News
SALEEN PUTS THE E IN EXTREME WITH THE 2008 S302E
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Mustang Australia on behalf of Saleen Automotive, North America’s premiere specialty vehicle manufacturer announces it’s very aggressive 2008 MY product line up. The “Extreme”, along with 6 other models in Saleen’s 2008 model line up, made its world debut on the runways of the retired El Toro Airport in Southern California.
The S302E raises the bar for American performance cars while never sacrificing style and control. New for 2008, the car affectionately known as the “Extreme” boasts a “Saleen built” 302 cubic inch engine augmented by a patented Saleen twin-screw, intercooled supercharger. The combination delivers an unprecedented 620 Hp and 600 lb-ft of neck snapping, tyre incinerating torque.
“We believe Saleen have created a legendary new car. It’s thrilling” says Adrian Ashton of Mustang Australia. “It makes sense that as Saleen goes into their 25th Anniversary as a manufacturer in North America that they make the best and most powerful car yet.”
THE HARDWARE AND ENGINEERING
In the automotive history books, all great cars incorporate great hardware - the S302E is no different. The new “Extreme” features a litany of high quality performance parts that are a direct reflection of the companies’ race engineering heritage, combined with the best thinking in automotive OEM performance engineering.
The unique motor in the “Extreme” features a forged crank, forged connecting rods, individually blueprinted pistons, a 5 axis CNC aluminum cylinder head, high flow fuel injectors and high performance forged camshafts. All of these components have been orchestrated to mesh masterfully together, coupled to our best-in-class patented Saleen twin screw supercharger. When married to a short throw 6 speed manual transmission and a Max-grip rear differential, the “Extreme” screams to 100 kph in less than 4 seconds and clicks through the quarter mile in just under 12 seconds.
Saleen are making limited volume performance vehicles for people who really love cars, by people who really love cars. “I cannot think of a better place to put my 35 years of OEM engineering history to work,” says Vice Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Chris Theodore. Theodore is best known as being the father of the Ford GT while Vice President of Advance Product Development at Ford Motor Company. “Now I am helping build great Saleen cars in the same factory that I architected for the legendary Ford GT.’
“This is the best motor that we have ever done’, says Powertrain Engineering Lead Rob Simons. “We have really benefited from having Chris (Theodore) around. He brings perspective and experience to the company unlike anything that we have known prior.”
To get that kind of performance, the team had to get S302E’s power to the ground. This is accomplished with standard 20 inch, 5 spoke forged aluminum alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero ‘Russo’ tires. Since power is nothing without control, the “Extreme” also features a Saleen Racecraft suspension and an all new, second generation Watts Link system that is sure to help the driver maintain control through the corners. The chassis system is rounded out by upgraded 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS and traction control. This performance brake system features 15” vented, slotted rotors with 6 piston calipers in the front and 11.8” rear vented discs with single piston calipers in the rear.
“This was an interesting challenge for me. Everything I learned from the past on the S7 race team was put into play for this year’s production models. The result is one that I am sure that the market is going to love,” says Chassis and Dynamics Team Lead, Derk Hartland.
Only available at Mustang Australia in 2008!