The mid-engine Mustang that began as an Instagram rendering and turned into a real-life SEMA show car just had its first full road test. In the film below, the team dials in a few bits and pieces before taking it out onto slick streets to see how it handles the real world.
Before setting off, the team rebuilds the shift plate, improves the steering feedback, and re-engineers the exhaust. They work on the exhaust specifically to quiet the car down a little bit and to keep heat away from the shifter linkage which had been overheated by the previous design.
Despite efforts to muffle the car further, Chris Steinbacher, the man behind B is for Build, says that it’s still really loud inside the car: “We did a decent amount of sound deadening but it’s still really, really loud.” That noise is the only downside of the powertrain in this test though. The car drove well overall.
More: Renner’s M5 V10-Powered BMW E30 M3 Stole The Show At SEMA
View this post on Instagram
In other good news, the Mustang doesn’t scrape despite looking as though it’s mere millimeters from the road surface. Steinbacher is clearly excited about that as he gleefully declares that the car made it over a bump without scraping during the drive.
There’s still some fine-tuning to complete. As you can see in the video below, the Mustang tends to dart around the road a little bit. Steinbacher says that’s because the team hasn’t actually completed an alignment on the car yet. After its extensive history as a movie prop that was wrecked and then even more extensive customization for this project, we can see why an alignment is necessary.
On top of that, the team needs to add a rear three-quarter window and dial in the passenger-side wing mirror. To put it lightly, the driver can’t see what’s happening outside of the passenger side of the car. During the drive, the problem was so bad that it required Steinbacher to use hand signals with his camera crew to confirm when there was space to move across lanes.
Those adjustments and changes are coming in the near future. After that, the crew plans to compete in the mid-engine Mustang at autocross and maybe other venues too.