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

cjgt350 said:

Will the GT350R make this years C/D lightning lap test? Sept 8th is the date.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/lightning-lap-2014-feature

Click to expand...

fuhrius said:

hmmm...that link isn't working for me.

Click to expand...

cjgt350 said:

Will the GT350R make this years C/D lightning lap test? Sept 8th is the date.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/lightning-lap-2014-feature

Click to expand...

02gtnh said:

They showed the list of cars, and did not see the GT350. That's to bad.

Click to expand...

02gtnh said:

They showed the list of cars, and did not see the GT350. That's to bad.

Click to expand...

cjgt350 said:

That article is last year's. The 2015 testing takes place Sept 8th. Hopefully the GT350 shows up to the party and kicks some arse.

Click to expand...

Carguy68 said:

IDG.TV
Shelby GT350 and GT350R: Let's lap Laguna Seca
Jon Phillips takes Ford's newest halo Mustangs on the renown 11-turn road course. Gushing driving impressions ensue.

http://www.idg.tv/video/57463/shelby-gt350-and-gt350r-lets-lap-laguna-seca

Click to expand...

Neck-Snapping New Shelby May Be the Most Fun Mustang Ever

I flash my best You haven’t made a terrible mistake smile, shift into first, and take off down one of America’s toughest race tracks.

I hope I’m right, because I’m at the wheel of the 2016 Shelby GT350R Mustang, the track-dedicated, lightweight, powered-up version take on the GT350 Mustang, itself the more impressive version of the 2015 Mustang.

And I’m at Laguna Seca, one of the country’s toughest racetracks. Which means it’s totally possible I’ll fly off the course and irreparably damage one of the coolest Mustangs in a generation. At least my helmet’s attached to a brace around my chest, so it’ll take a gargantuan screw-up to snap my neck.

A few laps later, everyone’s okay, and I’ve gotten a personal look at one of the most fun track cars Ford has ever built.

Whipping around tight turns, the car stays flat on the ground and immediately responds to each twitch of the wheel, no questions asked. And when I do get to the track’s longest straightaway, the car rewards my heavy right foot with a growl and acceleration that would knock my head back if I could move it more than a few centimeters in any direction. Taking my right hand off the suede-wrapped racing wheel only to hit the shifter, I was not thrilled to get out when my ride was done.

The $62,000 GT350R is named for Carroll Shelby’s iconic 1965 track monster: the first racing mustang. The epic auto designer and engineer loved to take good street cars, strip them down, and making them into great race cars.

Shelby, a WWII flight instructor and highly accomplished race car driver, changed America for the better when he stuffed a Ford V8 under the hood of the AC Ace British roadster. A few years later, he and Ford made a racing version of the 1965 Mustang by cutting out weight, amping up the power, and improving the suspension. The result was the Shelby GT350 Competition, made from a formula Ford has been smart enough to follow ever since.

Strip It Down

Doing their best Carroll Shelby imitation, Ford’s engineers cut weight out of the GT350R by tossing silly features like the air conditioner, stereo, backup camera, and trunk floorboard and carpet. And the rear seats.

Sadly, the car I drove had the optional package that puts the stereo and A/C back in, along with an 8-inch touch screen for navigation. You should skip it, because you don’t put an ice cream cone in a bowl. What’s the point? You’ll get sweaty, deal with it.

Oh, and the wheels are made of carbon fiber, a first for a mass market automaker. The weight reduction is especially nice on the wheels, because that cuts down unsprung mass—the bit not supported by the suspension—which reduces the car’s inertia and improves handling.

Add Power

Powering those wheels is Ford’s most powerful naturally-aspirated engine ever. That’s thanks to the automaker’s choice to use a flat-plane crankshaft for the first time. The setup is a Ferrari favorite, because it makes for a lighter, higher-revving engine.

The tradeoff is a louder, more rumbly engine, which is very much not a problem. For extra effect, Ford yanked off exhaust resonators, even though it says it did it “for weight savings.”

The 5.2-liter V8 produces 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque. It doesn’t redline until it hits a northern 8,250 rpm. Ford hasn’t handed out acceleration times or top speeds, and I didn’t break out the stopwatch, but it’s faster than whatever’s in your driveway. (Or not—the comments section is below and waiting your indignation.)

Hit the Track

This latest generation of Mustangs, introduced last year, marked an evolutionary leap over the cars that came before. For 2015, Ford offered its EcoBoost engine, a turbocharged unit to cut fuel use. And for the first time (minus a few thousand special edition Cobras in the early 2000s), it gave its pony car an independent rear suspension.

Going up from there, Ford gifted the GT350R an adaptive magnetorheological suspension. Industry supplier Delphi developed the system, called MagneRide, which is used on cars like the new Corvette, and Ferrari F12berlinetta. Depending on the car’s mode (track, sport, or comfort), it adjusts the feel at each wheel 1,000 times a second to adjust to the road surface in near real time, and improve handling.

In a sign of humility (well, also Ford made me), I kept the car in sport mode, where it’s still plenty impressive. Through tight turns and elevation changes, the GT350R stayed planted and steady, a nice surprise in a muscle car.

The car is powerful, but responsive enough to make driving feel almost easy. By my final lap, I was psyched, not scared, to go into the famed “Corkscrew,” Laguna Seca’s quick left-right combo that drops you the equivalent of 5 1/2 stories in the space of 450 feet.

I can’t say I nailed the turn, but I definitely didn’t snap my neck. And it was a blast.

Click to expand...

TheLeftSchuh said:

I know track pack has the Recaros and Tech has leather heated/cooled seats. Does the track pack have air conditioning at all??

Click to expand...

PP0001 said:

The Track Pack does not have air conditioning on the regular GT350 as earlier indicated.

Also, the base R model also does not have air conditioning unless you order the Electronics Package on the R model.

Click to expand...

PP0001 said:

The Track Pack does not have air conditioning on the regular GT350 as earlier indicated.

Also, the base R model also does not have air conditioning unless you order the Electronics Package on the R model.

Click to expand...

BmacMI said:

Incorrect. I drove a Track Pack yesterday and it most definitely had A/C. Only the base R does not have A/C.

Click to expand...

krt22 said:

God some of these articles are just terrible. I can look past the fact it's painfully obvious these geeks are not auto journalists or car guys in general, but what terrible flow, sentence structure, and even botched punctuation.

Click to expand...