08-15-07: Turbos really came along in mainstream automotive circles in the 1980’s. It became a lexicon of sorts, relating to the high techness of a lot of products on the market. We had computers with turbo settings, cars on TV with a turbo button, and lots of 4-cylinder cars at dealers with the namesake.

With very few exceptions, most of what had a turbo in the 1980’s was a disappointment in some way. Most turbocharged production cars tended to be short on lifespan and spent most of their waking hours in the shop. Those cars gave turbos a bad name that they did not deserve.

Luckily, tuners and aftermarket wizards continued the turbo evolution throughout the 1990’s and to present. Their work in building high powered systems that can produce prodigious amounts of safe boost has been matched by better fuel injection and engine control systems that make turbo charging a much better prospect both for power and reliability.

While much of the turbo madness of the past decade has been concentrated on the import car realm like Honda and Subaru products, a number of tuners and custom build shops have been turning their attention to the Mustang.

Enter Bill Hahn Jr, who has established himself as an innovator and industry leader over the past 30 years, with the most successful record of turbocharged success in drag racing history. Bill's racing and design experience began early. Fascinated with engines as a child, at 14 years of age he designed and built and rode his own twin-engine mini-drag bike, emulating the full-size drag bikes of the era. Bill's father is the equally legendary Bill Hahn Sr., whose company American Turbo Pak revolutionized the motorcycle industry with affordable four-cylinder turbosystems in the 1970's.

While Bill Jr. was brought up around these turbocharged monster bikes, his interest was not limited to motorcycles. His first performance car was a '68 Camaro with a 427 engine and nitrous oxide. With one foot firmly planted in turbocharged small engines, and the other in V8's, Bill's engineering and racing career has been amazingly varied. To date, he has designed dozens of turbocharged systems for everything from V-twin motorcycles to V-10 Vipers, in cars, motorcycles, boats, and even airplanes.

Bill Jr. would retire from Pro racing at the end of 2002, a season in which his machines earned not only his fourth National Championship in Pro Street Bike, but also a #2 finish in Pro Four-Cylinder cars. He then turned his full attention and considerable experience to his company, Hahn Racecraft, which was founded in 1988 to provide innovative performance technology to the public.

The company has recently unveiled an intercooled twin-turbo package for the 2005+ Mustang 4.6 liter V8 that has been tested to produce 449.64 rwp. That is well over 500hp at the crank. What is pretty amazing is that these results were gained with a stock engine running on pump gas too.

The system is complete with all the fittiments . The package uses two 15G turbochargers that push air through a large air to air intercooler that sits down below the front bumper. Included is a complete oiling system, custom intake and silicone duct connectors as well as a fuel management system. A predator hand held tuner comes along as well. At press time pricing has not been set for the system which will be on the market soon.

Hahn Racecraft has evolved from Bill Jr.'s home garage to its current 12,000 square foot development and manufacturing plant. With thousands of turbo systems sold to date, Hahn Racecraft has become a respected company known not only for outstanding quality, but also for willingness to take on unique applications and make them fly!

More information: www.hahnracecraft.com