Home / Ford News and Reviews
2015 Saleen S302 Black Label Mustang
Patrick Rall's picture
By Patrick Rall Mar 23 2015 - 3:24pm

The 2015 Ford Mustang Saleen S302 Black Label is Ready to Hunt Hellcats

There are few names in the high performance Ford Mustang world more respected for their go-fast capabilities than Saleen Automotive so it should come as no surprise that the new Saleen S302 Black Label based on the 2015 Mustang GT is one of the baddest ponies on the block – with 730 supercharged horsepower ready to tackle the Dodge Challenger Hellcat.
Advertisement


The 2015 Ford Mustang is one of the most important performance cars in the history of Ford Motor Company, as it is one of the first marketed on a global level and it is THE first Mustang to be built for right hand drive markets. With the global impact of the 2015 Mustang, it should come as no surprise that the Mustang-tuning experts were quick to roll out high performance packages and it looks like the newest Saleen S302 Black Label is the nastiest option for the next gen pony car.

The Saleen S302 Black Label version of the 2015 Ford Mustang GT has a unique aerodynamics package, unique wheels, big brakes, a high performance suspension package and a supercharger kit that raised the output up to 730 horsepower and 600lb-ft of torque.

"From the beginning of this project, we have always known that we wanted to create the most powerful production Mustang we have ever built", said Sven Etzelsberger, Saleen’s V.P. of Engineering. "I can happily say that we have accomplished this goal with great success."

The Exterior Upgrades
The Saleen S302 Black Label package for the 2015 Ford Mustang GT begins on the outside, where Steve Saleen’s team has added a unique hood, front fascia, side skirts, rear spoiler and lower rear fascia, effectively lengthening the car by an inch up front and two inches out back. Overall, this body kit helps to improve aerodynamics substantially while the use of carbon fiber components helps to keep the weight down. When combined with the Saleen grille, the Saleen 20 inch wheels, the rear Saleen taillight panel and the model specific badges, the 2015 Saleen S302 Black Label Mustang sports a very aggressive appearance that will allow this beast to stand out in any crowd.

The Moving Parts
While the exterior of the 2015 Saleen S302 Black Label Mustang is both attractive and functional, the key to this car’s beastly nature is what you really cannot see. Sure, you can see the big brake package through the 5-spoke wheels, but what you cannot see is the Saleen S4 suspension package that adds new springs, shocks, sway bars and bushings all around. Also, Saleen has added a supercharger package to the 5.0L V8 that lifts the output from 435 horsepower and 400lb-ft of torque to a whopping 730 horsepower and 600lb-ft of torque. Also, according to the folks at BestRide.com, it was announced during the Saleen press conference that when you run the S302 Black Label on higher octane race fuel (specifically 95 octane or higher), the output rises to 750 horsepower.

Considering the lightweight nature of the Saleen package, there is a very good chance that the new S302 Black Label will give the new Hellcat Dodge Challenger a run for its money. Best of all, the newest and most powerful Saleen Mustang has a price that starts at $73,214, making it only slightly more expensive than the 707 horsepower Challenger.

Auto News
Performance Vehicles
Ford News and Reviews

Sign-up to our email newsletter for daily perspectives on car design, trends, events and news, not found elsewhere.

Comments

SRT Muskoka wrote on March 24, 2015 - 10:22am
Hey .. Tune up the HellCat like has happened to the Mustang .. you gotta compare what is a standard vs what has been upgraded... and at what cost to customize the the Mustang and what happens to warranty or repairs .. what will the dealership do and say for your customized Mustang? Anyway it's well documented you can 'tune' the HellCat to 850+ HP!
Patrick Rall wrote on March 24, 2015 - 12:40pm
I understand, but for what it is worth, you can order this car from a licensed Saleen dealership. You cannot go out and buy an already-built Hellcat Challenger just yet. This isnt your typical tuner package where you send your car out and they build it. You buy this car like this, so it is a pretty good comparison for Mustang fans.
SRT Blackie wrote on March 25, 2015 - 8:47am
Sorry! I don't agree ... see what follows: Saleen is an American niche manufacturer of ultra-high performance vehicles, technical performance parts, lifestyle accessories and apparel. With more than 30 years of automotive heritage, Saleen has continually set the bar for automotive design and performance engineering in both street and racing applications. 'Born of Racing', founder (and racecar driver) Steve Saleen assembled the team to bring his vision of the Saleen S7 Supercar to life in both a street and track format. Saleen currently offers a range of high-performance vehicles: The Saleen 302 & 351 Mustang, Saleen 570 Challenger, and Saleen 620 Camaro. Everything at Saleen is literally built from the ground-up, by skillful hands. The Saleen staff consists of a wide range of designers, R & D engineers and production team members that work together pushing the envelope of development, manufacturing, and certification of high-performance specialty vehicles. My point was ..it is customized / modified .. not from the dealership ie from the dealer production facilities. If you are a gear head ... you know if you were to customize / modify the HellCat via Saleen performance .. no comparison for a Mustang to even attempt to take on the HellCat
Automotive wrote on March 25, 2015 - 10:55am
Dyno test shows the hellcat at 722 hp and 669 torque at the crank. NHRA certified record has the charger running the 1/4 in 11.0 seconds with stock tires. Slicks gets a 10.7 second run . Soon nitrous kits will be available pushing the hellcat to 200hp add on. A few grand gets you to a serious drag car and the hellcat will reign cost of hp torque.
yourmama wrote on March 25, 2015 - 6:14pm
The hellcat is already tuned to its fullest!!
SRT Blackie wrote on March 26, 2015 - 7:57am
Not true - Hey - search the internet with "tuning the 2015 hellcat challenger"! Posted : 2015-03-18 After getting a baseline dyno reading on his 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, John Michael Hansen had Torrie McPhail of Unleashed Tuning see how much extra power they could squeeze from the stock Hellcat. Using an HPTuners tuning tool, McPhail was able to increase the output at the wheels from 646hp and 585lb-ft of torque to 680 horsepower and 616 torque. With no other modifications, simply tuning the stock computer to optimize performance allowed Mr. Hansen’s Hellcat Challenger to pick up 34 horsepower and 31 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Provided that we use the somewhat comical 9% drivetrain loss that we calculated above, this Challenger is making no less than 740 horsepower and 671 lb-ft of torque at the motor…from a car with no modifications and a simple engine computer tune.
Thomas wrote on March 29, 2015 - 9:01pm
Hey they Hellcat is a tuned challenger... Think about it.
SRT Blackie wrote on March 31, 2015 - 8:18am
Thomas .. Don't understand or get your comment? Think about .. 'what"? The blog is about tuning a BASE Hellcat to more HP to compare the 'tuned' stats with other 'tuned' cars .. in this case .. the Mustang! If you're going to compare 'things' .. you gotta make sure .. apples to apples .. and . 'things' being compared .. starting from the same baseline! Otherwise no comparison can be evaluated or be debated!
Dean wrote on April 18, 2015 - 2:39pm
Although it sounds like you prefer the HellCat. You may want to research the Saleen a little more. It comes with a 3ry/36,000 ml warranty for Saleen. Sure you can tune the HellCat to 850 hp, but the car can't even handle a corner with the the Hp it has now!!! The Saleen will out perform the HellCat in every aspect.... The Saleen is built from the vision of a true Race Team... If you follow the F1 series you would know this... Let me know when you get your HellCat and we can put it up to the Challange...
Dean wrote on April 18, 2015 - 2:43pm
Although it sounds like you prefer the HellCat. You may want to research the Saleen a little more. It comes with a 3ry/36,000 ml warranty for Saleen. Sure you can tune the HellCat to 850 hp, but the car can't even handle a corner with the the Hp it has now!!! The Saleen will out perform the HellCat in every aspect.... The Saleen is built from the vision of a true Race Team... If you follow the F1 series you would know this... Let me know when you get your HellCat and we can put it up to the Challange...
joseph. dawson wrote on April 10, 2015 - 5:21pm
So why aren't we talking about the 662hp gt500 with mods to see what it produces.
Me wrote on April 20, 2015 - 1:59pm
Some of the comments made are useless....no stock model car is considered a tuned car if it's still the way it left the show room,and factory....the helicat is not a tuned challenger ,it's a challenger period,just a different model,just like a RT or a SRT are different models,yet still stock untuned cars...... As far as the Shelby the models ford produces at the factory are stock mustangs,the models that shelby America produces at their plant are a none stock tuner car..period,just like anything Hennessy makes or sells through a dealer,period...Shelby just happenes to have a gray area,like the firehawk did...enjoy it while you can..this is the real hot rod era..