Take one muscle car, double its
performance, and what do you get? The UBB Widow-maker.
The stereotypical image of an American
muscle car is' a huge beast with a large, but low-revving V8. A car that has
good straight-line speed, but is hopeless at cornering. However, modern muscle
cars really aren't like that. They're still big V8 monsters but, the cornering
and stopping ability of newer models is much improved.
One of the best on the market at the moment
is, unsurprisingly, a Ford - the Shelby GT500 Mustang. The 2012 model packs a
solid 550bhp and 510lb-ft from its all-alloy quad-cam, 5.4-liter supercharged
engine - so it's certainly no slouch in a straight line. And track tests have
proven that, on a race circuit, the car is as fast as European sports cars such
as the BMW M3, Audi R8 V10, and Porsche GT3.
1100bhp
Mustang - Dark Destroyer
The 2013 model steps things up once again
with a massive 660bhp and the unofficial Ring lap time is claimed to be around
the 7min 30sec mark - faster than many top supercars. But while the GT500 is a
true sports car, what if you want more? What if you want a brand new car with
the performance to not only out-accelerate the top supercars, but do so at a
third of the price? What if you want a car with such extreme power and torque
that the adrenaline rush will never get old? You need the UBB Widow-maker...
UBB are a bespoke car builder whose
philosophy and reasoning for this car is, interesting, to say the least. While
most supercar manufacturers play down the fact their cars are rather loud and
obnoxious, UBB have built the Widow-maker to be exactly like that, and are
proud of it.
In the words of Tim Porter, owner of UBB,
"The Widow-maker is everything that's right about rear-wheel drive cars -
overpowered and hard to tame." That said, this thing isn't simply some
stripped-out drag car.
1100bhp
Mustang from the back
Fighting torque
In fact this isn't even a stock GT500 with
a big power engine. This Mustang has been built to compete with (albeit while
totally out-performing) the big sports and supercars in its price bracket.
This means the suspension, brakes,
bodywork, and interior have all been massively improved, making this Yank V8 a
serious all-round performance monster.
This brutal Ford may be hard to control at
full power, and next to impossible to outrun, but one thing it isn't is hard
to drive. Unlike a lot of supercars, this one really has a split personality -
calm and sedate when driving normally, but absolutely mental when you bury the
throttle. A lot of work has been put in by UBB to achieve this, and despite the
twin-plate clutch and super-light alloy flywheel, there's no noise, no shudder,
and a clutch operation that even your granny wouldn't have an issue with.
Despite the insane levels of power, this
car has huge levels of grip too. This is thanks mainly to the 305 wide Toyo
R888 tyres fitted front and rear. Combine this with serious modifications to
the already well-sorted GT500 suspension setup and uprated Torsen LSD, and it
performs better than you'd believe any American muscle car could.
Away from the corners, 9-second quarter
miles are on the cards (a Bugatti Veyron does mid- 10s if you were wondering).
Touch of class
As hard as they try though, one thing the Americans
don't seem to get right yet - even in their luxury barges and supercars - is
class. Even if the seats are dripping with leather and the car has every gadget
under the sun, there's always some plastic to let it down, and while they're
great at "Woo, look at me!" exteriors, they rarely manage the trick
of turning heads without looking too over the top.
UBB knew this, and the aim of their
interior and exterior transformation was to address this problem and therefore
make this seriously powerful muscle car appeal to the people who would normally
buy a Porsche, Bentley, or Aston Martin.
Starting with the exterior, while the GT500
body kit looks fantastic and is actually very functional (especially the Gurney
flap rear spoiler) there's no Shelby stripes or bright paint on this car. The
bodywork is a mix of black paint and carbon fiber, with UBB adding a vented
bonnet, front splitter, rear diffuser, sill splitters, and rear corner
splitters, all made of the black weave.
On the inside, things are looking good too.
While the latest GT500s have posh leather Recaro seats and nicely trimmed door
cards, the sea of grey plastic they call the dashboard certainly won't impress
people who are used to owning supercars. So UBB have totally re-trimmed the
interior in carbon effect and Alcantara, which transforms the cabin and puts it
in a totally different class.
On
the inside, things are looking good too.
This beast of a Ford can out-perform
supercars in every way (including ways you'd least expect) but for a fraction
of the price. The UBB Widow-maker is an absolute weapon of a car - the ultimate
dark destroyer.
This
brutal Ford is dripping with carbon goodies
The
legend may have passes, but he’s left his mark
