GT350 Mustang to be over 520HP, Q&A with Ford's Shelby Brand Manager (Jim Owens)

As you all know, the GT350 Mustang appeared at the Texas World Speedway this weekend. Thanks to M6G member Backorder who got us a slew of photos/videos and new details in this Q&A with Jim Owens, Ford's Shelby/Boss Brand Manager.

This 16min video is well worth the listen, with a lot of interesting and entertaining moments.

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Some highlights:

• The Avalanche Gray GT350 at Texas World Speedway is the first technical trial (TT) build GT350 that has been shown, built with non-production tools.

• GT350 will be over 100HP/liter (making the 5.2L over 520 horsepowers) with a 8250 RPM redline.

• "We haven't divulged the model year yet and there is a reason for that."

• It will be available "earlier in the fourth quarter."

• There will be a GT350S race car that is covered by a contractual agreement between Ford and Shelby American.

• Regarding production numbers: "It would be safe to say it would be somewhere between a Boss 302 number and the current GT500 production number and I wouldn’t be surprised if the R might be akin to ... the Leguna Seca version."

• Pricing proposal is being submitted to the Group VP on April 2, 2015.

• It will be a "relative performance value... not saying it will be cheap" but "it will have things in the car that you can't get at any price" (i.e. 5.2L flat plane crank engine).

• Ford will market the vehicle by showcasing it running on world famous North American road courses. Possibly Leguna Seca, Road America, Watkins Glen, Sebring, Lime Rock, etc. "What made the Cobras famous was that it went to world class race facilities and beat everything it could."

• There may be a GT350 Mustang Track Attack program (see Boss Track Attack program).

• When they go on tour, the GT350 will be displayed flipped on its side with clear plastic belly pans with arrows to show the airflow to showcase the entire air management system and the strides it made to reduce drag coefficient and increase downforce.

• Tech pack includes: heated/cooled seats, 8.5" screen, Sync 3 and other creature comforts while getting the same brakes, MagneRide, same calibration, same horsepower.

• Track pack includes: smaller screen, Recaro seats, bigger functional wing.

Good deets you got there Backorder.

Sounds to me like a strong hint there will be at least a limited run of 2015 GT350's. I can't see why else the model year would be a secret if it coming out in the fourth quarter. Anniversary limited editions?

Thanks!!

Good stuff. Much better than the usual canned speeches they give. LEGIT over 500 hmm? Need to see the dyno results he talks about!

Thanks jarstang and 6G for going through that audio and making cliff notes :-) I heard him talk but have the memory of a goldfish, hence the audio recording + I didn't want to have to listen to it all again and separate it all.

I knew it would probably be the last time for almost a year that I see one so I made those 3 hours worth it! Lol

Great info, thanks for this!

Thanks for recording this.

so we know the tech pack does not come with recaros then, thatts too bad. Guess the order guide was right. Wonder if the CCB option turns out true too.

Good to hear from the guys who truly love doing this and not some suit reading talking points off a card. There are definitely some real not so subtle hints in there..

Did he confirm 520 HP minimum? When he talks about HP around the 2 min mark he says over 100 HP while talking about it being 5.2L displacement. 100 HP/L. I have been accused of occasionally hearing what I want to hear so I could be wrong.

First post, long time reader. Finally jumped in.

Would of been nice to hear "yes and the power train will be under full warranty especially while being raced on the track"
Chevy did it with the Z/28's. Cmon Ford...hope you supply this with the 350...major selling point.

Chevy honoring warranty at track not written in stone just yet. Owner is still waiting on final result here.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=400679

JZ150 said:

Did he confirm 520 HP minimum? When he talks about HP around the 2 min mark he says over 100 HP while talking about it being 5.2L displacement. 100 HP/L. I have been accused of occasionally hearing what I want to hear so I could be wrong.

First post, long time reader. Finally jumped in.

Click to expand...

That's how I heard it, too

Dr Chill said:

Chevy honoring warranty at track not written in stone just yet. Owner is still waiting on final result here.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=400679

Click to expand...

Actually the warranty was written in stone, what that guy did was add a tune to the stock car...hence why all that happened. If he would of not touched the ecu then the car would have zero issues with them fixing it under warranty. Pay to play.

JZ150 said:

Did he confirm 520 HP minimum? When he talks about HP around the 2 min mark he says over 100 HP while talking about it being 5.2L displacement. 100 HP/L. I have been accused of occasionally hearing what I want to hear so I could be wrong.

First post, long time reader. Finally jumped in.

Click to expand...

Good catch, that is definitely what he said. Missed that part in our haste to post it up.

Been saying 525 for some time. So they can claim over 100 HP/L. It will be legit but marketing still matters.