Watch This AmericanMuscle Built S550 Attempt To Break Into The 10

Watch This AmericanMuscle Built S550 Attempt To Break Into The 10’s!

It has been a little over a year now since AmericanMuscle’s Justin Dugan first revealed his 10R80-equipped 2019 Mustang GT, and we knew right away that he had no plans of keeping this vehicle stock.

Since the reveal, we have watched in awe as this stock S550 went under the knife as he prepared his Oxford White Stallion for the track.

In case you missed it, Stage 1 of this build featured several popular bolt-on modifications, including BMR lowering springs, AWE cat-back exhaust, Forgestar wheels, and Mickey Thompson tires. Justin also decided to add a bit of personalization to the exterior of his Pony by adding a Cervini’s grill and RTR front and rear spoilers.

Now things are going to start getting serious! -Justin Dugan, AmericanMuscle

Well, it’s finally time for Stage 2 of this build, and the latest episode of AmericanMuscle’s Hot Lap YouTube Series puts you right back in the driver’s seat of this build. The goal for stage two?  How about breaking into the tens in the quarter-mile!

“Now things are going to start getting serious,” remarked Justin, “to help us achieve the goal of going tens naturally-aspirated before going into the nines with some sort of forced induction.”

AmericanMuscleBy now, most of us have witnessed just how quick these 10R80-equipped S550s are at the track, but achieving a 10-second quarter-mile time with nothing more than a tune and bolt-ons would be an impressive feat.

But we also know that Justin knows a thing or two about what it takes to transform an otherwise stock production vehicle into a beast come race day.

Justin enlisted the help of AmericanMuscle’s master tech, Joe Gallo, to fortify his s550’s suspension, drivetrain, intake, and exhaust. The team started with a plethora of suspension upgrades from BMR Suspension to ensure the power to weight ratio is distributed correctly on launch.

To achieve this, the team actually dropped the entire rear subframe to install these suspension components.

“BMR’s goal in basically any application, whether it be drag racing or road racing, is to solidify your rear end through minimizing deflection,” said Justin.

In the video, we get to watch as the team at AmericanMuscle jumps right into the suspension upgrades, and the team also reveals that they will be installing the newly released one-piece, 2000-pound half shafts and even a carbon-fiber driveshaft from The Driveshaft Shop.

From there, we watch as they move to the front of the vehicle and install a set of Stainless Works catted long-tube headers with the upgraded connection pipe to give this Pony a full three-inch exhaust system. The final piece to these bolt-on modifications takes place under the hood with the installation of the popular JLT cold air intake.

Of course, these particular bolt-on modifications do require a tune, so the team at AmericanMuscle enlisted the help of Lund Tuning to get the car optimized to hit the dyno.

AmericanMuscle 2019 Mustang GT Dyno Results

As you can see from the dyno results above, this 2019 Mustang GT picked up some impressive gains from the Stage 1 bolt-on modifications. Once the team made the jump to Stage 2 of this build, the 2019 Mustang GT picked put down a healthy 467 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque! But will it be enough to get Justin into the tens?

AmericanMuscle Takes It To The Strip!

After the Stage 2 upgrades were complete, it was time to take the car to the track. And in true AmericanMuscle fashion, Justin brings his vehicle to the all-too-familiar Maple Grove Raceway in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

The first shake out pass on the E85 Lund Racing tune put down an 11.60 with a 1.7 60-foot time at 121 mph. But after receiving a tune revision from Lund, things started to get interesting.

“After some data logging, Lund noticed that the car was pulling timing between shifts, which was ultimately slowing the car down,” said Justin. “So after a quick revision and reflash, the car instantly started going quicker and faster.”

The revision to the tune brought each of Justin's times down, and the end result?

Well, this 2019 Mustang GT was able to put down a respectable 11.33 at 123.38 with a 1.7 60-foot time. Although the team was not able to make it into the tens with the Stage 2 upgrades, everything that was installed in this episode was only a precursor to what’s to come. Remember earlier when we mentioned adding some kind of forced induction?

We enjoyed this episode of Hot Lap, and we know all too well just how much these dual-fuel Coyote engines love boost. We are looking forward to witnessing what Justin has planned next for his 2019 Mustang GT!

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About the author

Kelly Getzelman

Kelly is a SoCal car enthusiast and skilled driver. His “get out and drive” obsession began after attending his first high-performance racing school while serving on active duty. Since then, he has attended numerous military and civilian driving schools across the country to help fuel that passion.
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