6 Awesome Tuner Specials That Deserve Your Attention

Sometimes there’s so much potential locked away inside a factory-fresh car that a tuner just has to take things a step or two further. When they do, great things can happen. Often, you find that the best-executed tuning projects are completed by companies that specialise in one brand. Whether it’s BBR with the Mazda MX-5 or Shelby American with the Super Snake Mustang, these are people who know their onions.

We love seeing what car makers can do in the realm of fast and exciting cars, and we’ve got no less love for the people who take it to the next level with forced induction, ported and flowed heads, bespoke exhausts, new bodywork and even upgraded interiors, and this little list showcases some of our favourites.

Roush F-150 SC

Roush is well-known for its expertise with Ford hardware, with one of its latest Stage 3 Mustangs featuring in the pretty glorious opening sequence of the first episode of The Grand Tour. But rather than tread on the toes of another, more recent muscle car addition to this list, we’ve gone for its modified F-150 pickup with a 600bhp supercharged V8.

A side-exit exhaust, Roush graphics and Fox Performance Series suspension are part of the exterior upgrade package, while it’s Roush’s own supercharger that boosts the V8’s output. The gargantuan 305/55-section tyres wrap around 20-inch wheels whose small appearance shows you how big the truck actually is. This is the pickup genre at its finest.

Hennessey Exorcist

The Exorcist has only just been announced, directly targeting the Dodge Demon both in name and ambition. It’s a highly-tuned version of the Chevrolet Camaro that breaks the 1000bhp barrier and can post sub-10sec quarter-mile times. It’s a weapon. It’s also one of our two choices that represent muscle cars in this list.

Hennessey has a mighty track record of making other people’s cars fast. The most notable was the Venom GT, which was based on a Lotus platform but used a twin-turbo V8 to power it to 200mph in just 14.51 seconds. It recorded 270mph on the space shuttle runway at the Kennedy Space Center, and we won’t be surprised if The Exorcist gets its own top speed trial in due course.

BBR MX-5 (ND) Turbo

This one is so new it hasn’t even been revealed yet, except in a couple of pictures. It’s a turbocharged version of the latest, ND Mazda MX-5. No firm details are forthcoming as yet, but BBR has a sterling reputation for high-quality MX-5 tuning, having been doing it since the NA model in the 1990s.

The NC MX-5 Turbo had two stages, ranging from a dyno-backed 262bhp and 225lb ft to the similar but better GT270 model, which used a modified clutch and could handle more torque. The daddy was the stage two turbo kit, which turned the heat up to 302bhp and 254lb ft, giving the NC MX-5 a deeply impressive power-to-weight ratio. The ND model will surely at least match the previous figures, and it’s a lot lighter, too. We’ll tell you more when we can.

Twisted Defender

We absolutely love what Twisted is all about. The Yorkshire-based company takes the Defender and re-engineers it to be the best vehicle it possibly can be, with high-quality hand-crafted interiors, uprated diesel engines and a refitting programme that eliminates or reduces most of the Defender’s known weaknesses.

We’ll take a Twisted Defender 110 Utility, thanks, and use it for bossing both the city and the countryside. You can throw some dirty bikes into the back and not worry about it, while you and a friend or two can sit up front in your quilted leather seats behind a 179bhp diesel with all the off-road muscle you could ask for. The fat, white-lettered BF Goodrich tyres look awesome, too.

Ruf CTR3

Ruf is well-known for its long association with Porsche, tuning the engines and modifying the bodywork of many of the Stuttgart sports car-maker’s models for decades. The company was actually founded all the way back in 1939, but didn’t build its first tuned Porsche until 1975. The late 1970s saw the company’s modified Porsches in high demand.

The CTR3 is the most extreme expression of what Ruf does best. Released in 2007, most of the body and the basic engine are shared with any normal 911 of the era, but the 3.8-litre flat-six was moved to the middle of the car and blessed with two turbochargers, pushing power as high as 766bhp in later versions. Top speed is 236mph, but our favourite thing about it is just how damn dramatic it looks.

Shelby Super Snake Mustang

Shelby American, as distinct from any in-house Ford efforts branded with the Shelby name, is a powerhouse of Mustang tuning. With origins stretching back to successful tuning programmes in the 1960s, the Shelby Mustang is the default choice when it comes to tuned versions of America’s favourite pony car.

The supercharged Super Snake is yours in 660bhp or 740bhp trim, with better brakes than standard, new dampers, stiffer anti-roll bars and bushes, and a bunch of 50th Anniversary badges to mark its significance in the Shelby timeline. It’s the V8 Mustang you know you really want whether you’re into American muscle or not.