2019 Saleen Black Label review

[NoVaGT]

I think Saleen would be further ahead if they stuck to mechanical and interior materials improvements. Just focus on performance and control, and making the interior tastefully beautiful. Add power, add control, add good interior stuff. Keep the exterior visual mods to almost 0, maybe a very discrete "Saleen" badge here or there, with the wheel & tires changes being the obvious denotation of the car being something special.

I think in Saleen's mind he's certain that massive body styling changes are basically marketing for his business. I don't think he realizes big styling changes usually create very subjective negative reactions , and hurt more than they help his brand.

If Saleen focused on words like "bespoke" and "custom", his business would improve. Add a lot of interior materials upgrade choices, like really nice natural leather and really beautiful fabric choices for the seats and other trim. Do really tasteful interior upgrades that subtly whisper "quality" and "rare", rather than scream "boy-racer douchebag".

ETA; I just looked at the interior photos of Saleen's Black Label car. It's got some beautiful touches, but it's ruined by the stupid "Saleen" badges every damn where. The dash finish, in particular, really does look great. It's a shame the name "Black Label" is wasted on such an ostentatious car.

If I was running Saleen, I'd create a new Mustang package (that's very customizable) called the "AM" package. The cars would start life as standard PP1 Premium or 301A, B/O sound/Magneride/Active Exhaust, spoiler delete. They would have Saleen's standard power, brakes, suspension and wheel/tire up-grades, as a start.

The exterior would have the C.S. window trim, and nothing more. If anything more, maybe some cooling ducts that are very discrete on the hood, to help with cooling. The wheels would be brushed aluminum, tasteful and beautiful, but with serious meats on them.

Then the interior would be the customer's choice of materials upgrades; actual leather, hand stitching, incredible woven fabrics, engine-turned aluminum dash panels, floor-mats your feet sink into. Make the interiors of the cars worthy of the rest of the vehicle.

Saleen badges would consist of very discrete red color "S"s. They'd be placed to make the stock GT badges read "GTS", with the red "S" meaning Saleen. Here's a few custom Mustang interiors that show these cars can be made to be beautiful inside.

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[Jetnoise]

Also, a big aesthetic problem with the '18+ hood is the S curve between the A pillar and lines in the middle of the hood. Horrible, but what ya gonna do? The '15-'17 have a gently flowing line from the A pillar down the hood

To each his/her own.
The 18 + brings a retro styling que back to life
The 15-17 imo looks like a Fusion eee gads

 

[MaskedRacerX]

1) The color on the Black Label is teh ghey ... (snicker ...)

2) Front end looks like a Charger (seriously, look at a modern Charger front end ...), though I like it (like the Charger too )

3) @HoosierDaddy Dude, the lines / flow on the 18+ hood is one of the best things about the new design (though I still contend the vents are a bit "tacked on")

 

[Erik427]

The review is so-so...........but Drew Phillips' photographs are as superb as ever

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/09/12/saleen-mustang-s302-black-label/#slide-2164777

Whilst I love the look of the Black Label, I actually prefer the look of the White/Yellow Label cars

I like the front end of the Yellow Mustang.

 

[jpogi]

800HP & 687TQ, and can only do 0-60 in 3.7 seconds.

RWD has it's limitations.

To be more specific FR (front engine - rwd)

Mid-rear configurations (with street tires) doesn't have this much of a problem . That's why the C8 Vette get's it's engine moved to the rear of the driver.

 

[NoVaGT]

To be more specific FR (front engine - rwd)

Mid-rear configurations (with street tires) doesn't have this much of a problem . That's why the C8 Vette get's it's engine moved to the rear of the driver.

Most certainly. The 911 does very well too.

Means nothing when discussing a Mustang though.

 

[Jmtoast]

To be more specific FR (front engine - rwd)

Mid-rear configurations (with street tires) doesn't have this much of a problem . That's why the C8 Vette get's it's engine moved to the rear of the driver.

Ferrari can pull off rwd, front engine with 800hp and get a repeatable legit sub 3 second 0-60 in the 812. Even in a $400k supercar it’s a rare feat but I’d love to know specifically how they do it. Assume it’s aero and Magnetic suspension related. The tires are good but not any stickier than what I have.

 

[jpogi]

Ferrari can pull off rwd, front engine with 800hp and get a repeatable legit sub 3 second 0-60 in the 812. Even in a $400k supercar it’s a rare feat but I’d love to know specifically how they do it. Assume it’s aero and Magnetic suspension related. The tires are good but not any stickier than what I have.

Probabaly because they engineered the chassis and suspenssion to be mated with that big 800hp v12, from the gound up, when they first took the drawing board.

While this Saleen is a S550 chassis originally designed and mated for 440 hp v8, but is now increased to 800hp. There are some inherent design in the front-rear weight balance, chassis and suspension that will make it harder for them to get the needed traction.

 

[NeedForGreen]

I like the look of the black label myself. I've seen some yellow labels on ebay and they look nice to me except for the exhaust. They went dual exhaust yet left a huge gap there from the quad. Doesnt look right.

 

[Biggus Dickus]

I think Saleen would be further ahead if they stuck to mechanical and interior materials improvements. Just focus on performance and control, and making the interior tastefully beautiful. Add power, add control, add good interior stuff. Keep the exterior visual mods to almost 0, maybe a very discrete "Saleen" badge here or there, with the wheel & tires changes being the obvious denotation of the car being something special.
. Here's a few custom Mustang interiors that show these cars can be made to be beautiful inside.

Saleen needs to focus on delivery of cars - sometime people wait 1 year or more for delivery - and ultimately, what your getting is a stock block Coyote with a blower, maybe some suspension bits, and froo-froo. No Thanks.

And those interiors will enjoy widespread appreciation amongst executives in the sex trade.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

Looks like a mustang and an old hellcat had a baby.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

Ferrari can pull off rwd, front engine with 800hp and get a repeatable legit sub 3 second 0-60 in the 812. Even in a $400k supercar it’s a rare feat but I’d love to know specifically how they do it. Assume it’s aero and Magnetic suspension related. The tires are good but not any stickier than what I have.

Are you talking about the F12 or 812 or something? They have active aerodynamics and apparently the traction control and stability control are programmed really well.
That's on top of having a tail-heavy weight distribution.
The F12 has something like 52% of its weight on the back tires.
The 812 supposedly has 53% on the back tires.
They have the engine in front to make them less tail heavy, have a higher "polar moment of inertia", and be more stable than the rear-mid-engine Ferraris, yet they're still a kind of mid-engine car.

 

[Schwerin]

Last I heard Saleen was having issues with money, delivering cars on time/complete/not looking like shit assembly quality, and even having issues with people tired of waiting and wanting their car back and finding parts were missing.

I feel like Saleen's rep is now what Henessy used to be known for.

Saleen should have focused on making a GREAT handling car, and much less on looks and pure power.

 

[NoVaGT]

Are you talking about the F12 or 812 or something? They have active aerodynamics and apparently the traction control and stability control are programmed really well.
That's on top of having a tail-heavy weight distribution.
The F12 has something like 52% of its weight on the back tires.
The 812 supposedly has 53% on the back tires.
They have the engine in front to make them less tail heavy, have a higher "polar moment of inertia", and be more stable than the rear-mid-engine Ferraris, yet they're still a kind of mid-engine car.

Nah....the 812 weight distribution is 50/50. Mustang GTs are 53/47. And aerodynamics don't effect 0-60s.

No, it's the DCT and massive power combination of the 812 Superfast that does the 0-60 trick.

Take 700lbs out of a GT500 and you'd have the same recipe as the 812 Superfast, and get the repeatable 2.8 second 0-60.

 

[NoVaGT]

I think that's actually doable for way less than the price of the Ferrari.

Dunno man......with what I'm expecting is the ADM on GT500s, might be close.

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