Ford drivers believe the unique nature of Perth's Barbagallo circuit will make it hard to grasp the full impact of aerodynamic changes to Ford's Mustang at this week's event.
The all-conquering Mustang made its first appearance on track on Thursday following a Supercars announcement it would have to undergo alterations to remove a parity discrepancy last week.
In-season testing revealed the Mustang - which has won nine of 10 races in 2019 - held a slight aerodynamic edge over its Holden and Nissan rivals.
The changes, mainly to its rear wing, had little impact on the timesheets at Thursday's practice session with Mustangs in six of the top 10 positions.
Tickford Racing pair Chaz Mostert and Will Davison were second and third-fastest behind Holden's Jamie Whincup with Ford heavyweights, including global head of motorsport Mark Rushbrook, eagerly watching the session.
Davison said high levels of grip on the newly resurfaced track had made it hard to appreciate just how much difference the changes had made to the Mustang's performance.
"In all reality you're not going to feel those sort of changes with the tarmac and the bitumen and the grip level out there," Davison said.
"A couple of Ford guys from the States and Australia, obviously they were straight in asking 'how's it feel' and it feels great, it feels good but I don't think we'll really get a true indication until we move on to some other circuits."
Mostert, who enters the Perth event third on the championship standings behind DJR Team Penske pair Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard, echoed Davison's thoughts.
"It's such a different track to where we have run for the rest of the year," Mostert said.
"Maybe the grip might mask a lot of our problems this weekend ... this type of surface always makes cars that might be a little bit out of the window, or near the window, straight into it. It's going to be a good weekend racing and looking forward to it."
Friday's action begins with another practice session before qualifying in the afternoon.
A 50-lap race, the second Supercars event under lights in 21 years after last year's Sydney Motorsport Park event, begins at 6.45pm (2045AEST).
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