We recently attended the 2013 Heidts Performance Car Challenge, held at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois. This is home turf for Mustang suspension guru Kenny Brown, who was on hand to participate in the event. Brown was kind enough to take us for a tour of the track from the second best seat possible, the passenger’s side of “Ruby”, his personal Mustang, equipped with the full Kenny Brown Performance GT4-RS package.

Ruby is also labeled the Autobahn Edition. Autobahn is in reference to the Autobahn Automotive Country Club where this event was held. Brown has spent hours specifically tuning Ruby precisely for this track, a service he offers to many of his customers, “We can set up a customer’s car for any track in the country,”says Brown.

Brown has spent a lifetime involved with racing, working his way up from being a race team technician, on to master technician, and eventually to the engineer and mastermind he is today.

The GT4 nomenclature on all Kenny Brown Performance Mustangs harkens to International FIA racing, where the GT-4 class is for modified production based sports cars that retain the OEM architecture. Brown’s work with the Mustang fits that definition to the letter.

The inspiration for the GT4-RS and CS packages comes from Brown’s personal experience in not only the world of professional racing, but also in the realm of country club racing and street performance. If you’re unfamiliar automotive country clubs, imagine a group of enthusiasts with their own private race course, instead of a golf course (sounds more fun to us). Brown tells us, “I see a lot of guys join a country club, buy an expensive car like a new Porsche, and then cringe at the expense of maintaining it. The GT4 package cars are an affordable alternative, for less initial investment, and less money to maintain.”  The parts for any GT4-RS are either readily available through Kenny Brown Performance or in the case of most of the maintenance parts a Ford dealer or auto parts store, try that with many high end exotics, and then compare the downtime and price tags.

Under Ruby’s hood resides a Ford Racing Parts BOSS 302 crate engine with several upgrades performed to Brown’s specifications, which push performance to 475 hp at the crank, and improve the engine’s overall durability under the stress of a racing environment. Those changes include a JLT Cold Air intake system, SCT custom 92 octane tune, JLT oil separators, and a Canton Road Race Oil pan.

The engine is cooled by a heavy duty aluminum radiator, that’s fed cool air by positive flow ducting. There’s also a KB HP engine oil cooler on board. Exhaust is handled by a complete Bassani exhaust system including headers, and three-inch X-pipe, as well as Bassani high-flow race mufflers.

The transmission is upgraded as well with a Tremec T-56 Magnum XL 6-speed taking the place of the factory MT-82. There’s also a Kenny Brown Track Sport Carbon Billet clutch, Track Sport aluminum flywheel and Quarter-Master aluminum driveshaft. A BOSS aluminum differential cover and differential cooler, as well as KB Spec torque-sensing differential round out the drivetrain.

The car of course features a complete Kenny Brown Performance AGS 4.0 suspension system. The same equipment that we installed on our own Project Wild E Coyote, and what’s offered on the GT4 is also available to the public. There are a variety of options for dampers and springs available including parts from Eibach and Koni. Brown sets up each car per customer’s needs and recommendations he makes based on their driving skills.

“We run a very high spring rate on our cars. You need a lot of spring to make a Mustang turn,” says Brown. Typically KB starts spring rates for most street sport cars around 400 pounds, surpassing double that on many track-only and dedicated race cars. Ruby is equipped with a JRZ damper setup which was developed with help from Brown’s late son Paul in conjunction with JRZ, and used on Paul’s championship winning Mustang.

Baer Brakes with Hawk pads give Ruby retina detaching stopping power. Kenny Brown Specific Forgeline wheels shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires complete the high grip picture.

Occupants are kept comfortable with OMP club sport racing seats holding driver and passenger securely in place, a Kenny Brown club cage, rear seat delete, and HANS device setup complete the interior package.

Outside the car has a host of aerodynamic treatments including side-splitters, a PBR wing and carbon fiber heat extractor hood. All GT4 cars receive special graphics and serialization, and each GT4 build is fully documented by Kenny Brown Performance.

Brown sets each GT4 car up ready to go with minimal adjustability in the cars themselves, “I try to get everything done so the customers can just drive the cars, whether we built the car or they’re bolting on the parts. We want customers focused on improving their driving, not thinking about how to adjust the car,” he says.

Brown stands behind that philosophy as well, telling us with an experienced driver at the wheel the GT4-RS will hold it’s own against much more expensive cars such as the previous Porsche GT3 RS. A bold statement indeed, but when you see Kenny behind the wheel he makes this stuff look easy and tells us he can make anyone look like a hero in one of his cars.