2012 Ford Mustang Boss Laguna Seca 302: Ultimate Guide

The limited-edition 2012 Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca takes the Boss spirit even further

2012 Ford Mustang Boss Laguna Seca 302

The Race-Ready Boss

In all respects the “regular” Boss 302 was an epic sports car, easily the best overall Mustang Ford had ever made to that point. At the time though the team at Ford felt that the Boss 302 could be developed even further so they set out to do just that and delivered the Laguna Seca Package. Aimed at racers more interested in on-track performance than creature comforts, the Boss 302 Laguna Seca has increased body stiffness, a firmer chassis set-up and an aerodynamics package carried over almost in its entirety from the Ford Racing Boss 302R.

Named after the famed track where a Boss 302 won the first race of the 1970 Trans-Am season, the Laguna Seca was designed to be the ultimate track car. Improving on the Boss 302’s already formidable performance, the Laguna Seca was shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa R compound competition performance tires mounted on unique red-painted machined aluminum wheels that were sized 19×10-inches at the rear. At the rear the Laguna Seca was fitted with even stiffer springs, larger stabilizer bar and the Torsen helical limited-slip rear differential was included. A chassis stiffening rear redcross X-brace was installed in place of the rear seat and the front brakes received huge cooling ducts to keep temperatures getting too high during track duty. Rounding out the mechanical changes was a transmission oil cooler scoop.

All 2012 Laguna Seca’s were finished in exclusive colours of either Ingot Silver or Black with red grille surround, red roof and mirror caps. There was also larger pedestal rear spoiler also finished in red and a larger front splitter that required installation by the owner. While the look of the Laguna Seca’s exterior was rather garish with its loud red accents it was certain to grab the attention of onlookers as it flew down a track. Inside, the Laguna Seca featured the fabulous Recaro cloth sport seat that had the “BOSS 302” logo embroidered in red stitching. There was also a special gauge package mounted in a pod affixed to the top of the instrument panel that housed engine temperature, oil pressure and dynamic performance gauges.

The 2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca is sensational factory-built race car that can be driven on the street. It’s a very special and unique car and is one of those vehicles that as the ability to make a good driver great and a great driver even better. This is a car that is equally enjoyable to drive on the street as it is on the track and has to be one the best all round best Mustangs ever built. Thankfully the Boss 302 made a return for 2013.

For 2013 the Boss 302 came racing back sporting the styling changes that benefitted all Mustangs across the line. Mechanically the car remained unchanged as there was little reason for engineers to fiddle with the Boss’s near perfect package. Any changes to the Boss 302 for 2013 revolved around the esthetics of the car. Along with the front and rear end styling refinements found on Mustang GT’s the standard Boss 302 wore new low-gloss black reflective hood and hockey stick side graphics that were inspired by the 1970 Boss 302. The roof was now finished in the same colour as the rest of the car and the rear spoiler was painted in a low-gloss black to match the striping package. Colours on the standard Boss 302 were Performance White, School Bus Yellow, Race Red, Grabber Blue and the funky Gotta Have It Green Metallic Tri-Coat. Inside little had changed.

Once again the brilliant Laguna Seca Package found its way back on the order sheet for 2013; however its appearance was toned down and sported a more mature, less garish appearance. As with the previous year colour choices were restricted to two and while Black came back Ingot Silver was dropped in favor of the eye popping School Bus Yellow. Both paint colours were draped with the new stripe graphic designs shared with the standard Boss 302 but were finished in Sterling Grey rather than the low-gloss black. The Sterling Grey finish was also applied to the rear spoiler, mirror caps and on the wheel accents of Laguna Seca as well. Inside, the colour of the embroidery on the Recaro sport seats was changed from red to Dove Grey and the X-brace that replaced the rear seat was also toned down and finished in Sterling Grey. With the styling changes and restrained trim the 2013 Laguna Seca looked mean and purposeful, more suitable to its mission as a weekend track terror.

Equipment Group 501A Laguna Seca Package

  • 5.0 L TI-VCT 444 HP engine
  • 6 speed manual transmission
  • 3.73:1 limited slip TOSEN helical gear differential $1,995 with Recaro front seats
  • 19×9 Front and 19×10 rear red painted aluminum wheels
  • Power sideview mirrors with integrated blind spot mirrors
  • Stainless steel Bright rolled dual exhaust tips
  • Unique rear springs and larger stabilizer bar
  • Front brake cooling ducts
  • Front air splitter (uninstalled)
  • Body color matching side view mirrors with integrated blind spot mirrors
  • Pirelli P Zero CORSA R compound competition performance tires
  • Gauge pack with oil pressure, water temperature and dynamic performance gauge
  • rear seat delete with red cross “X” car brace
  • Sport cloth bucket seats with Red BOSS 302 embroidered logo
  • Red front grille surround
  • Red roof
  • Red mirror caps
  • Red spoiler

Production Numbers

2012 Laguna Seca

  • Black (613)
  • Ingot Silver (151)
  • Grabber Blue (1)
  • School Bus Yellow (1)

Fact Sheet

2012 302 Boss Laguna Seca Fact Sheet

2012 302 Boss Laguna Seca Fact Sheet

Press Release

  • Laguna Seca package pares the race-inspired 2012 Mustang Boss 302 down to its essential elements, with aggressive suspension, chassis and aerodynamic tuning creating a ready-for-racing Boss
  • Ford Mustang team members developed the package to provide weekend racers with a factory track car that could be driven to the course, take the win, then driven back home again
  • R-compound tires, rear seat-delete, aggressive front splitter for track use, and rear spoiler and rear cross-car bracing shave seconds off track times and boost lateral acceleration to 1.03 g

MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 13, 2010 – How do you amp up a performance car package as complete as the new 2012 Mustang Boss 302 – already a street-legal race car in its own right? Pull out everything that doesn’t make it go faster and add in more of what does. The result is the limited-production Laguna Seca package – the ultimate 2012 Boss, named to commemorate the first-place Boss 302 finish at the 1970 Trans-Am series opener.

“The Laguna Seca package puts a race-ready version of the new Mustang Boss 302 directly into enthusiasts’ hands,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas. “Laguna Seca isn’t intended for Boss buyers who simply want an exhilarating daily driver. Think of it like a factory-built race car, which we hope avid racers and track-day fans are going to love.”

Boss Laguna Seca builds on the bumper-to-bumper improvements found on the standard Boss while further stiffening the chassis and installing an aerodynamics package carried over almost in its entirety from the Ford Racing Boss 302R.

“Drivers who know how to get the most from a tuned race car on a closed course are going to be amazed by what the Laguna Seca is capable of,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development. “The balance, agility and tuning of each vehicle system places the driver at the center of the machine, completely connected to everything the car is doing.”

Laguna Seca cars are powered by the same smooth, high-winding 440-hp 5.0-liter V8 as the standard Boss, since the engine was already tuned specifically for road racing. Instead, engineers turned their attention toward delivering power to the ground most efficiently, and getting the car around a track in the quickest possible time.

“When we built the Boss, we had to step back and ask ourselves ‘How do we improve on this?’” said David Pericak, Ford Mustang chief engineer. “That car is so strong we realized the Laguna Seca package was going to have to be just a fraction of a step back from the Ford Racing 302R to top it. So we went back and threw daily-driver practicality out the window, cut some things we couldn’t cut on the volume model, like the back seat, and built it the way we would set up a production Boss for pure competition.”

Laguna Seca cars eliminate the rear seats, instead adding a cross-car X-brace that couples the structure between the rear wheels. The brace offers chassis stiffness improvements of as much as 10 percent and allows the suspension tuning – precisely calibrated by Mustang team members – to better do its job.

Standard Recaro front seats were designed by Ford SVT in cooperation with Recaro for high performance Mustang models, and are shared between the Boss and GT500. An Alcantara-covered race steering wheel provides a solid grip for hard cornering.

Engine power routes through a six-speed close-ratio manual gearbox to a standard 3.73-ratio Torsen limited-slip differential, helping the revised rear suspension deliver maximum torque and traction under the punishing conditions encountered on the track.

Higher spring rates and a larger rear stabilizer bar – all upgraded over Boss specifications – help generate unrelenting grip. And drivers can dial in exactly the level of shock stiffness a particular track requires using the four standard, independently adjustable dampers with Laguna Seca-specific valving.

The final touch for a proper race car was to add the proper wheels and tires: Laguna Seca models use lightweight 19-inch alloy racing wheels in staggered widths: 9 inches in front, 10 inches in the rear. R-compound ultra-high-performance tires, 255/40ZR-19 in the front, 285/35ZR-19 in the rear, maintain contact with the pavement – a job that ended up being trickier than expected.

“The R-compound tires on the Laguna Seca are so sticky we had to really work on the rear suspension tuning to make sure drivers can get the most out of them,” explains Pericak. “The rear stabilizer bar is the largest we’ve ever installed on a production Mustang – including any SVT product. The rear spring rate was also maximized to work with the massive rear tires and balance the car for minimal lap times.”

While standard Boss 302 cars get vented brake dust shields to help cool the rotors, Laguna Seca models receive Ford Racing front brake ducts that force outside air directly onto the 14-inch vented front rotors, helping to eliminate brake fade and ensure hard, repeatable late braking on the track. Combined, the braking changes help refine the sense for drivers of being directly connected to the pads – an essential edge during car-to-car combat on a road course.

Added up, the further improvements to Boss Laguna Seca result in the best-handling Mustang ever, with more than 1.03 g of lateral acceleration, stopping distances shortened by three feet from 60 mph over Boss, 0-60 acceleration improvements of one tenth of a second, and an overall expected lap time improvement of one to two seconds over the standard Boss on a typical road course.

As a race car should, Boss 302 models with the Laguna Seca package look like nothing else on the road. A bright red C-stripe offsets either Black or Ingot Silver paint, and is complemented by a red roof panel. Red also sets off the front grille, mirror caps and rear pedestal spoiler, while Laguna Seca rear badging and unique two-tone red and silver wheels complete the transformation.

Adding both to appearance and aerodynamics, an aggressive front splitter for track use adds downforce at the front of the car, while helping channel air under and around the car. At the same time, air impacting the front end is funneled into the radiator and brake ducts, supporting cooling even under grueling race conditions.

“The Laguna Seca front splitter is really a Ford Racing piece we’ve lightly adapted for our purposes,” explains Pericak. “It’s been tested and refined for the last six months on the Boss 302R to perform exactly as required on the track; we just made a few changes so it could be adapted to the production Boss – though owners will still want to avoid speed bumps and parking blocks.”

At the back, a large rear spoiler is sized to exactly complement the effect provided by the front splitter and underbody aero treatments, with the combination adding as much as 90 pounds of downforce at 140 mph.

“Balance is the key on Boss, and even more so on Laguna Seca,” said Pericak. “A winning race car has to do everything well, and we’ve had the ability to test all the engineering that went into Boss Laguna Seca on the Ford Racing 302R. It’s not for everyone: It’s stiffer, there’s no back seat, and the aero package is designed for downforce, not speed bumps in the mall parking lot. But for hard-core Mustang racers who want something they can occasionally drive on the street, to shows or whatever, Laguna Seca is the car they’ve been waiting for, and they’re not going to be disappointed.”

Pictures

Specs & Performance

built at Flat Rock, Michigan, USA
engine 90º V8
position Front, Longitudinal
aspiration Natural
block material Aluminum
valvetrain DOHC, 4 Valves per Cyl
fuel feed Injection
displacement 4951 cc / 302.13 in³
bore 92.2 mm / 3.63 in
stroke 92.7 mm / 3.65 in
compression 11.0:1
power 328.1 kw / 440 bhp
specific output 88.87 bhp per litre
bhp/weight 270.77 bhp per tonne
torque 515.2 nm / 380 ft lbs
redline 7500
body / frame Unitary Steel Monocoque w/Aluminum Hood
driven wheels RWD
wheel type Wide-Spoke Aluminum
front tires 255/40ZR-19 Pirelli PZero
rear tires 285/35ZR-19 Pirelli PZero
front brakes Ventilated Discs w/4-Piston Floating Calipers
f brake size 36 x 355 mm / 1.4 x 14.0 in
rear brakes Ventilated Discs w/Single-Piston Floating Calipers
r brake size 19 x 300 mm / 0.7 x 11.8 in
front wheels F 48.3 x 22.9 cm / 19 x 9 in
rear wheels R 48.3 x 24.1 cm / 19 x 9.5 in
f suspension MacPherson Struts w/Coil Springs, Anti-Roll Bar
r suspension Live Axle w/Coil Springs, Anti-Roll Bar
curb weight 1625 kg / 3580 lbs
weight distro 54.7 % / 45 %
wheelbase 2720.3 mm / 107.1 in
length 4777.7 mm / 188.1 in
width 1877.1 mm / 73.9 in
height 1399.5 mm / 55.1 in
transmission 6-Speed Manual
gear ratios 3.66:1, 2.43:1, 1.69:1, 1.32:1, 1.00:1, 0.65:1
final drive 3.73:1
top speed ~234.91 kph / 146 mph
0 – 60 mph ~4.6 seconds
0 – 100 mph ~11.0 seconds
0 – 1/4 mile ~13.2 seconds
fuel econ epa 15.68 L/100 km or 15 mpg-us
city fuel econ epa 13.84 L/100 km or 17 mpg-us
hwy fuel econ epa 9.05 L/100 km or 26 mpg-us
fuel capacity 60 litres or 15.84 gal.

Download Technical Specifications

Download Technical Specifications sheet