We believe the 2011 BOSS 302R Mustang race car that Ford Racing rolled onto the track in January is a sign of things to come. It has been one of the least best kept secrets that Ford plans to build a BOSS 302 Mustang feature car for some time. Now that the BOSS 302R race car has been showing up at race tracks and getting seen up close, more of the picture seems to be coming clearer.
First of all the stripe package, unique grille with floating pony and bars, rear deck spoiler and gas cap emblem are far more developed and finished than one would expect to find on a run of 50 purpose-built race cars. Racing roll-cage and suspension aside, it would appear we are looking at what is a stone’s throw away from a production version 2011 or 2012 BOSS 302 Mustang.
Fresh photos of the BOSS 302R engine show us more clues as to where this is really headed. The BOSS 302R features a special intake manifold mounted on top of the all new for 2011 5.0 liter “coyote’ engine. The “tunnel ram” style intake is significantly taller than the standard GT intake and has a single plate large bore throttle-body.
While one would at first assume it is a Ford Racing intake specifically for the BOSS 302R race car, consider the fact that it has wide indentation across the top to accommodate the factory strut brace. The finned design at the top also has blank spots that would be just right for “BOSS 302” emblems you would expect on a production car. Also note the intake port tubes appear to be production grade multi-piece molded composite, not something you would expect on a short run of 50 race cars.
Additionally, the plastic intake tube between the throttle-body and factory air-box also has the necessary flat spots molded in to accommodate PCV/vacuum lines and the acoustic sound tube to the firewall that pipes the throaty V8 sound into the passenger compartment. How about that? Such production level parts on a “race car”. And how many race cars have you seen using the stock factory air filter box?
The only question remaining at this point is how much additional horsepower will the production 2011 or 2012 BOSS 302 Mustang have? With the 2011 Mustang GT already setting the baseline at 412hp, one would expect a BOSS 302 feature car to sport a few more. The taller tunnel-ram style intake and a more aggressive tune has to be good for a 20-30hp bump at minimum.
All said, the BOSS 302R race car is a brilliant marketing move on Ford’s part. The car hopefully makes some good showings this race season to build a pedigree. Then when a production BOSS 302 Mustang launches they have all that pomp and circumstance to pump into the car’s image. Then of course there is all that field testing that has gone into the engine and drive train
