 

[sprint200]

Do we have clarity/confirmation that the Boss will in fact have the R race motor in it, or is it somewhere in between? I think the street Boss uses powder/sinter forged rods FWIW

From the quotes from both the Mustang Program engineers and the Ford Racing group, it sounds like the same engine to me. Others who have spoken with FRPP personnel at Grand Am events report the same.


"Close connection with race teams
Contrary to normal engine development protocol, the first batch of durability test engines weren’t installed in an engine dyno. Instead, thanks to a request from Ford Racing, they went straight to the track.

“Ford Racing had challenged the Boss engine team to give them the first available Boss 302 engines,” explains Harrison. “They came to us in August 2009 and told us they needed engines as soon as possible to build a limited number of Ford Racing Boss 302R cars for the January Daytona race. They got the engines 12 weeks later and the team got five Boss 302R cars prepped for the January race. This gave us a fantastic opportunity to be able to get full-on race experience with the engine so early in the program.”

The Boss engines have run reliably all season without a single mechanical failure. Boss 302R cars have also racked up the most laps led so far this season in Grand-Am racing.

Using race telemetry, the Boss team has been able to gather on-track data to help optimize engine calibrations, oil pan designs and cooling. In order to engage in virtual racing whenever they needed, the team used the telemetry data to re-create a hot lap at Daytona on the dyno back in Dearborn, allowing further fine-tuning.

“Working with Ford Racing has been invaluable,” said Harrison. “They were a wealth of information for setting up torque and power curves for road racing and for identifying areas of concern during track runs that we wouldn’t have considered if we were just building a hot street engine. Every Boss 302 owner will benefit from their contributions to the program.”"

From here: HIGH-REVVING FORD 5.0-LITER V8 DELIVERS POWER, SPEED, FLEXIBILITY BEFITTING THE BOSS NAME | Ford Motor Company Newsroom

 

[GTSpartan]

From the quotes from both the Mustang Program engineers and the Ford Racing group, it sounds like the same engine to me. Others who have spoken with FRPP personnel at Grand Am events report the same.


"Close connection with race teams
Contrary to normal engine development protocol, the first batch of durability test engines weren’t installed in an engine dyno. Instead, thanks to a request from Ford Racing, they went straight to the track.

“Ford Racing had challenged the Boss engine team to give them the first available Boss 302 engines,” explains Harrison. “They came to us in August 2009 and told us they needed engines as soon as possible to build a limited number of Ford Racing Boss 302R cars for the January Daytona race. They got the engines 12 weeks later and the team got five Boss 302R cars prepped for the January race. This gave us a fantastic opportunity to be able to get full-on race experience with the engine so early in the program.”

The Boss engines have run reliably all season without a single mechanical failure. Boss 302R cars have also racked up the most laps led so far this season in Grand-Am racing.

Using race telemetry, the Boss team has been able to gather on-track data to help optimize engine calibrations, oil pan designs and cooling. In order to engage in virtual racing whenever they needed, the team used the telemetry data to re-create a hot lap at Daytona on the dyno back in Dearborn, allowing further fine-tuning.

“Working with Ford Racing has been invaluable,” said Harrison. “They were a wealth of information for setting up torque and power curves for road racing and for identifying areas of concern during track runs that we wouldn’t have considered if we were just building a hot street engine. Every Boss 302 owner will benefit from their contributions to the program.”"

From here: HIGH-REVVING FORD 5.0-LITER V8 DELIVERS POWER, SPEED, FLEXIBILITY BEFITTING THE BOSS NAME | Ford Motor Company Newsroom

Thanks, that was a great article

Has the curb weight been released?

 

[sprint200]

Thanks, that was a great article

Has the curb weight been released?

The spec' sheets say 3631 for the base model and 3636 for the LS.

I was hoping for something about 100 lbs lighter but, with all the other stuff they did right, I think the only thing I'll complain about is the paint schemes!:lol:

 

[ON D BIT]

That could be a good idea, especially if you can live without the Boss name and a factory warranty.

A used '11 GT with basic engine mods, some Griggs suspension pieces and some wheels/tires would probably beat a stock Boss.

Whats this? Someone else mentioning griggs before me????oke:


I believe the boss motor is somewhere in between the gt and the r. Some good long tubes a tune, and the sweet boss intake plenum on a stock gt 302 should have you north of 440 while maintaining the warranty.



Someone posted the exact differences, ill see if i can find it. Posted at modfords....

HIGH-REVVING FORD 5.0-LITER V8 DELIVERS POWER, SPEED, FLEXIBILITY BEFITTING THE BOSS NAME
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 engine delivers 440 horsepower and 380 ft.-lbs. of torque without the aid of forced induction
Purpose-built Boss engine is based on production 2011 Mustang GT 5.0-liter DOHC V8, heavily modified with unique, Boss-specific parts to withstand all-day thrashing
Revised intake, CNC-machined heads, lightened valvetrain and strengthened reciprocating assembly result in a race-proven engine meeting production durability standards
MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 13, 2010 – The all-new 5.0-liter dual-overhead camshaft (DOHC) V8 in the 2011 Mustang GT already is the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8 Ford has ever produced. To make it worthy of the Boss name, Ford engineers tweaked more than a few bits of the engine.
They reengineered an entire dynamometer cell to handle the engine’s projected 7,500 rpm redline; put the first engines into Boss 302R race cars and sent them straight onto the track; and they designed a torture test equivalent to running the Daytona 250 race flat-out more than 175 times – in a row.
Only when the 440-hp V8 passed these tests, ensuring maximum power output without sacrificing durability, reliability and drivability, was it worthy of being called a Boss.
Bulletproof and blower-free
Planning began with a small group of engineers within the 5.0-liter V8 team. Starting with open minds and enlisting the help of two members of the original 1969 Boss 302 design team, the group began working its way toward the ultimate evolution of the new 5.0-liter: 440 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque, along with a broad, flat output curve all the way through its projected 7,500 rpm redline.
The Mustang team knew a supercharger would be the simplest way to extract significant power improvements from the new 5.0-liter V8, but they elected not to pursue forced induction for the 2012 Boss to stay true to the original Boss 302 engine.
“The core group of engineers on the Boss 302 engine understands and respect the heritage of the name and the history behind the original engine,” explains Mike Harrison, Ford V8 engine program manager. “The first Boss 302 was a specially built, free-breathing, high-revving small V8 that gave it certain desirable characteristics on a race course – and we capture that essence in the new engine.”
The team also realized the additional hardware meant more weight, the bane of any racing program and the opposite of what the Boss design team was attempting to achieve. Instead, the same technology that has made the new Mustang GT engine such a formidable force was applied to the Boss 302.
“In keeping with the spirit of the original, the new Boss 302 engine achieves its maximum power output at speeds at or above 7,500 rpm,” says Harrison. “Unlike the original engine, however, low-speed torque and driveability are uncompromised thanks to twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT) technology and computer-aided engineering design tools.”
Harrison and his team began exploring Boss 302 concepts starting with the engine’s ability to breathe – essential to the production of horsepower. Because credible track performance requires high power production between 5,000 rpm and 7,000 rpm, the team needed a new approach to intake manifold design.
Borrowing from the Ford Daytona Prototype engines, the resulting short-runners-in-the-box design virtually eliminates lag when the throttle is snapped open while producing peak power output at high rpm.
“The effect of the new intake design is dramatic,” says Harrison. “When I took the prototype car to Mustang Chief Engineer Dave Pericak, he took a short drive, tossed me the keys and said ‘Book it…it’s in the program.’ He knew what we were onto, and that’s really the point where the Boss 302 was born.”
To take advantage of the racing intake manifold, cylinder head airflow was fully optimized by CNC porting the entire intake and exhaust port and combustion chamber. The painstaking machining process takes 2.5 hours per head to complete.
To accompany the higher peak-power engine speed, the team had to engineer a lightweight, high-speed valvetrain and bulletproof reciprocating assembly that would not only hold together for 150,000-plus miles but also produce power at peak rpm.
“What most people don’t realize is that engine stresses increase exponentially as engine speeds rise,” explains Harrison. “So moving up from GT’s 7,000 rpm redline required significant re-engineering of many different parts. Sacrificing reliability and usability over the GT engine was never an option.”
Some of the Boss-specific parts contributing to the Boss 302 V8’s output and durability include:
Revised composite intake system with shorter runners, inspired by Daytona Prototype racing engines, for high-rpm breathing
Forged aluminum pistons and upgraded sinter-forged connecting rods for improved strength, needed for the higher combustion pressures and engine speeds
New high-strength aluminum-alloy cylinder heads with fully CNC-machined ports and chambers for exceptional high-rpm airflow without sacrificing low-speed torque
Lightened valvetrain components to provide excellent dynamic performance up to speeds well above the engine redline
Sodium-filled exhaust valves for improved heat dissipation
Race-specification crankshaft main and rod bearings for higher load capability and improved high-speed durability
5W50 full-synthetic oil with engine oil cooler for improved oil pressure and longer-lasting lubrication during extreme racing conditions
Revised oil pan baffling for improved oil control under racing conditions and during cornering loads greater than 1.0 g
Close connection with race teams
Contrary to normal engine development protocol, the first batch of durability test engines weren’t installed in an engine dyno. Instead, thanks to a request from Ford Racing, they went straight to the track.
“Ford Racing had challenged the Boss engine team to give them the first available Boss 302 engines,” explains Harrison. “They came to us in August 2009 and told us they needed engines as soon as possible to build a limited number of Ford Racing Boss 302R cars for the January Daytona race. They got the engines 12 weeks later and the team got five Boss 302R cars prepped for the January race. This gave us a fantastic opportunity to be able to get full-on race experience with the engine so early in the program.”
The Boss engines have run reliably all season without a single mechanical failure. Boss 302R cars have also racked up the most laps led so far this season in Grand-Am racing.
Using race telemetry, the Boss team has been able to gather on-track data to help optimize engine calibrations, oil pan designs and cooling. In order to engage in virtual racing whenever they needed, the team used the telemetry data to re-create a hot lap at Daytona on the dyno back in Dearborn, allowing further fine-tuning.
“Working with Ford Racing has been invaluable,” said Harrison. “They were a wealth of information for setting up torque and power curves for road racing and for identifying areas of concern during track runs that we wouldn’t have considered if we were just building a hot street engine. Every Boss 302 owner will benefit from their contributions to the program.”
Production engine durability testing
Despite its racing heritage – and the rigors of track-day testing – the Boss 302 V8 is still a production Ford engine, built alongside the 5.0-liter GT engine at Essex Engine Plant in Ontario, Canada. That means it has to meet or exceed all the standard durability testing every Ford engine is required to complete.
The high-winding engine presented a challenge: The engine had no trouble staying together at its redline, but the Ford durability dynamometers weren’t designed to operate at the speeds the Boss engine was capable of.
“Ford had no engine test cells built to run at that kind of sustained speed,” said Harrison. “Ford Racing had one, but it wasn’t instrumented to do production durability testing. So we had to re-engineer the dyno cell with new balancers and jackshafts so the dyno wouldn’t fly apart running at redline hour after hour.”
Once an adequate test stand was configured, the Boss engine was run at its full rated output for tens of millions of cycles, eventually outperforming its specifications at every stage of testing. Engineers calculated that the test regimen was equivalent to running the Daytona 250 race flat-out more than 175 times – in a row.
Team members also devised an additional durability test specific to the Boss 302 engine – one that reflects the unique demands of Boss drivers. The engine was subjected to a regimen simulating 1,500 quarter-mile races typical of events at drag strips across the country.
“Even though the production Boss engine is designed to be very close to a full race engine, it had to achieve the same vehicle durability signoff any other production engine requires,” says Harrison. “Then it went on to get the track durability test signoff too. It’s really an engineering accomplishment that a Boss owner can thrash his car on the track and still expect the same outstanding reliability that the owner of a regular Mustang GT will enjoy.”

 

[sprint200]

That is the same article which I quoted from and "linked" in my post above.

I read the only difference between the 302 & the 302R as being the tune and the pollution controls (cat's & sensors). The article clearly states that the first 5 Boss program engines were the ones in the cars at Daytona last January. It does not differentiate in any way between street and track. They used the 302R cars as test mules for this engine program.

You can also buy this engine straight from FRPP (with or without the ECM & harness) for around $7k.