Anyone come from S197 5.0 GT?

So a local smaller dealer just got in a 17 GT350, and is wiling to sell it for MSRP. They wont let me test drive it though.

I currently have a 2012 GT. I prefer an NA car and my GT has plenty of power for me, but I want better handling / feel. I think the GT350 delivers that, and the HP/TQ difference at the low end is minimal compared to the 2012 5.0. Anyone that has made the switch, is the difference noticeable?

I wasn't a fan of the S550 platform, but the Shelby is fantastic and wanted it the minute ford started teasing pictures.

I can get the car for about 440 month, and my wife's on board.

I did. I had a 14 GT with the track pack. The GT350 is worth it all the way. If you have any questions just let me know.

We need more wives like that!!!!![

QUOTE=mmalaski;1872577]So a local smaller dealer just got in a 17 GT350, and is wiling to sell it for MSRP. They wont let me test drive it though.

I currently have a 2012 GT. I prefer an NA car and my GT has plenty of power for me, but I want better handling / feel. I think the GT350 delivers that, and the HP/TQ difference at the low end is minimal compared to the 2012 5.0. Anyone that has made the switch, is the difference noticeable?

I wasn't a fan of the S550 platform, but the Shelby is fantastic and wanted it the minute ford started teasing pictures.

I can get the car for about 440 month, and my wife's on board. [/QUOTE]

Dude. Go get it!
If you really want to test drive a S550, have them give you a GT premium for a while and just know that the 350 will be better than that. You WILL NOT regret it.

Hi and welcome...

Is there a noticeable difference between a 2012 GT Vs. a 2017 GT350?
ummmmmm Hell Yeah. It's not even a comparison.

I had a '13 GT Track Pack. suspension is mush. a non track pack car is worse.


Your next post should be a pic of your new GT350.
You can thank me later.
Good Luck.

Night and day....go get it! Congrats in advance.

mmalaski said:

So a local smaller dealer just got in a 17 GT350, and is wiling to sell it for MSRP. They wont let me test drive it though.

I currently have a 2012 GT. I prefer an NA car and my GT has plenty of power for me, but I want better handling / feel. I think the GT350 delivers that, and the HP/TQ difference at the low end is minimal compared to the 2012 5.0. Anyone that has made the switch, is the difference noticeable?

I wasn't a fan of the S550 platform, but the Shelby is fantastic and wanted it the minute ford started teasing pictures.

I can get the car for about 440 month, and my wife's on board.

Click to expand...

Both the items you are questioning are noticeable. There was a noticeable difference in low end torque between my 2012 brembo GT with 3.55's and my GT350. The GT350 is ok though, you may just want to shift slightly higher when riding around in town, traffic, etc. To your other point, there was a huge difference in handling between the two. I thought the 2012 handled well until I got the 350. The 350 is planted to the road. You won't regret it for one second if the handling difference is your main concern. I will caution you that you have the be careful with the front splitter scraping. Its low. just be careful pulling out of fast food joints, driveways, etc and you will be fine. Another thing you will notice is the shifter. The shifting in the 350 is much better than in the 2012 GT. Good luck with your decision. Can't go wrong with the 350. You will get thumbs up from a lot of people you don't know when cruising around town.

Had a 2013 GT. Loved the car but the 350 is worlds better in every single way. If you have the means, go for it.

Huge difference. The 350 grips for days and and feels very tight and planted, and revs to the moon. The Tremec is very nice too. I would also add that the tech in the s550 is miles ahead of the s197. Had several s197s....09 GT/CS, 14 GT/CS and husband had a 13 Boss - traded the Boss for the 350. All great cars, but the s550 is on another level. Go for it!

No comparison. Went from a 13 GT/CS to the GT350. The Shelby is better in absolutely every way. Pull the trigger. You won't regret it.

There is some misinformation on here. 350 is not better than a 5.0 s197 gt for low end torque in daily driving. Nor is it better at front end clearance due to low splitter. Nor is it better at getting into and out of due to extra bolsters on the seats. And finally the stereo sucks. I'd still choose it over the 12 gt i had by a longshot but the gt350 isnt perfect.

I had a 14 gt track pack with the recaros and loved it she was my baby!!!
and then.......... I bought the gt350 no test drive just a simple walk around I made the deal with the dealer they bought my gt back for 28k no adm on the shelby
when I drove the 350 home I said to my self.... man my gt feels like a marshmallow compared to this and I have not looked back

I had an 08 GT and the GT350 is far superior in every category. I say go for it. You won't be disappointed.

I came from a 2011 GT Brembo Pack car. The S197 feels like a truck in comparison.

I custom ordered a 2011 GT automatic premium, and decided to keep that car when I custom ordered a 2017 GT350 last year (I also did not care for the appearance of the regular 2015+ Mustangs). Both cars are stock (other than the rubber floor mats), and are special in different ways. Note that I run premium in both cars, the GT still has the stock exhaust, and the GT350 has the exhaust in sport mode when outside the neighborhood.

2011 GT:
* Engine seems to effortlessly move the car up to highway speeds, and is perfectly happy cruising at 1000 RPM in 6th gear. Accidentally hit 120 MPH on the freeway once when trying to put a couple of feet on a tail-gater by planting the throttle to the floor for a few seconds.
* 6th gear at 70 MPH with the stock 3.15 rear gears translates to about 2,000 RPM.
* Throttle feels a little like an on/off switch with a slightly delayed reaction.
* The steering always seemed a little vague without a lot of heft or feedback from the road.
* Nose of the car raises several inches when putting the throttle to the floor, even at 55 MPH.
* Putting the throttle to the floor at 10 to 20 MPH causes the stock spec 235 tires to break loose for 30+ feet, even with traction control enabled.
* Measurable amount of body roll when taking turns quickly, and with the solid rear axle, feels like a horse trying to break loose when hitting a bump in the curve (one of the entertaining events with the car).
* While the rubber air dam under the front bumper is nearly as close to the ground as the front splitter on the GT350, the air dam is tucked next to the front tires, so there is no worry in scrapping when entering/exiting business parking lots or most driveways.
* Even when the car was new, there were few worries about taking the GT for extended multi-day cruises. One year I drove around Lake Michigan just for fun, another year I took the back roads from the Michigan/Indiana border to Mackinaw bridge and followed the western coastline of Michigan back down to the Michigan/Indiana border, and repeated the process down the east coast line another year. Another year I took the car for a 3100+ mile cruise along back roads from the Michigan/Indiana border to the east coast of the US, down to Florida, and back (car averaged 31.3 MPG on that cruise).
* GT has averaged 27 MPG since new (50,000+ miles).
* The gas mileage displayed in the dash is consistently 6% to 8% LOWER than the actual calculated gas mileage, and it is not too hard to achieve 400 miles per tank before the car reports 0 miles to empty (roughly 14.4 gallons to fill up at that point).
* Oil changes are relatively inexpensive, even with 8 quarts of 5W-20 semi-synthetic.

2017 GT350:
* With the exhaust in sport (loud) mode, the engine seems to work pretty hard when shifting at or before 2000 RPM to move the car up to highway speeds, and is not happy cruising at 1000 RPM in 6th gear (the exhaust is quiet in 6th gear), so I find that I am cruising at 2000+ RPM (partially to enjoy the wonderful exhaust) around town. I have not accidentally hit 120 MPH yet because the exhaust note with the exhaust in sport mode does a nice job at communicating speed (and top of second gear is probably above or near the speed limit). The standard (quiet) mode is nice when roaming the neighborhood so as not to disturb the neighbors too much.
* 6th gear at 70 MPH with the stock 3.73 rear gears translates to about 2,000 RPM (essentially identical to the 2011 GT automatic with the 3.15 rear gears).
* Throttle seems to be instantaneous. Some days the car seems to have little power below 3000 RPM, other days I can hear the rear 305 tires struggling for traction on a quick throttle input at 1500 RPM in 1st gear.
* The steering in normal mode is well weighted, and seems to provide good feedback from road conditions. The front tires like to follow grooves in the road, much more than in the 2011 GT, so it is good that more steering feedback is provided.
* In normal driving mode, the nose of the car raises very little when putting the throttle to the floor, thanks to the magnetic ride control.
* Putting the throttle to the floor at 25 MPH in 3rd gear is a yawn inspiring experience. Doing the same in first gear has a tendency to cause the radar Escort Max radar detector to detect strong radar signals (not sure that all are from police vehicles).
* Almost no body roll when taking turns quickly. With the magnetic ride control the car feels absolutely glued to the road when taking turns a bit too fast. The car has always felt glued to the road except on one occasion. I was leaving a stop light at light acceleration in 1st, and there was a slight curve in the road - once the car to the side of me was a hundred feet ahead of me, I put the accelerator to the floor, the car came to life, and the front passenger side tire of the car was about 3-4 feet out of my lane to the right. I steered back into my lane and put the accelerator to the floor, only to experience the same problem with the front passenger side front tire of the car ending up about about 3-4 feet out of my lane to the right. I learned a lesson: Traction control will not tame a Torsen differential, semi-sticky tires, slight curve in the road, and a partially awake Voodoo engine at about 1500 RPM in first gear.
* The front splitter is low to the ground, and well forward of the front tires. I have avoided entering certain business driveways because I know that the front splitter on the car will scrape. Oddly enough, it even scrapped driving down a city street at 25 MPH once due to a slight low spot in the road.
* With the GT350 costing close to $28,000 more than the 2011 GT, and the low front splitter, I have been reluctant to take the GT350 on long cruises, although I have taken it a couple of times on monthly 800 mile freeway drives for work.
* GT350 has averaged just a hair over 21 MPG when calculated by hand.
* The gas mileage displayed in the dash is consistently 6% to 8% HIGHER than the actual calculated gas mileage, and it is a real struggle to drive 360 miles per tank before the car reports 0 miles to empty (roughly 15.2 gallons to fill up at that point).
* Oil changes are expensive with 10 quarts of 5W-50 full synthetic (I bought a couple of quarts from Amazon a few weeks ago for more than $14 per quart).

The 2011 GT and 2017 GT350 feel like two completely different cars. One is a quietly fast bucking bronco of a horse, the other is a loud-mouth-trash talker that sets off police radars at the slightest throttle input that brings the goods to back up the loud-mouth-trash talking, and is just begging to be hammered to redline in 1st, 2nd, and ... (never tried third).