Another GT350 vs GT350R Thread

[robbo1011]

Murphy's law, only 2 weeks after I pulled the trigger on a GT350 at MSRP, I get a call from a dealer offering me a GT350R at 5K over MSRP. For those that have owned and or driven both: Is it worth it? I know this is difficult to answer, just looking for opinions. Im guessing to upgrade would cost me in the vicinity of 16-18K to make the switch. Yes the R is more rare and more exclusive (doesnt mean that much to me). Other than that: wheels, tires, spoiler, splitter, and minor suspension tweaks. All that worth 16-18K?

No disrespect intended for either R or Non R owners. I own a GT350 and am on the fence and can see both sides.

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[tebeller]

I bought a '16 non-R in February. I love how you just don't see them around, even in Vegas. I know there are another 9 350s here, at least, but I never see them. And I love that. It is unique simply because there aren't many around.

Having said that, I got together with 8 other owners of non-Rs a few weekends ago... now I think I need an R.

 

[3er]

I'm sure I'd get an R if offered a similar or better deal. With that said, the logic part of me says "no," strictly because of the onset of paranoia I'd have regarding the wheels and any damage that may occur to them along the way (pothole, rim checking, etc.).

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

Based on what people have said who have driven and owned both the non-R and R, it seems as though it would be a resounding yes. Chances are you could take a minimal loss on your 350 if you were to trade it in, and assuming your state gives you a tax break on the trade in amount, I would harken to bet the difference might be a lot less than you may think!

Ultimately it depends only on what you think. If you see an R on the street, will you regret not pulling the trigger? Forget the performance data, if you really like the extras that the R bring to the table, and if it might bother you later, then that would tell you the answer. I personally love the look of the R's spoiler, wheels and wing, and the extra rarity/wow factor/performance is a bonus

 

[Spacebird]

It depends on how you'd use it. Will you track the car regularly? R for sure. Are you going to daily it? Non-R makes much more sense.

 

[Shift]

Murphy's law, only 2 weeks after I pulled the trigger on a GT350 at MSRP, I get a call from a dealer offering me a GT350R at 5K over MSRP. For those that have owned and or driven both: Is it worth it? I know this is difficult to answer, just looking for opinions. Im guessing to upgrade would cost me in the vicinity of 16-18K to make the switch. Yes the R is more rare and more exclusive (doesnt mean that much to me). Other than that: wheels, tires, spoiler, splitter, and minor suspension tweaks. All that worth 16-18K?

No disrespect intended for either R or Non R owners. I own a GT350 and am on the fence and can see both sides.

I'm already paranoid for my $3000 set of forged wheels. I can't imagine what it'd be like with a $10k-15k set of rims. First and foremost strength of the R is in the wheels. If you don't care much for exclusivity(including impact on future values) or the wheels, or track your car, it's hard to make a case that makes sense for you to purchase an R for your own benefit. If you had money to burn, or wanted to brag, or just have to have the best of the best because you can, then sure.

 

[Bcobb85]

I had the opportunity to buy an R for a very similar ADM and decided it wasn't worth the extra $$. I have a 17 350 and have driven a 16 R on the street. From my experience, there was no discernible difference in how the R felt vs the standard 350. Obviously the R will perform better than a standard 350 on a track and I would assume would feel faster when compared to a standard 350 on track. But on the street, aside from it sounding slightly louder, I could't feel a noticeable difference in how the car behaved. As others have said, it really comes down to what is important to you and how you plan to use it. If you like the looks of the R better, and if the fact that it is a rarer car and more capable on track appeals to you, then I would go for it. Those notions weren't important to me, which is why I didn't go for the R. So to sum up, if you don't plan to track the car and are indifferent to the looks/rarity, I would say its not worth the extra coin. Different strokes for different folks though

 

[Hack]

If you have the money and it will be no financial strain to get an R, I think it's the right call to get one. This is especially true if you are going to get to a road course a few times a year and not just go to C&C with it. Remember that you probably won't want to use the Cup2 tires in daily driving and the R will tend to scrape a bit more on driveways, etc.

 

[firestarter2]

I wonder about this also. It seems like the consensus is the wheels and the tires are a large amount of the difference.

Id love to drive one back to back

The R springs,sways, splitter, and wing are what 4K? I feel like with a R youd have to get separate wheels anyway.

 

[superman07]

I am looking for an R now, but I have a tech and also want coolers and I have wheels and tires for the street already. Cup 2s really wont last long, and are not good DD tires. You might want to add a set of street wheels and tires to your cost if you will be driving it daily, or if you might get rain. You also loose the rear seat, I actually will miss the rear seat as I do use it occasionally.

 

[2011gt350]

Wow that is tough. In the end what do you really want? If you can afford the R without losing a ton then it maybe worth it for you. Both great cars so you can't go wrong..it really comes down to what is going to make you the happiest imo..

 

[torque124]

In the crappy roads we drive around here, the R is a big nono. Not only cup 2's will pick all the stones and crap (and most likely will look like a 10 year old car in one year) but the suspension being firmer, I would have a hard time driving it... Unless to the track, which is twice a year or so.

The other problem is price. I have not seen an R yet without a huge markup, even second hand. For that kind of money, might as well make an effort and get my dream car, the F430, which is trading at little over 100k nowadays..

Kind of silly to pay 80k for a Mustang, no matter how good they drive. But that's just me.

 

[sublime1996525]

I could not make that swing so I didn't get an R. I will say this though, as much as I love the GT350, if I could more comfortably swing a $75k car, I would have bought something else.

 

[krt22]

As much as I lust after the R, I can't justify the 20-25k delta it would be to get one. Even at MSRP its almost a 20k swing once factoring in the sales tax and mods I did to my track pack car. It is a different story if I could have bought one originally at or near MSRP

I'll be content with some ligther wheels and sticky tires, maybe in 2019-2020 when ppl are upgrading to the latest and greatest then used R's might be more reasonable and I can make the switch.

 

[96cobra]

I could swing an R, but I wanted a car I could daily drive and just enjoy w/o the extra worry of the wheels and the extra attention the car would get. I feel the GT350 offers 95% of the experience the R does, especially if you are not pushing it on the track (which most guys that own the R are not btw).

If I could have found an R at a reasonable price before I bought mine, I probably would have jumped. Now I ask myself if the extra $20K or so to upgrade to one would be worth it or not, and I can't say it is for me personally. But I have other special weekend cars, if this was my special "show only" car, I probably would have waited for the R.

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