Stock-Motor Sticks

Lethal Performances rips off impressive passes in its manual-trans S550s

By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Lethal Performance

We have seen a lot of amazing, record-setting times from 2015+ Mustangs in the last year or so. They have ranged from all-out race cars to impressive street cars, but often the quickest times have come with automatic transmissions and fortified engines. Last week the crew at Lethal Performance ran some stellar e.t.’s with its 2015 Mustang GT and EcoBoost and these cars are still sporting stock engines and stock transmissions!

“Had an awesome time at the track today with my crew and friends,” Lethal Performance’s Jared Rosen enthused. “My boy Bruce ‘Jeremy Martorella’ Jenner managed to click off a 9.70 at 150 mph in the Whipple-powered 2015 GT and also ripped off a sick 11.1 at 124 mph in the 2015 EcoBoost.”

With a fresh set of shoes and a tight 10-rib blower belt, the Team Lethal 2015 Mustang GT ripped off an impressive 9.72 at 150.28 mph during a test session at Palm Beach International Raceway. You can see the car in action right here…

Once again it was hot shoe Jeremy Martorella banging gears in the car. He has been driving Lethal’s cars for years and does a superb job squeezing every last bit of e.t. out of manual-trans ’Stangs.

“Previous to this time out we went a 10.05 and given the fact that it makes over 800 pounds of torque, it’s kind of tricky to drive on a radial tire on a test and tune night, so we decided to put slicks on it,” he explained.

After experimenting with the launch rpm, Jeremy settled on 4,200-rpm but didn’t side step the clutch. Instead he just worked the clutch quickly so as not to break traction.

“Just adjusting the launch rpm we ended up going from a 1.54 short time (on radials) to a 1.47, and we went 9.72,” he said. “…It’s just amazing with a stock engine.”

He also revved the engine to 8,000 rpm where he had previously shifted at 7,500 rpm, and the blower belt held boost so the power remained consistent until its peak. By shifting it a bit beyond the peak, the power doesn’t drop when Jeremy bangs the gears.

“You don’t feel it in the car,” he said. “The power falls off a little bit, but on the gear change it goes right into the powerband again.”

That run was definitely impressive, but perhaps even more impressive was the run Jeremy made in Lethal’s EcoBoost Mustang. This car also features a stock engine (upgraded with a Lethal/Rarefab turbo kit) and a stock transmission. Jeremy jumped from one car to the other and described it as a different world. He opted to shift this one at 6,800 rpm and the car ran an 11.1 at 125 mph. Check it out…

We recently detailed the fuel system upgrades that enabled this performance, and this car will most certainly run in the 10s in the near future with a few more refinements. However, it is already one of the quickest stock-motor, manual-trans EcoBoost Mustangs around.

While some have speculated that both of these cars are living on borrowed time due to their stock engines and transmissions, Jeremy believes that given the right treatment they can deliver a reasonably long tour of duty.

“I definitely think some cars get a bad rap because of the tuning and driving,” he said. “This one has a good owner, a good tuner and a good driver and you can see the results.”

For more details you can join the discussion of these passes over on our forum.

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