MUSTANG 350R WHAT A CAR

The base Mustang is a very solid car. Redesigned for the 2015 model year to make it lighter, lower, meaner and quicker around the track, today's pony car is a quantum leap forward over the old. For less than $25,000, you can get a 300 horsepower model. $26,000 gets you the the 310-horsepower EcoBoost model and $opens the door to the 5.0-liter GT model, with a 435-horespower V8 and a series of other upgrades that make it an overall more serious contender.

But none of the above really compare to this, the GT350R. Under the hood here is a 5.2-liter V8, barely bigger than the GT yet a much more exotic bird. It's been built with a flat-plane-crank configuration, meaning it not only delivers a whopping 526-horsepower and 429 pound-feet but it revs up to a remarkable 8,250 RPM. This changes up the firing order of the engine, giving it characteristics much more like a proper race motor than anything you'd typically find idling in the next lane over at a stoplight.