Tested: Ford Mustang RTR Spec 3 Is the Most Fun You Can Have in a Mustang

• What's new: RTR's Spec 3 Mustang showcases (almost) everything the company can do to Ford's performance coupe.
• Why it matters: RTR is the newest "one-stop shop" for modding a Mustang, but it achieves this with Ford's blessing, which can include warranty coverage on mods.
• Edmunds says: The raw power comes in second place to the RTR's handling and willingness to simply hang it out, whenever, wherever.

After one attempt to use the launch control system (my notes simply read "waste of time"), and several other attempts to find a good launch rpm and when exactly I could give the RTR full throttle, I ripped off the quickest run it could do. With all its systems off and the engine rpm barely above idle, I quickly fed out the clutch as I pushed the gas pedal down to about 80%, or about all the rear tires could tolerate. It's a really slow getaway, taking nearly 0.4 seconds to move a single foot (in the vehicle testing business, we call this rollout), but any more throttle, and the rear tires would go up in smoke and spoil the run. (Remember, we test on standard asphalt, with the tire pressures supplied by the manufacturer. And we don't warm the tires with copious burnouts.) The rears would start spinning, laying down a little rubber, from the middle of first gear right to the shift into second, where it would take a monumental amount of patience and throttle control to manage the RTR and keep it from going sideways. I used the Mustang's no-lift shift feature, not necessarily for its speed (I think you can shift quicker without using it), but because it provided a predictable clutch release after every shift. That's critical when the tires just aren't wide enough or sticky enough to handle the power.

I couldn't give the RTR more than 80% throttle in second gear either. Even then, I had to ride out some pretty serious wheelspin as well as the rear end "walking" to the right over 60 mph. The tires weren't smoking, but they were leaving some serious lines on the asphalt right up to the shift into third gear. Only once I got into third could I feed in 100% throttle and ride out still more wheelspin before grabbing fourth gear just before the end of the quarter mile. Every run ended with a strong exhale and the feeling that I'd actually just done some work. A lot of seriously quick cars can be launched and simply guided through the quarter mile with one hand on the wheel. That's definitely not the case with the RTR, which makes it all the more fun. Did I mention it sounds epic? Because it sounds epic.

That's a lot of work for a 0-to-60-mph run of 5.0 seconds (4.6 seconds if you take off the 1 foot of rollout as other outlets do), and slower than the somewhat gimpy supercharged Dark Horse we have in our One-Year Road Test garage. But RTR is clear that the Spec 3 is not built for quarter-mile runs. The suspension is too stiff, and the tires are too hard and too narrow to have a chance of hooking up, even on a prepped surface like a drag strip. In chatting with RTR, the team said they're not opposed to creating a drag-oriented Mustang package in the future but maintained that their core audience is more interested in drifting and simply ripping through canyons than they are running down a drag strip. 

A fancy dancing pony

We live in a time where the stock brakes on a Mustang GT are pretty impressive. In fact, I'd put their feel and consistency up against the brakes of some BMWs and the Corvette Stingray. Thankfully, RTR didn't really touch the Mustang's brake hardware, but it still couldn't stop as well from 60 mph as a stock Mustang with narrower tires (105 feet with Pirelli P Zero rubber). The RTR did the same test in 112 feet, and that's likely down to the harder-wearing, less grippy and drift-friendly Nitto NT555 G2 rubber that came on the Spec 3 test car. Still, brake feel was excellent, and brake fade, even after some wild lapping around our handling circuit, was minimal.

But the best part of the RTR Spec 3 Mustang is the way it handles. Cutting right to the chase, it's the best-handling and most fun to drive Mustang I've ever driven, and that includes the super rare GTD. Yeah, other Mustangs put up higher skidpad numbers, but none have the steering feel and accuracy of the RTR. And absolutely none of them behaves so intuitively either. This is all down to the suspension package equipped to the Spec 3 test car we had, but these parts are available à la carte, so you can bolt them onto your otherwise stock Mustang and have some fun.

Around our skidpad, the RTR immediately showed Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s propensity to drift anything, with its own willingness to rotate at the slightest lift of the throttle. Very few cars are truly neutral around a skidpad; most understeer (where the front tires lose grip first) and can only oversteer (where the rear tires lose grip) with some deliberate stabs at the gas. With minimal steering and throttle work, the RTR could be balanced right on the edge of grip but was also quick to recover from a little too much sliding. For someone who has driven a lot of Mustangs (me), the steering was a revelation. It's light enough yet still full of more feel than the steering on any other Mustang I've driven, and doesn't have the sadly typical dead spot just off center that plagues even our track-oriented Dark Horse.

Around our tight handling loop, the RTR was more or less a bull in a china shop. With massive power on tap and a bunch of slow-to-medium speed corners, the RTR's acceleration had to be carefully managed at all times. The neutral handling I found on the skidpad remains, even at speeds approaching 80 mph. The RTR was eager to turn in, but also eager to drift into, through, and out of every corner. Despite its sledgehammer-like power delivery, the RTR took a light touch and finesse to keep it mostly tidy and not overly sideways. That's in stark contrast to the Dark Horse, which seems to demand more aggressive steering inputs despite its wider, stickier tires and aggressive alignment. Like running this thing through the quarter mile, attacking our handling course was equal parts exhausting, rewarding and exhilarating. 

A parts showcase

For most people, the Spec 3 package on the RTR Mustang is ridiculously expensive. Sure, it looks sick and pulls really hard, well past 120 mph, but the good news is that you can't get some of this car's performance (the best parts anyway) on their own, without setting your wallet on fire. To me, the move would be to buy a basic Mustang GT with a manual transmission (leave the 10-speed automatic for the rental Mustang) and equip it with all of RTR's suspension upgrades. Want more grip? Get some sticky Pirelli Trofeo RS tires. Want to go sideways? Bolt on the Nitto555 G2s that came on our test car. The suspension is adjustable, too, so if you're so inclined, you can tailor the handling to your style and let it rip. Everyone's been able to make a Mustang fast, but very few have made a Mustang handle the way the RTR does right out of the box.