Street to Track: Engineering the Ultimate Mustang GT Experience

The Mustang GT is pretty special. That Coyote 5.0-litre under the bonnet is pumping out a healthy 486 horsepower, and on paper, it’s an absolute beast. Taking that beauty for a spirited drive down your favourite country road is one thing, but unleashing what it’s capable of on Australia’s best racing circuits is an entirely different beast altogether.

Sure, your stock GT will get around a track, but if you want to experience what that legendary pony car heritage is really about, the kind of driving that makes your heart pound and leaves you grinning for hours afterwards, you need to feel a Fastrack Experience GT transformation. Let’s see what that looks like.

The Mustang legacy in Australia

For over five decades, the Ford Mustang has held a special place in the hearts of Australian drivers. Long before we had the luxury of right-hand drive versions, passionate enthusiasts were importing left-hand drive classics and turning them into treasures. Those legendary machines (the 1965 Fastback with its distinctive roofline, the brutal 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake, and the mythical 1969 Boss 429) are now worth serious money and represent some of the coolest metal you can drive.

But it was 2015 that changed everything. When Ford finally gave us a factory right-hand drive Mustang, it was like someone had flicked a switch. Suddenly, that iconic pony car wasn’t just for the hardcore collectors willing to navigate left-hand drive challenges. The sixth-generation Mustang’s arrival saw an estimated 34,000 Mustang GTs find homes in Australian driveways.

Just as regular punters were falling in love with those sleek lines and that bold chassis, Supercars Australia chose the Mustang to replace the beloved Ford Falcon as the representative in Australia’s premier racing championship. Ford’s commitment to motorsport includes reviving the Mustang’s presence at Le Mans, developing a GT3 variant for international competition, and establishing a global racing ladder system through the Mustang Challenge and Cup series.

All of this is exactly why Fastrack Experiences knew the Mustang was the perfect foundation for our track experiences. When you’ve got a car that’s proving itself at the highest levels of competition, pumping out 486 horsepower, which is more muscle and engineering potential than you can legally explore on Australian roads, you’ve got the perfect recipe for a Fastrack Experience. If you want to experience what ‘taming the pony’ really means, the only place to do it is a motorsport venue where the car can stretch its legs.

Ford built the Mustang GT as a street car first

Ford knows that a Mustang needs to be comfortable enough for the daily commute, compliant enough to handle speed bumps, and reliable enough that you’re not calling roadside assistance every second weekend. These are good things for a road car, but they’re compromises that hold back the true potential of that magnificent Coyote engine.

Most people don’t realise how much engineering goes into making a car genuinely track-capable. They think slapping on some sportier tyres and maybe lowering the suspension a bit will do the trick. After watching countless enthusiastic owners learn this lesson the hard way, it’s like bringing a butter knife to a sword fight. Our V8 racecars offer something a lot better.

Unleashing the Coyote’s true potential

That 5.0-litre Coyote is already a brilliant piece of engineering, but in stock form, it’s wearing a suit and tie when it should be in racing overalls. The transformation starts deep inside the engine with a forged rotational assembly; rods and pistons built to handle serious punishment while delivering the kind of performance that makes the hair on your arms stand up.

Track driving puts your engine through scenarios that suburban driving never will. Extended high-RPM running, sustained high-load situations, and the kind of thermal stress that would make a regular engine wave the white flag. That’s why proper oil management is critical. We use GT350-spec sumps with greater oil capacity, billet oil pump gearing that won’t let you down when you need it most, and advanced timing chain setups that keep everything in perfect harmony.

Performance extractors and custom tuning work together to let that Coyote engine sing the way it was always meant to. The difference in sound alone is enough to give you goosebumps, but the performance gains are where things get really interesting.

Drive our transformed Mustang GTs today

Our Mustangs are machines that are both impressively fast and safe in the hands of any driver who’s willing to receive expert inputs from an experienced in-car coach. They honour the Mustang’s legendary heritage while pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s the difference between owning a muscle car and experiencing what muscle car legends are really made of. Put yourself behind the wheel for an experience you’ll never forget by choosing one of our Mustang drive and combo packages today.

Suspension is the foundation of everything

Your stock Mustang GT suspension is designed to handle a bit of comfort, some spirited driving, and the occasional pothole. But when you’re carrying serious speed through corners and pushing the limits of adhesion, you need suspension that’s built for one job: maximum performance.

We opt for Bilstein adjustable coilovers on the front and rear to give the precision tuning capability that separates the serious track cars from the weekend warriors. Adjustable sway bars let us fine-tune the balance between understeer and oversteer. When you’re carrying speed through a sweeping corner, that balance can mean the difference between setting a personal best and having a very expensive conversation with a tyre wall.

Our added roll cage features an 8-point setup that’s fully TIG-welded to Motorsport Australia specifications, which does mean extra safety, but also fundamentally changes how the car behaves by creating a rigid structure that connects the suspension towers. Suddenly, all that suspension tuning has a solid foundation to work from, and the car responds to your inputs with a precision that’ll make you wonder how you ever drove without it.

A drivetrain that puts the power where it belongs

The stock GT transmission is fine for street driving, but when you’re really leaning on that Coyote engine, you need something that can handle the punishment. We go with a Tremec Magnum conversion with a twin-plate clutch and a lightened flywheel, which transforms how the car delivers power. The response becomes immediate and almost telepathic.

Our custom single-piece aluminium tailshaft eliminates flex and vibration, while making for a properly built track differential with Tilton pumps and gearbox coolers, ensuring everything stays happy even when you’re pushing hard lap after lap. It’s the difference between a car that gives you a few good laps before things get sketchy and one that’ll perform consistently all day long.

Brakes are our most important performance mod

Anyone can make a car go fast, but to match the sort of demand Supercars Australia racecars require for controlled deceleration, we needed an endurance race-level upgrade. Making it decelerate safely from serious speed is where the engineering is critical.

Our AP Racing Supercar-spec brake kits have 375mm front and 355mm rear rotors, combined with 6-pot front and 4-pot rear callipers, creating a braking system that actually improves the more you use it.

The compound in those Project Mu Supercar pads is specifically designed for sustained high-temperature operation. While your stock brakes would be fading after a few hard stops, these setups just keep delivering consistent, confidence-inspiring performance.

Wheels, tyres, and contact patches

Everything we’ve talked about so far means nothing if you can’t get the power to the ground effectively. Our GTs have custom 10-inch rims supporting Dunlop Supercar slicks, which create contact patches that fundamentally change how the car behaves.

The grip levels are almost supernatural compared to street tyres, so corners that seemed challenging become confidence-inspiring. The car’s limits move into territory that most drivers never thought possible.

All this engineering creates something special

We can confidently say that our Mustangs create a driving experience that transforms regular people into grinning, adrenaline-fueled enthusiasts. We’ve watched countless drivers climb out of our transformed Mustangs with expressions that range from wide-eyed amazement to pure joy. They talk about the engine’s growl, the precision of the handling, the confidence-inspiring braking, and how the car seems to read their minds.

There’s something about sitting behind the wheel of a properly built track car that makes you acutely aware you’re about to experience something special. Plus, with proper coaching from our experts and a progressive approach, intimidation quickly transforms into respect, then excitement, then an almost addictive desire for more.