So, as faithful readers will remember, in December Jenny and I were treated to the delivery of a new addition to the family. 



Being an out-of-state car (I purchased the car from Frontier Ford in Anacortes, Washington), it was a bit of a hassle getting through the California Smog and Licensing, but finally I got the number plates, and she was now road-ready. 



The next bit of drama was an announcement by Saleen Inc that they would no longer honour warranties. That was a bit of a concern, and till the man himself, Steve Saleen, stepped up and said that his new company (SMS Supercars) would honour all existing Saleen warranties. What a guy!

Now in the owner's manual, Saleen were very clear about the running-in period. Opinions differ on whether this is necessary or not, but with a high-performance, hand built 5.0l engine, I wasn't taking any chances. So, being the good boy I am, I kept the revs down to a reasonable range. Well, today was a big day!



So, a quick call to the lads at TPS Motorsports, and SallyX and I were off for our first run on the dyno. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared enough, so the video is a totally crappy one shot from my phone - it really doesn't do justice to the adrenalin pumping scream that SallyX lets out as she runs her way up to 6400RPM.



The results? 500HP (SAE), and 460ft-lbs of torque - right where I was hoping to be!





Not bad for a bone-stock car. Here are the gory details of what an S302E consists of, if you're interested:

Introducing the latest member of the stable - SallyX, a 2008 Saleen S302E "Extreme" in Speedlab Yellow.



And for all of you who are concerned about the environmental impact of this 5.0l, 620HP beast - I have put less than 500 miles on her in three months, so not too bad for the environment.



Buying the car was kind of a tough process - because I am picky, and had to have a yellow Mustang, my choices were limited. In fact, you are looking at it - 1-of-1, the only factory yellow Mustang for 2008. I bought the car from Frontier Ford in Anacortes, Washington State - a great dealership, highly recommended. I had been virtual tyre-kicking for months, but had been waiting to see what the new GT500KR would be like. Luckily for me, the KR was delayed long enough for the bottom to fall out of the car market. In the end we decided against the KR, but Frontier Ford made me an offer I couldn't refuse on this Saleen.

The original plan had been to drive up to Washington in the '98 Saleen, drop that off for the trade, and drive back in SallyX. Unfortunately the Gods of Weather had a thing or two to say about that, and with many feet of snow piled up between here and Washington, we decided it was far more prudent to ship the car.

We were knocked out when she arrived - she is abslutely stunning! You can't see too well from the picture, but the entire roof is glass - the Saleen "Scenic-View" roof. We are still running through a few paperwork challenges though. First off there are many beaureaucratic hoops to jump through to import a car to California, and the "smog-referee" gave me the run around, insisting I provided reams of paperwork for the car. I got all that sorted, but still haven't got the official plates yet - with the California Government on a "go-slow" (they laid off many temporary workers, and now shut down 1 work day in 10), things are a little behind. Then, the car manufacturer decided that they would go bust, so I am was left without a warranty! The owner of Saleen Inc, Hancock Park Associates, seems to have done some serious behind-the-scenes maneuvering, so I am seeing what we can do to get them to provide at least something to existing warranty holders. At least I paid out for the extended warranty (these high-end cars only come with a 12-month warranty anyway), so will be covered in the event of any serious problems.

As SallyX is still "running in" (and I am sticking to it with this hand-crafted engine), I haven't had a chance to push her too much as yet - but even at 4000RPM, she rumbles along nicely. In order to make up for this running-in period (and for neatly going bankrupt and taking my warranty with it...), Saleen Inc gave me a gift-certificate to the Skip Barber High Performance Driving School. This is a *must* for any petrolhead - a day spent driving high-performance cars hard - skidding, drifting, autocross, track time - it was a heavenly day! No Fords in the line up, but I did get to drive a couple of BMWs, and Infinity IS3, a Porche Boxter and 911, a Mazda RX8, and a Lotus Elise. I think my favorite part was drifting the RX8 in the skid pan, followed closely by zooming around the cones in an autocross course in the Elise.

So, have you nourished your inner petrol-head today?