The Ford Mustang will instantly gain your respect at a stoplight after it yanks you through first gear and abruptly introduces you to power you were not anticipating. As you climb through the gears, you’ll be satisfied to a degree that spending six figures is ludicrous and unwarranted.

I remember my first 5.0 L. The sound of the exhaust was deep and powerful. One had to be careful, letting up on the clutch too quickly could lead to excessive tire wear, especially the rear ones. The best feeling was the low-end torque is that pulled you out of each gear.

The 5.0 L badge was a symbol of something special under the hood. The chrome 5.0 emblem sat just above the front tires but back towards the front doors, perfectly positioned as a point of reference for anyone to know whether it had the power.

It’s easy to understand why Ford brought back the Mustang 5.0 L. It was such an iconic car so many kids dreamed of owning. I never owned one until I was about 22 years old. But even then it meant just as much if not more to sit behind the wheel of something I always wanted to drive.

The look of the 5.0 L was cool on the outside but until I started the engine and sat in the driver’s seat, did I experience the reason that made me desire one of these vehicles so much. The sound of the ignition was like a burst of adrenaline.

Even though mine was an 88, I’m anxious to see if the new 5.0 L will still send those same feelings of anxiety and anxiousness through me when the key turns and the high-pitched starter precedes the low rumble of the engine at idle.

Back in the day, if you saw the 5.0 badge on the side of the Mustang just before the door on the quarter panel, you knew it had some power behind it and it could really move. Then when the new packages like the Cobra, Saleen, and Roush, people seemed to be wondering what’s the baddest of all these.

The Mustang RTR is bad.

I don’t even need to know what RTR stands for other than to see one sitting there at a light or cruising along to know this vehicle is one sick ride. The appearance gives off an even more sinister look that the Cobra R did, and it’s clearly much more low profile than the R.

So look again at that name, RTR. If it has anything to do with what the R meant for the Cobra then we’re going to be in for a shockingly fast street car. Most people who have never driven something like a supercharged or a big block V8 that’s been built with forged components would likely never want to just jump into one of these and cruise along. The sheer power when you get into the throttle is enough to make you fear that your guardian angel is looking out for you.

Horsepower is a seductive thing. Once you acquire a taste for it, you’ll likely want to seek out more. The question is whether you are skilled enough to handle something like that because frankly, once you get behind the wheel, you’ll be asking yourself that very question.

So if you’re in the market for some extra horsepower and slick looking design, it’s going to run you $7,995 for the RTR package designed by Vaughn Gittin Jr.

2011 5.0 Ford Mustang

But wait, there’s more! Not only does the Mustang 5.0 look good and perform great, it also manages a projected 25 mpg hwy.**

The original 5.0-powered Mustang built a reputation for performance. The 2011 Mustang 5.0 is ready to raise the bar.

The Ford Mustang, through all its generations over the past 45 years, has led an illustrious competition career in both road racing and drag racing. A racing Mustang – as with just about any car – requires a huge amount of work, time and money to modify properly. A few years ago, Ford Racing developed a program to develop, build and sell ready-to-race Mustangs that would help enthusiasts get onto the track and across the finish line a whole lot easier than ever before.

The resulting “turnkey” racing packages are ready to race with minimal preparation work. The opportunity to buy a winning combination right from the factory is a dream come true for Mustang buffs with the itch for competition. Here’s a look at two of the most popular packages.

For road racers, Ford began offering the Mustang FR500S a few years ago and still has some available. The car was developed for the Mustang Challenge, a professional racing series sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand Am). The Mustang Challenge is a support series for eight major professional road racing events across North America. That means the Mustang Challenge races take place before the headline race. It’s real road racing with a competitive point structure and generous purses. Because the cars are all built identically, the series truly showcases driver ability in high-profile racing events.

The Mustang FR500S racecar is manufactured in the same Michigan facility that builds street-legal Mustangs. The Mustang Challenge racer, which has an MSRP of $75,000, features the Mustang GT’s 4.6-liter production V8 engine and a variety of Ford Racing performance parts for track driving.

You can order the car through a Ford dealer or Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, which worked with Ford Racing to develop it. The car is delivered in race-ready condition, complete with a roll cage, racing seat and safety harnesses, a race data acquisition system and even a timing and scoring transponder. The initial production run included 77 cars. Some are still available, according to Ford.

For drag racers, the Mustang Cobra Jet offers a ready-to-race alternative to spending the hundreds of hours needed to build a competitive National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Stock Eliminator racer. The name itself is legendary among Mustang buffs. Ford offered a run of 50 specially built Mustang Cobra Jet drag racecars for the 1968 drag racing season.

After winning the Stock Eliminator category at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California, the 428 Cobra Jet engine established itself as a force to be reckoned with in street Mustangs as well. Ford would build some 14,000 Mustangs powered by that engine through 1970.

Flash forward 40 years, and Ford is again building Cobra Jet Mustangs – known as the FR500CJ. Even better, just like its namesake, a new Cobra Jet Mustang won its first race, taking Stock Eliminator honors at the NHRA Winternationals earlier this year.

The ready-to-race Cobra Jet Mustang is built to meet all NHRA class rules. It’s powered by a Ford Racing-built supercharged 5.4-liter V8 rated at 425 hp, and getting 700 hp is possible with relatively simple (and race-legal) tweaks. Non-essential weight and interior features are deleted at the factory. You have a choice of a six-speed manual transmission or a race-prepped automatic.

The first run of 2008 Cobra Jet Mustangs sold out (at $69,900 each, ready to race). Ford is now accepting orders for the 2010 model. Like the FR500S road racecar, the FR500CJ drag race model is built in the Mustang factory in Michigan. Neither car is street legal, of course.

You can also build your own Mustang FR500CJ following Ford’s assembly instructions and parts lists. Ford estimates the parts needed for converting a street Mustang (2005 and up) would cost about $40,000. All parts are available from the Ford Racing catalogue – the engine alone costs about $19,000.

For Mustang fans with a desire to race, though, the chance to go into a Ford dealer and order a ready-to-race Mustang is the way to go.