After riding shotgun with Vaughn Gittin Jr during Formula Drift practice at Orlando Speed World, we asked him about his latest street-going vehicles — the Mustang RTR. In the process of giving us the rundown, he said, “We need to get you behind the wheel.”

The timing was certainly right as we were preparing to road trip from Florida to the annual Mustangs at the Mountain show in Stone Mountain, Georgia. And, who are we to argue with the Ultimate Fun Haver when he offers up the keys to a 2017 Mustang RTR Spec 2?

Yes was obviously the answer and a few days later we found ourselves driving away in a sleek, silver Spec 2 acquired via Sarasota Ford.

A New Generation

If you aren’t fully up to speed on Vaughn or his custom Mustangs, you must be too busy under the hood of your own Mustang project to pay attention. Vaughn is an accomplished drifter across the world. He has won the coveted Formula Drift championship, and he often finds himself sliding around in all sorts of Ford Performance hardware. Once he started driving Mustangs, Vaughn soon decided he wanted to bring a bit of his own swagger to the Mustang.

“For all intents and purposes, this is the official, unofficial Vaughn Gittin Jr. Mustang. He got a Mustang back in 2010 and just made a package out of it. It did use some off-the-shelf parts, but he basically built a Mustang how he would want it. Then people started asking, ‘Hey can I buy that?’” Michael Peters, Director of Sales and Market Development at Mustang RTR, explained. “It’s a real car company now. RTR stands for Ready To Rock and, basically, this is a car for somebody that wants a Mustang that looks cool, but they still want it to be reliable and have a warranty. This is for those who might go to the track occasionally, but still want to drive it to work.”

The latest embodiment of that vision is based on the vaunted S550 platform. While it has taken a while to come to fruition, this package strikes a superb balance between style and substance. With a unique look and just enough performance to back it up, the latest Mustang RTR definitely continues the breed in fine style.

“RTR Spec 2s have just started shipping to dealers all over the world, so we are super pumped about that,” Vaughn explained. “We’ve been slightly delayed on release, which is partially my fault for being a perfectionist, but I am just so proud of what we are doing and I just wanted to make sure that it was everything I expected it to be.”

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Likewise, the interior updates are modest; with the Spec 2 wearing logo’d floor mats and a numbered dash plaque signed by the Ultimate Fun Haver himself. If we had one small critique of the RTR driving experience it would be the shifter. Though it does wear an RTR shift ball, a car like this definitely deserves a bit more shifting precision.

Moreover, even for those not familiar with the RTR brand, the appearance of the current model seems to really resonate with people of all ages. Everywhere we went, we had people ask about the car and, of course, you know you have a hit on your hands when your author’s 14-year-old asks if the Mustang RTR would be his ride to school for the week.

“I am excited for our customers to start getting them and for them to feel all the work we’ve put in, because it is truly a driver’s car. The Spec 1, obviously, is mainly just appearance,” he added. “The stock Mustang has great performance, but the Spec 2 — with our Tactical performance suspension system — has adjustable sway bars, adjustable dampers and lowering springs. They are very purposefully built to allow the driver to choose his discipline. Whether it is safe driving on the street, gripping with a neutral balance or drifting with oversteer balance, they can change that.”

Behind The Wheel

As he mentioned, the suspension is adjustable, but we received it with the settings dialed into those drift-friendly settings, which was just fine with us. (Seriously, how else would you want to have one of Vaughn’s Mustangs configured?) In practice, the car’s Tactical suspension was perfectly livable on the street, and it dug the Nittos into the corners when we hit those on-ramps at speed.

Now, in the few days we had the car we were able to push it a bit on the street, we didn’t have a chance to hang the tail out with a giant plume of smoke behind us, but we are assured that it is quite capable of doing so. For those of us more inclined to approach the limit without hanging the tail out, the car is still a blast to drive.

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Also setting the Mustang RTR apart are the RTR badges, RTR wheels, trunk panel and the rear wing. The package is subtle but different enough from stock to attract attention. The aforementioned RTR cat-back exhaust features black, logo’d tips.

“The biggest thing that we focused on is that the car really talks to you and let’s you know when you are near the limit,” Vaughn enthused. “It doesn’t just go away. It is very linear at the limit. It let’s you know, ‘Hey. Hey. You are going too far.’ And, if you keep pushing it, it’s obviously going to go away like any car.”

While handling is obviously a calling card of the Mustang RTR, its performance is also modestly boosted courtesy of a Ford Performance calibration and a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust built to Vaughn’s exacting specifications. The result is just enough power to keep things interesting.

“Spec 2 has the same appearance package as Spec 1. You can do it EcoBoost or V8, automatic or manual, coupe or convertible, base model or Premium, as long as it’s a Mustang you are ready to go,” Michael said. “On the EcoBoost it bumps it from 310 horsepower to 345 horsepower and on the V8 it goes from 435 to 460. We do that with our axle-back exhaust in conjunction with our calibration that we designed with Ford Performance.”

More To Come

In all adds up to a package, which is quite balanced. It is comfortable on the street, but taut in the corners. It stands out from the crowd, but not in a overt way. However, should you want to tip that balance with even more power, there is also a supercharged Spec 3 package.

“I wanted to make it a driver’s car that was fun to drive, no matter what you were doing, because for me Ready To Rock means ready for anything,” he said. “The Spec 2 is truly that, and we have just announced the Spec 3, which will be a supercharged option with 670 horsepower. So, we’re pumped on that and we are already working on our new models.”

A supercharged Mustang RTR certainly sounds like a package worthy of further investigation. With the pending launch of the 2018 Mustang refresh, however, there will soon be another Mustang RTR variant to consider. However, if you love the current S550 and want to take it up a notch, the Spec 2 is a great package.

“Next year will be good. We have a couple new projects and other production models that we are looking to put out as well,” he added. “We are pumped that people love my vision and about all the support we are getting from the Mustang community. Also, I love taking people from other makes and models and bringing them into Mustangs. That’s my goal. I love what Mustang is all around, and the company it keeps, and I just want to share that with people. I am just me and I go to the events and I’ve got mad love for the all of the Mustang community.”

And that love certainly shows in the current Mustang RTR and we can’t wait to see what Vaughn has in store for the future. For more on the options and model specifics of these cars, you can visit the official site right here.

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The Mustang RTR served us well on a 450-plus-mile road trip from Florida to Stone Mountain, Georgia, for the Mustangs at the Mountain show. Along the way it knocked down upper-20-mpg on the highway and provided ample steam when we needed to navigate our way through traffic. However, it’s on those rare stretches of open, curvy road that the car’s Tactical suspension really makes you smile.