22-Year-Old Tracked Down After Hitting 198 MPH In Dodge Challenger Hellcat

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What do you do if you are 22 and have access to a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat? … 198 mph that’s what you do! That brings a whole new meaning to the word ‘reckless’. It recently happened in North Carolina.

 

22-year-old William Jefferson the owner of a 707 hp Hellcat tested the cars performance limits under the cover of darkness. And of corse he videoed his antics and before long, the clip landed on YouTube, getting Jefferson is seriously hot water.

The incriminating video shows Jefferson doing almost 130 mph over the speed limit on the US-1 near the Triangle Expressway. Footage also shows the 22-year-old going more than 100 mph in a 40 mph zone and putting the camera up to his dash when it reads an extraordinary 198 mph.

As if that wasn’t enough, the video also shows Jefferson doing donuts in the muscle car.

According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, they were shown the footage by someone who filed a complaint against Jefferson. Jefferson was arrested and charged with street racing and reckless driving.

Ford Celebrates 10 Million Mustangs

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Ford has now made an amazing 10 million Mustangs! To celebrate they just revealed the 10 millionth example of the iconic sports car. The celebration, held outside the Flat Rock Assembly Plant where the car is currently manufactured, featured 60 Mustangs from various eras, neatly arranged to display ‘10,000,000’ when viewed from above.

As for the 10 millionth car itself, the 2019 model year Mustang is a Wimbledon White GT convertible, mirroring the spec of VIN 001 – the “first serialized 1964.5 Ford Mustang”. Unlike that car though, which has its 163bhp V8 hooked up to a three-speed automatic, the 464bhp 5.0-litre in Mustang number 10 million is mated to a six-speed manual.

“Mustang is the heart and soul of this company and a favorite around the world… I get the same thrill seeing a Mustang roll down a street in Detroit, London or Beijing that I felt when I bought my first car – a 1966 Mustang coupe that I drove across the country as a teenager. Mustang is a smile-maker in any language.” Jim Farley, Ford’s global market boss

800bhp Ford Mustang Bullitt!

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With a 475bhp 5.0-litre V8, the new Ford Mustang Bullitt isn’t exactly lacking power. Thanks to the Shelby GT350 inlet manifold and bigger throttle bodies, it’s more than powerful enough for most. But not all…

And if you crave more power, Mustang Tuner Steeda has created their own ‘Steve McQueen Edition Bullitt Mustang’. A Whipple Supercharger combined with a cold air intake and a ‘performance tune’ delivers 800hp.

Should you go for the supercharger, you’ll need to option a heavy-duty Ford Performance half shaft to ensure nothing goes ‘bang’ when you put your foot down. There’s also a carbonfibre driveshaft available.

Suspension modifications include uprated anti-roll bars, better suspension bushes, an IRS strut brace, new springs and shock absorbers, and much more besides. At each corner, you’ll find a Steeve McQueen Edition 20-inch wheel, wrapped in a Nitto NT555 G2 tyre. The boots measure 275mm in width and the front, and 315mm at the rear.

Along with the wheels, the exterior has been spruced up with retro cool rear three-quarter louvres and an aero-tweaked front end. On the inside, you’ll be treated to illuminated Steve McQueen Edition kick plates, plaques, and branded floor mats.

All this comes with a price and it’s rather steep. The base Bullitt kit costs $20,995, on top of the $47,495 price of a Bullitt Mustang. And that doesn’t include the supercharger – Steeda hasn’t revealed pricing for that yet, but ticking that box is almost certainly going to inflate the$21k substantially. But it’s a great upgrade if you want a unique Mustang!

10 Million Mustangs and Counting…

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The Ford Mustang was a revelation when it was first launched, capturing a new spirit of freedom, and 54 years later it’s every bit as important

The Mustang has not only stood the test of time it’s improving with age.

Keeping the same iconic name for 54 years has meant sales have naturally stacked up, but to reach 10 million is a huge achievement for any car, let alone a sports “pony” car.

By contrast Europes icon sports car the Porsche’s 911, emerged one year before the first Mustang and in the same count of years managed only one million sales. Yes, we know the Porsche is quite a bit more expensive, but Porsche was ecstatic about its achievement so Ford has every right to lose its mind over what the Mustang has done.

It takes so many stars to align to make a car last as long as the Mustang. The fact that after five and a half decades we’re only on the sixth generation seems to tell a story about how long-lived each model has been… but that’s not quite the case. The second iteration lasted just five years after being hamstrung by a series of oil crises, while the third stab at the formula had to last some 15 years.

And yet the American public stood by it. They carried on buying it, even when the weight ballooned, the styling turned so bland it could cure insomnia and the engines dropped from ‘muscle’ to more like ‘mollusc’.

Why? Because the Mustang had already made its mark. It inked its identity deep into the US consciousness. The mere memory of the superb first generation kept the model afloat through lean times. The Mustang was – and is – the Mustang.

Even though it does engage in them from time to time, in truth it’s above power wars. It’s above perceived technical flaws. Most importantly it’s above petty criticism. Say what you like; it doesn’t matter. The Mustang is uniquely cool and always will be. Even the divisive third- and fourth-generation cars have their fans.

The thing about the Mustang is that legions of people want to love it. That name helps. It feels so good when it rolls off your tongue. I’m just going out in my Mustang. Feels good, right? People also love it because it’s a car that says something about them; something positive.

Choosing a Mustang says that you value freedom, fun and character over boring everyday concerns like having five doors and averaging 50mpg. It says that you’re an interesting human, willing to make interesting choices in the face of a hundred more sensible options.

In 1964 the Mustang captured the imaginations of tens of thousands of people who were so, so ready for that car to exist. 10 million Mustangs have kept the faith all this time. Fast-forward to 2018 and today’s Mustang is the car 10 million more people need – but most of them probably don’t know it yet.

Death of the Mustang – Almost

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If not for an outcry from loyal enthusiasts, the front-wheel-drive coupe we know today as the Ford Probe could have become the fourth-generation Mustang

When Ford put the Mustang on the market in 1965, it took the auto industry by storm. Until then, the notion of a sports car for ordinary people seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream for most Americans. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for petrolheads to fall in love with the Mustang, an affair which shows no signs of ending any time soon.

The Mustang story is not without its share of problems. The oil crisis of the early 1970s served to suffocate the V8 horsepower of American cars, including the Mustang. The resulting second-generation Mustang II was a shell of its predecessor, and is often regarded as one of the worst cars that Ford ever made. Things would get better with the introduction of the third-generation Fox Mustang, but sales continued to slump.

By the mid-1980s, the rear-wheel-drive pony car was starting to look like a bit of an antique in comparison to the wealth of cheap front-wheel-drive coupes coming in from Japan. These cars, particularly the Acura Integra and Toyota Celica, were lighter and more efficient than the Fox-body Mustang, yet were still fun to drive in their own right.

The practical advantages of front-wheel drive were impossible for Ford executives to ignore when it came time to refresh the Ford Mustang for its fourth generation. By 1987, plans were underway to christen the fourth-generation Mustang as a front-wheel-drive car. Through Ford’s growing business relationship with Mazda, the “New Mustang” would have been based on the same platform used by the humdrum Mazda 626. But Ford reckoned that this plan would work since Mazda had already used this platform to create the MX-6, which proved to be a decent two-door sports car, albeit not a particularly exhilarating one. The relatively lightweight coupe would be nimble and efficient, powered by either a four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine. But NO 5.0 V8!

There was just one problem with this plan… Mustang fans wanted none of it.

When word got out that the future Mustang was about to get a FWD drivetrain, the outrage was immediate. Ford’s head office was inundated with hundreds upon thousands of letters from angry Mustang devotees. The message was clear: to give the Mustang a front-wheel-drive platform would be to ruin it. Save the 5.0!

Despite sinking a huge sum of money into the front-wheel-drive platform, Ford decided to cave to the demands of Mustang fans. Rather than kill off the Fox Mustang in 1989, as planned to do, Ford kept it in production in spite of mediocre sales volumes. But there was no way that Ford could let its investment into the Mazda-based coupe go to waste. So they decided to build the car anyway and market it alongside the Mustang. It was believed that this car, now called the Probe, would prove a point and handily outsell the old-school Mustang.

This couldn’t have possibly been further from the truth. When the two cars went on sale together, the Mustang easily outsold the Probe, despite having architecture that was over ten years old. Pleasing the people had paid off for Ford, and it proved that American muscle wasn’t out of fashion.

The same couldn’t be said of the Ford Probe. Although it was primed for international sales, the American cousin of the Mazda MX-6 would never achieve the fan base of the car it was supposed to replace. Maybe it was because it didn’t have a V8 engine. Maybe it was because it was an American coupe with front-wheel-drive. Maybe it was because it was named after something usually associated with proctologists.

In fairness, the Probe wasn’t a terrible car. But it certainly wasn’t a great one, either. After all, it was essentially just a boring family car with two doors and pop-up headlights. No amount of early ‘90s radness could save it.

As for the Mustang, the time had come to finally retire the third-generation “Fox-body” design. Amazingly, Ford once again considered a front-wheel-drive platform, this time based on the Escort. But that notion was quickly dismissed when Ford couldn’t find a way to fit a front-wheel-drive transaxle to its Modular V8 engine. Instead, Ford decided to heavily modify the old Fox platform with modern lines that reflected the true heritage of the Mustang. Codenamed “SN-95”, the fourth-generation Mustang hit the streets in 1994. Ever since then, Ford hasn’t looked back. Over ten million Mustangs have been built, and they’ve all remained true to their rear-wheel-drive, rubber-burning roots.

2017 Corvette Grand Sport Runs 2:47.1 at Car and Driver’s 2016 Lightning Lap!

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Car and Driver just held their 10th annual Lightning Lap competition at VIR with 18 cars grouped into similar classes based on price. Think of this as the North American answer to the Nurburgring. Over the last 10 years, 201 cars have had the pants driven off of them on the 4.1 mile Grand West Course at VIR and this year, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport was included in the LL3 class which also consisted of the 2016 Dodge Hellcat SRT, a 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 and the 2016 Lexis GS F.

corevette

The 2017 Corvette Grand Sport was tested with the seven-speed manual transmission along with the Z07 Performance Package and level 2 aerodynamics. Car and Driver called the 2017 Grand Sport “weaponized fiberglass” like the Z06 but “with a little less fissile material”.

Just a quick “Corvette” recap, both the C7 Stingray and Z06 have participated in previous Lightning Laps. The 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 ran a 2:53.8 while the 2015 Corvette Z06’s time was 2:44.6.

So how well did the Grand Sport do on the Grand West Course? When it was all said and done, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport ran a 2:47.1 at the Lightning Lap. That time totally obliterates the competition both in the LL3 class ($65,000–$124,999) and most of the LL4 class ($125,000–$244,999) too.

Yes, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport outperformed several higher-priced competitors like the 2016 McLaren 570 S, the 2017 Acura NSX, the 2016 BMW M4 GTS and the 2016 Audi R8 V-10 Plus. The 2016 Porsche 911 GT3RS was only 0.1 seconds faster while the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR clocked an impressive 2:44.2!

Here is the video of the Lightning Lap and make sure you stick around to the end as we love the driver’s reaction when he crosses the finish line!

Here are how each of the cars finished in the 2016 Car and Driver Lightning Lap Competition. In addition to the regular classes, Car and Driver also includes a few oddballs which this year included an electric car from Tesla.

LL5 ($245,000 and above)

2016 Ferrari 488GTB – 2:45.1
LL4 ($125,000–$244,999)

2016 Dodge Viper ACR – 2:44.2
2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS – 2:47.0
2016 McLaren 570S – 2:47.4
2017 Acura NSX – 2:50.2
2016 BMW M4 GTS – 2:52.9
2017 Audi R8 V-10 Plus – 2:56.1
206 Jaguar F-type Project 7 – 3:02.2
LL3 ($65,000–$124,999)

2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport – 2:47.1
2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 – 2:54.0
2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat – 3:03.5
2016 Lexus GS F – 3:05.9
LL2 ($35,000–$64,999)

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R – 2:51.8
2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE – 2:54.8
2016 BMW M2 – 3:01.9
2016 Ford Focus RS – 3:03.9
2016 Audi TTS – 3:07.7
Concept Car

2016 Lexus RC F GT Concept – 2:43.2
Race Car

Copeland Motorsports Mazda MX-5 Miata Cup Car – 3:06.4
Electric Car

2015 Tesla Model S P85D – 3:17.4

A couple of last observations on the Lightning Lap competition. Car and Driver provides a page of historical results as well as some other interesting data about the cars it has tested over the years. One thing we found was that the Corvette Z06 and the Grand Sport were 1-2 out of all the cars ever tested as having the highest grip in Turn 1 (The Horse Shoe). The Z06 was 1.20g while the Grand Sport recorded 1.19g in the Horse Shoe. Z07 for the win!

The Corvette’s little brother, the 2016 Camaro 1LE was also tested and it ran a very quick 2:54.8. It was second in its class to the 2016 Ford Shelby GT350R at 2:51.8. That Mustang time does beat the 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 time at 2:53.8 so look out Stingray owners next time you see a GT350R on the track.

The Charger Hellcat SRT placed last in the LL3 class but it was also the heaviest car at 4564 lbs to ever run the lightning Lap. A diet and some better rubber would probably shave some time from the big boy.