Last fall, Scott Hoag and his team at Mustang Racing Technologies (MRT) concocted another project for November’s SEMA show in Vegas, this time based on a Shadow Black 2017 EcoBoost S550. MRT’s SEMA efforts in recent years had been all over the Ford map – from Fusion, to Fiesta ST, to F-150 – so getting back into a Mustang project must have felt like old home week to Hoag, who had spent 17 years on FoMoCo’s payroll and is perhaps best known for spearheading the beloved 2001 Bullitt program.
Scott’s philosophy for the stick-shift ride was fairly simple: Expand on the S550 EcoBoost’s reputation as an agile, well balanced touring machine, taking it a few steps beyond. The result is dubbed the MRT Sport Touring – a name reflective of this show-pony’s all-around upgrades and sharp focus on road tripping rather than drag stripping.
The Sport Touring project showcases MRT’s imagination, products and capabilities while also being a rolling catalog of pony-specific carbon fiber components, inside and out. Let’s start with the exterior, where MRT artfully contrasted the S550’s monochromatic factory blackness with some miles-deep PPG Candy Cherry accents teamed with a full menu of components from Anderson Composites. That clear-coated carbon fiber hardware includes the hood, chin spoiler, grille, ground effects, rear spoiler and taillight panel, all of which blend oh-so-subtly with the ebony surroundings. Yet more black comes in the form of MRT’s own aluminum rear window slats; an old-school touch that translates well to a 21st century Mustang.
There’s nothing old school about the 20-inch hoops from HE, wrapped in Toyo Proxes T1 Sport rubber. Nine-inch front rims carry 255/35 rubber, while the ten-inchers out back are mounted with 285/35s. Only on forged wheels will you find spokes so thin that they absolutely showcase the Baer Eradispeed brake hardware tucked behind, with 6-piston front calipers emblazoned with MRT’s logo. Further inboard, suspension duties fall to a full set of coilovers from BC Racing — perhaps a lesser-known brand, but one that is making a name for itself in road racing and drifting circles.
