The 2012 Mustang Boss 302

Road & Track

The Mustang just keeps getting better—and the new Boss 302 is the best example to date. This thoroughly updated remake of the model that won the 1970 Trans-Am championship “can go head to head with the best sports cars in the world.” Choose the $47,000 Laguna Seca edition and you get “a virtual race car for the street”—with a performance-tuned engine and big front and rear spoilers. It even has interior chassis bracing instead of rear seats.

EdmundsInsideLine.com

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“Nothing was overlooked” when Ford redesigned the Boss. The 5-liter, 302-cubic-inch V8 engine produces 444 hp, and with driver-adjustable steering and stability modes, you’ve got “a coupe that doesn’t mind doing date night on Friday and track duty on Saturday.” This car “simply flies.”

The Wall Street Journal

The car’s performance is in fact so “ridiculously stout,” so “beyond reasonable expectations,” it “really belongs to a sports coupe costing twice as much.” Except for one thing: The cheap interior styling is pure baseline Mustang, complete with a “plasticky” dash and center console. Too bad. This car is so amazing that its floor mats should be “made of Blagojevich hair.”