2016 Shelby GT350/GT350R Media Drives & Reviews (CHECK FIRST POST)

R 350 gt Donson said:

^ I can not wait for some pro drivers opinion/s.

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Randy M said:

I took thus picture while I was at Laguna. I don't know if the two GT350's here are 'ringers' but they both had roll bars installed and had all kinds of data equipment inside:

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Randy M said:

I took thus picture while I was at Laguna. I don't know if the two GT350's here are 'ringers' but they both had roll bars installed and had all kinds of data equipment inside:

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garagelogic said:

If I were to guess, I'd say those were the cars Ford benchmarked against.

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cj428 said:

I'm not with the media but my club had an avent at the ford development and testing grounds a few days ago. We were given rides by Fords drivers on the test track. The amount of grip these cars have is phenomenal. The test track is intense with off camber turns oscillations and hills that launched the car in the air landing into turns that test the car to its full limitations. I have driven on a few race tracks in my day but nothing as crazy as this. It was as thrilling as a roller coaster ride could be for sure. All that I can say is that we are in for a treat with these cars. I could not be any happier with the performance of this vehicle . We were not allowed to take any pictures because they had test vehicles driving around on the roads in the development center. The prototype GT test mule was there also which we were allowed to look at but not too close and no pics. I can't express enough that this car is something special especially for the segment that it's in. This is going to make the wait for the car that much harder now. Just wanted to share my thoughts with you guys wish I could of had some pics or even better some in car videos but it was not allowed.

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The wait is over and, good golly, Molly, was it worth it. No more teasing or wondering how it sounds. No more guessing if the now-famous flat-plane crank V8 was a gamble Ford should have taken. No more hoping that the performance division didn't spend too much time on the GT supercar. No, this is the 2016 Ford Shelby GT350 we've all been waiting for and the more hard-cord GT350R is, perhaps, the best all-around sports coupe there is. No, it really is, and here's why.

Precision Engine-eering




We know, Mustang fans want to know about the engine. Heck, we all want to know about the engine. It's the first production V8 Ford has ever built with its connecting rods at 180-degree intervals (rather than the customary 90) to allow it to breathe and rev to such a degree. It so happens also to be the highest-output naturally aspirated engine Ford has ever built with 526 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and with 429 lb-ft of twisting force at 4,750 rpm. It's unlike anything you've ever heard or felt. At full-tilt, when the baffles open wide for that distinctive eight-part staccato chorus, it simply takes your breath away. But that it revs to 8,250 rpm makes the aria go on seemingly without end. On a tall-gear roll-on, power builds steadily until about 3,000 rpm when it really hits its stride and things get interesting. And just think, there are still over 5,000 revs left on the tachometer at this point. Mind. Blown. Consulting our vast cache of vehicle and performance data and applying a test-driver seat-of-the-pants algorithm, we say the 3,750-pound GT350 will run to 60 mph in 4-seconds flat and the GT350R, lighter by about hundred pounds but benefitting from wider/grippier rear tires and less rotational wheel weight, will do the same in about 3.7-3.8 seconds. The quarter-mile passes should come in at around 12 seconds at 120 mph.

There are so many clever engineering solutions to the predicted pitfalls of the powerplant's large 5.2-liter displacement architecture and Ford's decision to use a racy flat-plane crank that we could easily devote an entire article just to the engine. Stamped right atop ours, it reads, "Hand-Built With Pride" on the Romeo niche line. Ours was crafted and signed by Gary Marston and Jeff Hamblin. These guys have a following on various forums, so they must be good at what they do. Yet there's much more to the GT350 that makes it such a uniquely talented car.



Not Just A Track Car

Before we actually drove the two versions, back-to-back, we had little to go on to help us decide if the 4-passenger base GT350 or the R, billed as the "most race-ready road-legal Mustang ever" would be the one to have. Not only is the GT350R road legal, it's also everyday drive-able and worth the extra $12,000 and then some – just so long as you don't need a back seat, because there isn't one. And here's the weird part: all of the things that make the R such a nimble, capable, and precise track car (fancy dampers, carbon-fiber wheels, that 526-hp V8 with its 8,250-rpm redline, the brand-new 6-speed manual transmission, etc.) also make it an uncommonly good road car. The 46-mile drive in our GT350R from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to the restaurant at Ventana was quite literally a revelation. Over Laureles Grade, through Carmel Valley Road and finally south on Highway 1, all roads we've driven in the past, but in a GT350R, we couldn't stop repeating, "This is a real car, this IS a real car, this is a REAL car." The clutch is as light and linear as a Honda Civic's and the nimble, quick shifter could be right out of a new Mazda MX-5 Miata. That's a new Tremec TR-3160 for those who know of these things.

Fancy Dampers




Because the R comes standard with MagneRide "gen-3" magneto-rheological or "MR" dampers (optional on the base GT350) that can self-adjust in 10 milliseconds at each corner, an occasional pothole or pavement transition that would ordinarily dislodge dental appliances in a track car were textbook one-and-done events – even in the more aggressive sport setting. No slap, no thump, no bump-steer and no bounding into the other lane. These are behaviors one would expect from a track car, but are essentially absent in the GT350R. And in Corvette Z06/Z07 or Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, also purpose-built track cars? Well, they're more track-day cars you put up with most of the other times. The only hint that there's something a little different going on in the Shelby is where the meaty 305/30ZR19 Michelin Pilot Cup 2 front tires (315/30ZR19 rears) meet the pavement. In the tips of a driver's fingers, the steering wheel is just a little reluctant or sticky on center. Ford revised the steering from a standard GT's with an aluminum knuckle that also adds a bit more leverage to the system to help it get over the huge, front tires' reluctance to turn off-center. Once loaded and turning, however, the feel goes back to a linear, predictable weight and with now-common-for-electric-assisted steering precision. There's also an occasional tendency for tire nibble or tramming when they follow grooves or ripples running parallel to the road, but it's hardly the stuff of race cars.

Added Lightness

The GT350R's standard carbon-fiber wheels (11.0 x 19 front; 11.5 x 19 rear), the first on a production car, are not available on the base Shelby, also play a large part in making the car ride remarkably well. Each one removes 16 pounds of unsprung weight from the system (and a 40-percent reduction in rotational intertia) to allow the suspension to work that much better, both on the open road and on the track.

Tracking the Differences







Finally, the lapping portion of our program would allow us to put all the racy parts together for a GT350 versus GT350R showdown. Motor Trend, and its readers, know the track well – having driven somewhere north of 80-plus cars around Mazda Raceway for Motor Trend's annual Best Driver's Car cover story and at various other times throughout the years. It's a track that demands grip at both ends of the car, rewards horsepower and punishes puny brakes. Guessing what a car can do and what it ends up doing over those eleven turns is why we go. First up was the base Shelby GT350 with the $6,500 Track Pack (MR dampers with firmer front springs, a strut-tower brace, multi-mode driver-control system, oil/transmission/differential coolers, and a small rear spoiler). It, too, has specially designed Michelin tires, but they bear a Pilot Sport stamp and measure 295/35ZR19 front and 305/35ZR19 rear. They're an aggressive but forgiving OE fitment and their limits were easily found, even in the first "real" corner, number 2, where the off-camber left revealed understeer on entry and a little on-throttle oversteer on exit. But that's almost exactly the right set up, and with a 54/46 weight distribution, about what one would expect. The rest of the track probed different parts of the car's limits; gearing for instance. With such a broad power band and enough low-rpm torque from the V8, some drivers left the car in third gear for the entire track. But those comfortable with more speed needed to grab fourth for the long front straight. Second gear for the hairpin at turn 11 wasn't necessary, but it does let a driver feel how well the standard Torsen limited-slip differential put power to the pavement. The 15.5-inch two-piece (cast-iron rotors with aluminum hats) front brakes with Brembo six-piston calipers (15.0 rears with four-pistons) were strong performers, never harrowing, nor showed any signs of fade over the course of a 4-5 laps. The GT350 felt confident in the corners, but limited by its tires, and while 526 horsepower (and that sound!) does keep a driver's attention pointed well down the track, it's not what we'd call OMG-fast.



Oh, So THIS is the Track Version

The GT350R we drove next felt the same for about 100 yards – and then it felt like an entirely different car. Considering how similar they are on paper, it's really quite remarkable. The GT350R comes standard with all the Track Pack items, plus a functional front splitter, taller rear wing, underbody belly pans with a real diffuser, and side skirts all said to produce twice the downforce of a Porsche 911 GT3. Of course the model-specific carbon-fiber wheels and tires add their benefits to the mix. The corner speeds that felt a little dicey and dancing and on the limit in the base GT350 could be taken 10-15 mph faster (we're estimating here because we weren't looking at the speedometer, nor did we have a data logger hooked up). In all, the differences were dramatic. For instance, we also found a need for fourth gear up the hill on the way to the corkscrew that wasn't quite possible in the base car. That's due to both the R's faster approach to the hill from the prior corner as well as the extra snap in acceleration from the lower rotational weight afforded by the wheels. Those lightweight wheels not only made the entire car feel lighter and more responsive everywhere, they clearly allow it to accelerate harder and stop shorter. Invest in carbon-fiber wheel companies. They're going to be on everything soon. Were it our money to spend, there's no question we'd pony up for the more capable GT350R, even if it doesn't come with a radio, HVAC (those can be added back in for $3,000 with a new SYNC powered nav system and a rearview camera). The lack of a backseat might discourage some, but it'll also get you out of having to valet your Shelby when you go out with those other three friends of yours. "Sorry, I'm late. I just got back from a track day, and we'll have to take your car for sushi."

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jcartwright734 said:

Ok...seems as Randy isn't driving for MT in this instance. It appears in the a vs thread Ford hired him out to do the LS track day (maybe more things?).

I would like some instrument tests and back to back comparisons with other cars on the same track. Oh well, these will come with time.

I am envious of you folks that will be getting one soon. Parenthood is preventing me from signing on the dotted line. Can't wait to hear the feedback here, when they start arriving.

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Blame it all on notorious badass Carroll Shelby. The man was a goddamn prophet. Back in 1965 he knew what was wrong with the Mustang—it needed more power.

It doesn't take a genius to think that, but it took one to make it happen, and to make history. Shelby gave the pony car more power in the form of the GT350—and the muscle car world changed forever.

We've gone for a first ride in the Shelby GT350 and GT350R, but only a track drive would prove out whether the latest car to wear the cobra badge would live up to the legend. We went to Laguna Seca, to tip our hat to Shelby the best way we know how—by ripping around in the latest car to wear his name, in our first drive of the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.

The GT350 polishes the Mustang to a high muscle car gloss. Most of the work's already done, in fact. Forget the days of the live axle—the latest Mustang has an independent rear suspension, electric power steering, a really stiff and stout body, everything it should have had for the past decade.

It’s so much better than any Mustang from the past, but truth is, it had room to get better. Even as a GT, the Mustang has a lot of compliance baked into its suspension, so handling is a little loose. And frankly, the big 5.0-liter V-8 doesn’t sing out as much as it should.

That’s where the Shelby edition comes in. It’s a tight handler. It’s loud. And it’s ferociously stuck to the ground, especially in R trim.

From GT to GT350 (and R)

The beating heart of the GT 350 is a new version of Ford's latest V-8 family—here, a 5.2-liter V-8 with a faintly exotic flat-crank design that connects pistons to the crank at 180-degree intervals rather than 90-degree intervals, for better high-end breathing and less inertia. It's the next step on the free-revving spectrum that started with the previous-gen Boss 302, which stripped out weight as much as possible and set the previous Mustang high-water mark for responsiveness.

There's weight trimming here too, with aluminum bores and weight scraped out of the crank itself by drilling straight through its center, its entire length, but the effect of going flat-crank has a bigger effect on the psyche. It just rips to life, shredding eardrums and shitty internal GoPro mics from barely off idle. Then it switches mid-song to a note you usually hear sitting at the end of an active runway—a beautiful shriek even without the exhaust system flipped into its heavy-breathing mode. It’s free-revving through the huge power band—a real jolt back to back with the stock 5.0, making that motor sound like nursing-home Muzak.

Okay, so flat-crank designs aren’t as smooth as street-ready V-8s. Who cares? This engine makes noises that should be illegal—and probably are, somewhere in the world.

The final tally: 526 horsepower, 429 pound-feet of torque, and a soaring redline of 8,250 rpm. We’re betting on 0-60 mph runs in about three and a half seconds.

If you #GiveAShift, the Shelby's the Mustang for you—because it only comes with a Tremec manual transmission. Engineers studied a seven-speed unit as well as rev-matching, but figured the repackaging would add too much weight. They throw some shade in deeming the rev-matching inappropriate for a track vehicle. The 'box does have triple-cone synchros and a firm, positive shift feel, better than the stock GT's Getrag unit.

There’s a standard Torsen differential to get all that power to the ground, and it’s also the first Mustang to get magnetic dampers filled with fluid that firms up quickly—so it’s not a total beast on the road. The dampers let the Mustang stay as close to track-ready as possible, without delivering a punishing ride on the streets between track days. The GT30's ride height is lower than a stock GT, while spring rates and bushings are stiffer.

The GT350 also gets five programmable driving modes (normal, sport, weather, track, and drag) programmed in concert with throttle, steering, and damping for the most effective combination of inputs—slower throttle for weather, lighter steering for everyday driving, and modulation of dampers for drag mode, to maximize launch control and grip.

The body's been stiffened with an available tower brace to reduce quiver, and there's a host of aero add-ons and tweaks, from a reshaped hood and front end, a deeper front splitter and hood vent, and brake cooling ducts.

Brakes are Brembo six-piston calipers in front, four-piston in back—and aren't some exotic formulation. The GT350 stays with iron brakes rather than carbon-ceramics; engineers say the carbon brakes would transmit more heat to the brake pads, which would mean larger sizes needed, which would offset the weight savings, never mind the more expensive replacements down the road. Custom-design Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires wrap around 19-inch alloy wheels, 10.5 inches wide up front and 11 inches wide in back.

All told with the weight offsets and new gear, the GT350 stays within the acceptable weight range, at just under 3,800 pounds in track-ready form.

GT350R

Step up to the GT350R and a host of changes apply to an already vastly improved Mustang.

First, Ford dumps the air conditioning, stereo, rear seats, rearview camera, tire-inflator kit, exhaust resonators, and some carpeting and soundproofing. Then they swap the alloy wheels for 19-inch carbon-fiber wheels weighing about 18 pounds each. They're lighter, thus easier to launch, and exact less of a penalty in cornering. In all, the GT350R is down more than a hundred pounds from GT350 with the track package, by Ford's calculator.

The wheels wear Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 treads, 305/30s in front and 315/30s on the rear, which engineers say outperform some racing slicks.

And as for aero, the GT350R gets a more massive carbon-fiber rear wing that pushes the rear end down on the track more emphatically than the smaller lip spoiler on the GT350.

But enough with the tech spiel and the chalk talk—you want to know what it's like to drive, correct? It’s time to launch.

In the GT350R's grip

Mustangs haven’t always been the leaders of the pack on the road course. If you’ve ever watched a classic GT350 waddle the the corners at Laguna Seca, you know what I mean. But there’s been steady progress, even during the live-axle era. Four years ago I drove a Boss 302 on this track and thought, man, the Mustang really can’t get much better.

Well of course it can. This GT350R? It has incredible composure and tremendous grip. Give credit to even more exotic Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, carbon fiber wheels and that big carbon-fiber wing. It just sticks, and sticks, and sticks. Press it deep into the pockets of Laguna Seca and it sits perfectly, obediently, then explodes behind a flat-crank wail on exit.

Ford's expert drivers tell us we really could do the whole track in third, the way it's coned off to save us from "exiting" the corkscrew early. I give that one lap's try and then poke and prod around the flat-crank with the Tremec six-speed. It's rewarding to row it—just as rewarding as it is to probe through the GT350R's fine-tune throttle and sharp steering, like you've never been able to do in a live-axle Mustang.

Within a few hundred feet you forget the flat crank noise. It's the grip that grips you. It's stuck to the ground like no Mustang before, tires gently telegraphing when you've both had enough—and it takes a lot and a long while to get there.

The rear end stays planted even through Laguna's infamous drop-off zones. There's zero hopping around as it crests blind hills and dives into steep elevation changes. The Boss 302, for all its charms, could get dancey, like it was taking virgin steps on a bed of hot coals. With the live axle gone, the huge wing hung off the back, and bespoke super car tires, the Shelby does its job purely, without interference, and it's just doing it at significantly higher speeds and lateral loads than it's ever done in the past.

Exiting the last slow turn on to the front straight, and I kept trying to mimic those classic GT350s doing the same thing two weeks ago, all lurid slides through a 90-degree left-hander, needing serious correction every time.

It's impossible. The new Shelby takes that bend drama-free. Drop into second if you want, dial in a little left steer and brush it around the corner with a touch on the throttle like you're applying the final coat of varnish to a masterwork. The treads on the GT350R give it almost zero wandering on center on this smooth, perfectly maintained track. If you've ever been disappointed by electric-steering cars, well, maybe it's mostly tires: the GT350R has exceptional directness and intuitive feel.

Corner turned, the exhaust explodes again, shivering that shiver through the foot board. It's humming now, barreling for the camber change at the top of the hill that flattens out the car so you can do it all over again.

The GT350 isn't quite as nuanced or as subtle as this, and the tires and wing are everything. It's like going from a scalpel to a surgical laser. There's a whiff of understeer in a couple of the more aggressive kinks at Laguna in the non-R, which don't do any favors for the flat-crank's less thunderous power in very low-speed corner work, below about 3,000 rpm.

After our requisite dozen laps, the only falldown was the Recaro chairs. There's a dearth of lumbar support, which meant laying the seatback at an angle that left me stretching. In daily driving they'd be a mess—not that you'd want to necessarily drive the Shelby every day. The magnetic dampers make it just tolerable on anything but smooth roads, even in the most comfortable setting dialed in through the steering-wheel controls.

It's the track experience that counts here, and everything's aimed at making it brilliant in ways the Mustang GT approaches but can't deliver with its mainstream body work, its mass-market tires.

The final tally

The GT350 has to deliver. It's a Shelby. It has to live up to legend.

As much as we like driving the Mustang GT, the GT350 corrects all its niggling flaws. It’s boisterous, tackles corners flat like a linebacker, and gives up grip in the smoothest, plainest way possible.

It leaves us craving more track time—but also, some of the structural and braking upgrades on a stock Mustang GT, and also the magnetic dampers to clamp down on some of its bounding ride.

As it stands, the upgrade from GT rolling stock to GT350 isn’t cheap. The Shelby GT350 starts at $49,995 before options. The race-prepped GT350R is almost $64,000, including the carbon-fiber wheels and exotic-car rubber. We’re talking ZL1 Camaro and Hellcat Challenger territory. How convenient.

The GT350 loads up on the hardware versus a stock GT, too. It’s got a flat-bottom steering wheel, a more aerodynamic hood, air splitters and brake ducts, and its own Recaro-designed seats. A couple of options lift prices accordingly: With the Track package, Ford tosses in oil and transmission coolers. A Tech package adds on power leather seats, Shaker audio, a touchscreen infotainment setup, and automatic climate control.

The GT350R gets a bigger wing, those Sport Cup 2 tires and carbon fiber wheels, and its own suspension setup. Ford blots out the chrome to reduce glare, but touched the calipers with red paint, rims the optional striping in red piping, and turns the Shelby cobra badge to red enamel. If you want, you can add back in the air conditioning, the touchscreen interface, seven speakers, and turn-signal mirrors.

That’s pretty fancy stuff for a track-ready car that wears the Shelby name. But all those goodies don’t get in the way of what’s now, officially, the best Mustang of all time. The GT350s—the GT350R especially—are pure Americana, straight up, no chaser.

Shelby would be proud, don’t you think?

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