- Street Muscle - https://www.streetmusclemag.com -

Maximum Velocity Performance’s 202-plus MPH BOSS 302

It’s no secret that the recent BOSS 302 was a hot car straight from the factory. Seated in the middle of the Mustang performance lineup, bridging the gap between the GT and the GT500, this 444 hp beast was set to tame the track and the streets just as it’s predecessor was doing over 40 years ago.

When Ford introduced the Coyote engine for the 2011 model year, the aftermarket also began scrambling to come up with parts to fit this car. Knowing that past modular engines responded well to boost, supercharger companies have gone to great lengths to debut new, and high output systems to boost Coyote and it’s BOSS cousin, Roadrunner engine performance.

[1]Tracy Keller ordered a new BOSS 302 and took delivery in June of 2011. The owner of Maximum Velocity Performance [2] in San Antonio, Texas, Keller had only been enjoying her new car for a week when she received a call from Jim Bell of Kenne Bell, the famous makers of positive displacement supercharger systems. Bell was looking for a test car for their new 3.6-liter liquid-cooled supercharger development program. Keller jumped at the opportunity, and with just 400 miles on the BOSS odometer she set out from San Antonio to California to drop off her car.

With a one piece driveshaft on board, a tank full of race fuel, the blower set for 21 psi, and 75-lbs fuel injectors, Keller’s car spun the dyno rollers to the tune of 851 hp! This was with stock exhaust and an otherwise stock engine in place. More than a significant gain, especially when you consider that with parasitic losses taken into account, the engine was now making more than double it’s factory rated output at the flywheel.

With great power comes the need for greater durability. Keller soon found out the same thing we did with our own Wild E Coyote [3], the stock MT-82 six-speed transmission simply doesn’t have the guts when horsepower starts increasing, especially when that horsepower is increasing exponentially. “I broke two input shafts and blew apart 4th gear. I had plans to race the car, so something had to be done,” she says.

[4]

A plan was hatched and the BOSS received a full 6R80 transmission swap with Circle D converter. This swap included the complete wiring harness and computer. This was the first BOSS we’d heard of making such a change.

Keller also had the goal of running the car in the Texas Mile [5], so she knew that it would need a stouter fuel system to withstand the stress that comes from standing mile competition. To that end she updated the car with a Fore Innovations return style fuel system and ID2000 injectors. The switch was also made to run the car on E85, which is rapidly becoming the favorite fuel of forced induction fans everywhere.

The BOSS is still utilizing it’s stock exhaust manifolds, although it now sports an off-road x-pipe and three-inch Magnaflow axle-back system. There’s also an ATI [6] SFI approved balancer on board to help keep things legal at the track.

[7]

Suspension upgrades include BMR rear upper and lower control arms and panhard bar. Keller is kept safe with the help of a Wolf Racecraft six-point rollbar.

The night before the car’s debut at the Texas Mile, Lund Racing’s Jon Lund performed a street tune on the car. With the upgrades completed, Keller packed up and headed for the Mile in hopes of turning in a fast time.

[8]While at the Texas Mile event, she ran 202.7 mph on her first pass. According to Keller this was with the car in fifth gear, on the rev limiter. Keep in mind this car’s engine aside from the blower and a set of Triangle Speed Shop Billet Oil Pump gears, is untouched, as delivered from Ford. The car’s body also remained untouched, with no modifications, tape, or parts removed Keller says. She felt the car had the potential for more speed, but the shorter tire was preventing her from finding out. Unable to source a taller set of skins, Keller parked the car, satisfied with being the world’s fastest BOSS 302, and her 202+ attempt.

Keller says her next goal for the car is to record a nine-second pass at the drag strip, something we’d say is definitely within her grasp. A trip back to the mile is in order, and this time Keller is prepared with a set of taller tires. Her goal in the fall meet will be to break past 205 mph.

The car is still street driven regularly as well, with the 3.15 gears necessary for achieving those 200-plus mph speeds, she can average around 18 mph on long hauls. Not bad for a car making double it’s original power output.

We’ll be watching this fall to see if Tracy Keller can crack the 205 barrier, and just how fast she’ll go. Will she remain the owner of the World’s Fastest BOSS 302, or will someone else show up with an even stouter combo? We’ll have to wait until October to find out, but rest assured we’ll be watching.