► 700bhp Ford Mustang tested
► 0-60mph in a claimed 4.4sec
► Yours for £72,500
Muscle cars need muscle, right? Well, let us introduce you to the barmily bicepped Ford Mustang CS700, a tuner special created by longstanding British ’Stang specialist, Clive Sutton.
It’s been importing Ford’s Pony car for many years and its new tuning division, Sutton Bespoke, is now turning its attention to fettling Mustangs for power-obsessed British fans. And when we say fettling, we mean everything from minor upgrades to full Olympic-spec, performance-enhancing drugs as taken here.
What upgrades does it get, then?
We don’t remember thinking the regular Ford 5.0 V8 felt that slow, but Sutton has gone and bolted on a Willy Wonka-sounding Whipple twin-screw supercharger to very nearly double power to a monstrous 700bhp. Yes, output leaps from the standard car’s 410bhp to more than that of the engine from a Porsche 918 Spyder.
More importantly, the compressor drives lashings of torque – a fulsome 674lb ft of the elastic stuff. Although Sutton doesn’t quote any engine speeds for its outputs, it feels like there’s a surfeit of grunt across the board. Flex your toe in any gear and after the briefest moment of lag the CS700 fast-forwards into the horizon, accompanied by a demented supercharged scream.
Is it just about straight-line performance?
Not if you tick more boxes. Our test example had nearly every box ticked on Sutton’s tuning roster, adding height-adjustable KW shocks and 20in Vossen alloy wheels (saving 4kg at each corner) for £5496, upgraded Brembo brakes and what can only be described as a Mansory-spec explosion in a carbonfibre factory (£9366). The black stuff is everywhere, from the bonnet to the front splitter, the rear wing to the sidesills. It’s even emblazoned across the dashboard. Even so, the V8 remains a heavy car, toppling the wrong side of 1.7 tonnes.
This affects all aspects of the CS700’s drive. It’s a chunky coupe to shuffle around your favourite back roads and you’re always aware that those 700 eponymous horses could bolt at any time. In the wet, it’s a handful and it rides harshly. But certain macho types will enjoy the buzz: the Mustang style, the incessant punch, the ludicrously loud exhaust which can be programmed by GPS to hush at home or bellow on a B-road.
Verdict
It’s excess all areas. And for that you’ll either love it or steer clear, depending on your motoring mores… and the depths of your pockets. At £72,500, it costs nearly £38k over a stock V8 ’Stang.
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