Most liked posts in thread: Ford GT350R @ Goodwood

The ending is hilarious.

Looks to be quite a handful to drive quickly.

 

This was the first time The Stig had ever driven the car. He said the lightness and power really surprised him, calling it "weapons grade."

I'll let you know when mine arrives: 8,250 redline, 526 hp and a flat-plane V8. Wow.

 

Umm it seems the memo never reached you. Every single new Mustang, including the GT350 here, is running an independent rear suspension. Other than an F150, you cannot get a Ford product with a live rear axle anymore.

For your comments on the competitors, the Hellcat is pointless to bring up in any guise. The GT350 is a better comparison to the Z/28, not the ZL1, and in either case, magazine testing has shown the GT350 to better the Camaro. The GT350 is a lightweight when compared to the ZL1 as well, so doubt that is going to work in favor of the Camaro "owning" the Shelby in the corners.

The GT350R-C (which is pretty similar to a GT350R, just with a rollcage and stripped out interior per regulations) just made it's debut in the Continental Tire Series at Watkins Glen this past weekend, and debuted on pole, besting the Z/28-R. It finished 7th in the race due to a penalty.

 

I guess to each their own. But I will say this: this is EXACTLY why I like this forum and why I appreciate all of you guys. There's debate/information/instruction put out without unneeded name calling or belittling going on. Part of what makes being a gearhead great is that we can all appreciate what we appreciate and have lively and fun debates without tempers flaring. So thank you guys for that.
You're right, I didn't get the memo about the independent rear suspension vs live rear axle. That's good though that they fixed that.
And I agree that straights are for fast cars and turns are for fast drivers, but a good driver really can drive anything. I do not agree that the Z/28 is the better comparison car in this case though, and here's why: 95% of the world's drivers have little or no skill behind the wheel. I'm not talking about those who cannot actually physically drive or the young, I'm talking about in the entire world's population, very few people male or female can get behind the wheel of any car and push it to it's limits and make it do what it was designed to do and in some cases, far beyond what it was designed to do. However, a much higher percentage of the world's population has money. Enough money to pay that stupid high sticker price and ridiculous dealer mark-up. What does that leave us with? That leaves us with a bunch of rich people tooling around in cars they ought not be driving. That leaves us with a bunch of badass cars sitting in ditches or wrapped around trees. Now, the good news is that with all of the advancements made to all of these cars, it should render at least a tiny smidge of assistance to these "drivers" hopefully before something bad happens to an otherwise amazing machine.
Ford lovers are always going to talk down on Chevy and Dodge, and vice versa. That's part of what makes this nation great and frankly, part of what makes being a gearhead great...the ability to love what we love. Ford has never been my thing and that's okay, because the things I'm into you may not particularly care for. But I think we can all agree that being gearheads brings us into common grounds.

 

Boy, is that wrong. The GT350 was designed first for the track and will be one of the quickest and best-handling cars ever built in America. It will put any previous Mustang, including the Boss 302, and many other "performance cars" on the trailer.

From Ford:
Shelby GT350’s rear springs are specially developed for maximum effectiveness at the track. To eke out every last bit of performance, engineers found having springs spin in different directions on each side of the car provided more rear-end stability. A counter-spun spring necessitated a new lower control arm design. “When you are engineering the most track-ready Mustang of all time, you can’t take any shortcuts,” says Eric Zinkosky, suspension and vehicle dynamics technical specialist. “This isn’t an off-the-shelf solution for us – we engineered every component to perform as well as possible, both on and off the track.”

Shelby GT350 is the first Ford vehicle to offer a MagneRide suspension, which allows for a wide range of adjustments in a matter of milliseconds. The system enables optimal performance for track use while not sacrificing comfort for the road. “The MagneRide computer system takes into account so many variables – from the obvious ones such as steering angle, pitch and yaw, to some measurements that are a bit more obscure,” says Brent Clark, vehicle dynamics supervisor. “Even ambient temperature measurements are fed into the computer to ensure optimal performance.”

And that's just the beginning.... :biggrin5:

 

Just in case you need a little inspiration to stop by your local Ford dealer to get on the waiting list ... Ken Block in the RS at Goodwood. :biggrin5:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znpHcrMTHdk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znpHcrMTHdk[/ame]

 

Hardly - buy after having owned more than 60 cars, I think I'm a pretty good judge of what works and what doesn't work. I also have the brand loyalty of a three-toed sloth (which is to say, none), so I go after the best vehicles on the market at the time.

That seems to be what's happening, with many dealers across the country adding $10K to more than $100K added dealer markup to the sticker. :eek6:

Any big engine in any lard-butt car can go fast in a straight line. That has no interest to me, since most roads eventually have curves on them. As one of the most astute participants on this forum says, "Straights are for fast cars, turns are for fast drivers."

I don't think so, but you're right - we'll have to see. The handling and performance targets for the GT350 were far higher than the ZL1 and Z/28 - plus the base price of the GT350 is under $50K. You decide where the "value" is.

 

I was expecting a classic GT350. I've lost interest in most new mustangs and vettes... and Camaros, etc.

I have photographed some amazing 60's GT350s, including two of the 36 GT350R racers. I actually got to drive one of them, although it was only from an exhibit at Barrett Jackson to a trailer.

The only late model Mustang I have driven and really liked was a 200? Bullitt. I had it for about three days to photograph, and really enjoyed driving it. I liked the simple looks of it, too.

CD

 

Well, it can't handle for crap (no real surprise), but in the hands of a talented wheelman it looks to be a lot of fun. Nothing sounds as good as a gnarly American V-8 though. That throaty muscle is awesome.

 

I hope to see one of these in my future. Although it will be a quite while off.
That engine is amazing.

 

We will see how it fares. Of the big three (yes, I realize Shelby is aftermarket), Ford has never been the one to outhandle the other two. The live rear axle has long been problematic for handling in those cars. But who knows? Maybe this time they struck gold!

 

The conventional wisdom is that Ford has addressed Mustang's handling issues with independent rear suspension. Watching that car launch and take the first few corners, I'm no so sure. There was a lot of sawing at the wheel.

 

Wow, it's time to get up-to-date. "The Big Three" label hasn't existed in the automotive industry for many years. Carroll Shelby provided input in the early discussions about the new GT350, but it's the first Shelby vehicle totally conceived and built by Ford. And not only did Ford figure out how to make a live axle work really well, the latest-generation Mustangs have independent rear suspension.

 

The GT350 was on brand-new, sticker tires that still had the silicone goo from the manufacturing molds on them. In addition, Stig had never been in the car before his first run, and he said he just turned off the traction control and nailed it. His later runs were much neater, and he said the car could be a contender in the hillclimb. (The car couldn't participate in timed runs because it was in the First Glance class for brand-new vehicles.)

 

Lol well boys, looks like we've been infiltrated by a Ford company representative! Okay, so now that we know the GT350 is perfect in literally every single way, we have no reason not to be lining up in droves to buy this beast! I'm glad Ford has finally figured out the live rear axle. But the real test will not be watching this car do it's thing by itself on the track (if that were the case, I could drive the wheels off a stock Honda Civic and with the right amount of auxiliary sound and some great camera angles make it look incredible too), but side by side with it's competition. Hellcat will destroy it in the straights simply because this is the best Ford has for competition against the 'Cat right now, and the ZL1 will own it in the corners "because racecar". Yeah, it's pretty. But put it up against the others and if it beats them, THEN it can be called king. For now though, it's just another pretty face with loud pipes.

 

just waiting for the GT350 fails on youtube.

 

You can find fails on any new vehicle. But the GT350s that survive will be one of the most amazing vehicles of the year and put any and all MINIs in the weeds (unless, of course, you're racing on a sidewalk). :biggrin5: