A Fox Body Mustang running twin 102mm turbochargers and a FuelTech FT500 engine management system laid down a 3.91 at low elapsed time in the eighth mile – on a tire narrow enough to look undersized for the power on tap. Driver Josh Klugger backed up the pass in qualifying, no small feat with this much boost on tap. Here’s what it actually takes to make a small block Mustang run numbers like that.
These 102mm twin turbo Mustangs just do NOT get old! These guys are making incredible amounts of horsepower all on this itty bitty tire, FLYING down the track at low 3.90 1/8th mile passes! Mr. Josh Klugger is no exception, laying down an impressive 3.91 in qualifying! We caught up with this FuelTech powered FT500 Ford Mustang Fox Body!
Three-point-nine-one at low elapsed time, on a tire skinny enough to look like it belongs on a bicycle – those are not numbers a stock Fox Body Mustang was ever supposed to produce. Getting there means feeding a small block far more air than any naturally aspirated combination could ever provide, and that’s exactly where twin 102mm turbochargers and a FuelTech engine management system come into the picture. Driver Josh Klugger’s Mustang backed up that qualifying pass without drama, which in eighth-mile drag racing is often harder than making the power in the first place. So what actually goes into building a Fox Body that can run numbers like that on a track prepped for cars several times its displacement?
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Small Block, Enormous Turbos
Twin 102mm turbochargers are an extreme sizing choice even by drag radial standards – turbos that large typically need a serious amount of engine speed and boost pressure to spool efficiently, which is why builds running this combination are almost always paired with a fully built, stroked short block rather than a stock long block. The tradeoff is lag at low RPM in exchange for genuinely massive top-end airflow once the turbos come online.
Why FuelTech Controls Make or Break a Build Like This
A FuelTech FT500 engine management system gives the tuner the ability to manage boost, timing, and fuel delivery in real time across a launch, which matters enormously on a combination pushing this much cylinder pressure through a comparatively narrow drag radial. Get the tune wrong and the tire simply can’t hook; get it right and the result is a 3.91 at the eighth-mile stripe on a tire width that looks almost comically undersized for the power going through it.
Runs like that only happen with the fundamentals dialed in – suspension geometry tuned for weight transfer, a converter matched to the turbo combination’s powerband, and a chassis built to survive repeated full-throttle launches without flexing or breaking parts. It’s a reminder that in drag racing, the engine gets the attention, but the chassis and tune are just as often what separates a good pass from a broken one.
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