Countdown to Extinction

Michael Ellan left import cars behind in his Armageddon turbo’d 2014 Mustang GT

By Steve Turner

Photos courtesy of Michael Ellan and Motiva Performance

It’s not often that you think of Armageddon as a positive thing. You might associate it with everything coming to an end. In the case of Michael Ellan, it was the combination of the Coyote engine and an Armageddon turbo kit that brought him back to Mustangs from the import dark side.

That’s definitely an Armageddon with a happy ending, but it is kind of sad to hear that Michael moved from Foxes to imports. Like the second act to any three-act play, there have to be struggles before we arrive at the happiness.

“My 2014 GT’s (aka Rumblebelly) journey began years ago when the Coyote platform hit. By then I had already owned two Mustangs, an ’89 LX and a ’91 GT,” Michael confessed. “However, I was swayed to the dark side of turbocharged imports for a while and then dabbled with a few European cars. During that timeframe my fastest car was a mid-10-second Evo VIII. I liked the 4G63 platform but truly missed the low-end grunt of my Mustangs.”

Ah, we know the feeling. If you haven’t driven your Mustang in a while, the glory that is the torque of a V-8 is something that brings a smile to your face every time. Still, a stock Mustang is never the end of the road. Rather, it is the beginning.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before I had one. Fast forward to mid-2013 when we all started to see production-ready variants of the 2015 Mustang,” Michael added. “I wasn’t a fan, rather than go into why, I’ll just say that within three weeks I sold my Porsche 997 C4S (a.k.a. Rumblebutt, with her rear-mounted six) and picked up my 2014 GT base manual with the Performance Pack and Recaros.”

Ford was obviously looking to attract Euro buyers with the S550, but that styling sent a Euro fan straight into a 2014 Mustang. We certainly can’t argue with following your heart, and that’s just what Michael did. Of course, after years of playing with turbo imports and euros, Michael needed to boost his Coyote.

“Coming from the import scene I expected to find a plethora of supporting kits for such a potent platform,” he said. “Combine that with what I experienced with the finely crafted aftermarket parts for my C4S and as you can imagine my expectations were high.”

Having considered numerous power adder options, Michael kept coming back to turbocharging as his booster of choice. In the end, his appreciation of quality and this love of turbos led to his selection of the Armageddon Turbo System, as it featured top-notch construction and parts from the likes of Kooks, Tial, and Garrett. After the decision was made, all he had to do was have the kit installed.

“I had purchased it a few months prior but didn’t end up having it installed until just over a week prior to the 50th Mustang Anniversary in Charlotte. My wife, son, and I had already planned on going and it turned out that Jeremiah Hussey (a.k.a. QCKSNAKE) and TruDyno were in North Carolina and preferred installers and tuners for the kit. They were able to rock the install and the tune prior to the show,” he said. “We shot down there early and were on the dyno in no time. At 8 psi, on TruDyno’s Mustang dyno, she put down 637 hp and 524 lb-ft. I was shocked at how brutally fast the car was while behaving like a stock car below 3,000 rpm. Pop open the hood and everything looks as clean as can be.”

The beauty of modern Mustangs is just how driveable they are when they have been properly modded. Michael didn’t think twice about hopping in his newly turbocharged ride and driving it from the 50^th Anniversary show in Charlotte, North Carolina, back to his home.

“After the show, we drove the car nearly 9 hours back to Philly with only four stops and zero issues with the exception of an overly eager late-’90s Viper owner who thought he was going to pick on Rumblebelly,” Michael enthused. “Keeping in mind I had a full trunk-full of luggage and 200 extra pounds of human family in the car, we destroyed him on each of our three pulls…”

It sure sounds like Michael made the right choice returning to the Mustang fold with a twin-turbo Coyote. As much fun as the car is in this form, we don’t expect it to stay at this power level for long. He has his sights set on running the car in standing-mile events and eventually making Rumblebelly one of the fastest Coyote ’Stangs in the standing mile.

We’d definitely say his Blue Oval renewal is providing many happy returns.

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