Photos courtesy of Jon Lund II

Fred Cook, Nelson Whitlock, and the team of technicians at Evolution Performance have established a reputation as one of the finest shops on the East Coast, if not in the entire country for S197 owners who have a higher standard for their definition of what is real fast. Recently the team, led by master technician Chuck Wrzesnewski, took this brand-spankin’-new 2013 Mustang (that was delivered to them with only 34 miles on it, straight from the dealership) and turned it into a mid-eight-second monster in the span of six fifteen hour days.

The car is owned by Chicago’s Justin Cyrnek, a previous Evolution customer who also had them modify his Gotta Have It Green 2013 a little while back. Cyrnek dropped off the new car with the express intention of making it into what it is today, the world-record-holding street-driven Coyote-powered machine that takes the title away from then current record holder Terry “Beefcake” Reeves. Driven by Evolution’s Nelson Whitlock, right off the trailer a 9.20 at 148 MPH was the result, and by the end of the day the car turned in an incredible 8.74 at 155 MPH on 18 pounds of boost and the 50-shot of NOS nitrous oxide. Car owner Cyrnek even took his chance in the seat for one pass, cranking off an 8.99 at 151 MPH on the fourth pass before Whitlock got back in the seat to set the record on the fifth.

How was this insane elapsed time achieved? It wasn’t a simple task, although the Evolution gang often makes it seem so. JRS Fabrication did a roll-cage in the car, along with one of Ford Racing’s rear seat delete kits, and then Wrzesniewski and the gang were off on a marathon build. “We pulled the stock engine out, and already had a built engine ready to go, and we built the whole car in six days. It was at the track on the eighth day after we received it. Since we do a lot of these cars, we know exactly what needs to be done to make them go fast. The fuel system, the superchargers, they all need to be mounted the same way. There are some variations but for the most part a lot of things are done the same. We know the S197 chassis in and out, I know everything I need ahead of time in terms of parts selection,” said Cook. 

Mike Rauscher at L&M Engines in Hatboro, Pennsylvania has established a reputation as one of the finest minds in the Coyote/Modular engine building business over the last decade, and it was in his direction that the Evolution team turned to bulletproof Crynek’s engine before the mill was installed into the car. Rauscher put together a 302-cubic inch Coyote using one of his Tornado engine blocks, complete with Diamond pistons, Manley Pro Series I-Beam connecting rods, billet oil pump gears, and ARP hardware throughout. L&M custom cams were paired with a set of Evolution’s Stage 3 CNC-machined heads that sport Ferrea valves and titanium retainers. Topping it off is an Evolution CNC-machined intake manifold, and the main motivator, one of Ford Racing‘s 2.9L “Crusher” Whipple superchargers. 

The 6R80 automatic transmission was modified with a set of Stage 2 clutches from Exedy and a host of Circle D Specialties transmission parts, namely their billet intermediate shaft and Pro Series billet torque converter. The engine breathes through a set of American Racing Headers 1 7/8-inch longtube headers with 3.5-inch collectors and turndowns, while the fuel system was pumped up with a Fore Innovations Fuel Pump Module including a pair of killer 450 LPH pumps, squirting Sunoco E85R racing fuel. A host of other gear from Evolution like their billet fuel rails and alternator brace were onboard, while JLT Performance‘s Super Big Air, ATI Performance Products‘ 15% overdrive damper, Brisk Silver spark plugs, and Weld Racing 15-inch RT-S wheels were along for the ride. The killer ET’s were recorded on a brand-new set of Mickey Thompson‘s 275/60/15 ET Street Radial Pro tires that were installed just for the test session.

The suspension was modified as well. The rear of the car received a full complement of Steeda components including their upper control arm mount, adjustable upper control arm, lower control arms, and lower control arm relocation brackets. In the front they’ve got a full complement of BMR Suspension‘s equipment including a K-member, adjustable a-arms, and tubular radiator support. An Evolution antiroll bar was employed along with a full set of Evolution’s coil springs. The car was built, with the exception of the rollcage, at Evolution Performance in Aston, Pennsylvania, and tuned by Jon Lund of Lund Racing. Cook tells us that the car will be in attendance at the NMRA’s 5.0 Shootout to be held later this year at the Norwalk stop of that series.  Wow fast will it be then? That’s a couple of months away, and they managed to run 8.74 in six days, so imagine what they might be able to achieve with more time.