GT350 Owner: Have you driven the Mach 1? Please provide your comparison to GT350

[348SStb]

Good morning,

I am on my second GT350. I love the car and intend on keeping it.

I desire owning a Mach 1 as a sort of "GT350 lite" in an automatic guise (without handling package). I cannot find a Mach 1 test mule to save my life.

If you're a GT350/R owner and you've driven the Mach 1, please review and compare to the GT350. Please specify if you drove the manual or the automatic Mach 1 and also if it did or did not have the handling package.
1) Steering feel
2) Ride quality/shock absorption
3) Handling/cornering
4) Nimble feel
5) If driven automatic, evaluation of the automatic transmission
6) Overall performance
7) Etc

I think this would be very helpful to many Ford and non-Ford owners interested in the Mustang.

Thanks!

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[Cobra Jet]

I believe @raidernixon can offer some input.

He owns a new M1 and he's in the M1 sub-forum on here and I think he has a GT500... obviously a step up over a GT350 with regards to As Built power, but he may be able to offer some input with regards to the suspension platforms and handling aspects.

 

[ecoboost321]

Are you planning on using as a street car only ? If so, my guess is in street driving, a Mach 1 is indistinguishable from a Bullitt or a Performance Pack Mustang GT.

 

[526 HRSE]

Not performance related, but IMO, the Mach 1 is like the gt350's ugly step sister. The car looks like it should be chasing plankton in the ocean. Yes, it's just my opinion.

 

[Wildcardfox]

I’ll chime in.

I can get you close to a comparison, I have a 2019 PP2 and a GT350R. The Mach is like a PP3, it takes all of the suspension and wheel package from the PP2 and adds in the GT350’s transmission.

there is another owner or former owner who swapped from a GT350 to a Mach 1 hopefully he will chime in.

they are very different cars. GT350 is high revving, the 5.0 powered PP2 & Mach 1 have lots of low end torque. You don’t have the 8250 redline and even though they Redline at 7500, it’s a big reduction and you have to train yourself to shift earlier if you are used to trying to ring all 8250 out of your 350.

The biggest improvement of the Mach 1 over the now discontinued PP2 is the transmission. That alone is all Ford had to say in the Mach 1 to make it special because the GT350’s tremec is leaps and bounds better than the MT-82. The latter doesn’t seem to like to be shifted hard, it’s always making gear noises when you do and you almost have to relearn how to drive it so that it’s happy. My GT350R I can shift hard and it’s fine. Having that in the Mach 1 is worth the price of admission and will aid to the pleasure of driving the car hard and aggressively whether on track or on the road.

On the street, both cars have a very different character and are completely different. The crossplane crank of the 5.0 allows you to the power through stop and go traffic because of its low end torque. The other you have to rev it to get to the torque band.

The handling package Mach 1 inherites it’s wheel package from the PP2. And those PP2 tires were inherited from the GT350R. They use the same 305/30/19 Cup 2 tires that are found on the front wheels of the GT350R, just on all four corners. This is not the base 2019-2020 GT350 Cup 2 tire compound that is more durable—it is the super soft compound found on the R. Good tires, 15000 life if you treat them extremely good.

I would happily daily a PP2 or a Mach 1. I dont daily my GT350R.

hope that other owner chimes in, but this is a close enough comparison that can help answer your question.

 

[348SStb]

I’ll chime in.

I can get you close to a comparison, I have a PP2 and a GT350R. The Mach is like a PP3, it takes all of the suspension and wheel package from the PP2 and adds in the GT350’s transmission.

there is another owner or former owner who swapped from a GT350 to a Mach 1 hopefully he will chime in.

they are very different cars. GT350 is high revving, the 5.0 powered PP2 & Mach 1 have lots of low end torque. You don’t have the 8250 redline and even though they Redline at 7500, it’s a big reduction and you have to train yourself to shift earlier if you are used to trying to ring all 8250 out of your 350.

The biggest improvement of the Mach 1 over the now discontinued PP2 is the transmission. That alone is all Ford had to say in the Mach 1 to make it special because the GT350’s tremec is leaps and bounds better than the MT-82. The latter doesn’t seem to like to be shifted hard, it’s always making gear noises when you do and you almost have to relearn how to drive it so that it’s happy. My GT350R I can shift hard and it’s fine. Having that in the Mach 1 is worth the price of admission and will aid to the pleasure of driving the car hard and aggressively whether on track or on the road.

On the street, both cars have a very different character and are completely different. The crossplane crank of the 5.0 allows you to the power through stop and go traffic because of its low end torque. The other you have to rev it to get to the torque band.

The handling package Mach 1 inherites it’s wheel package from the PP2. And those PP2 tires were inherited from the GT350R. They use the same 305/30/19 Cup 2 tires that are found on the front wheels of the GT350R, just on all four corners. This is not the base 2019-2020 GT350 Cup 2 tire compound that is more durable—it is the super soft compound found on the R. Good tires, 15000 life if you treat them extremely good.

I would happily daily a PP2 or a Mach 1. I dont daily my GT350R.

hope that other owner chimes in, but this is a close enough comparison that can help answer your question.

Thanks for the writeup. Have you driven a Mach 1?

 

[Schwerin]

The biggest improvement of the Mach 1 over the now discontinued PP2 is the transmission. That alone is all Ford had to say in the Mach 1 to make it special because the GT350’s tremec is leaps and bounds better than the MT-82.

A MASSIVE chunk of that is the shifter. Not the transmission itself.
I'd easily place the coolers as a bigger upgrade than the transmission. More so based on how few 2019+ MT-82's have broken. A shifter and shifter bushing is a LOT easier to replace than adding more coolers.

 

[Wildcardfox]

Thanks for the writeup. Have you driven a Mach 1?

not yet. COVID meant I wasn’t called out on the media day.

I would disagree with you on believing that the Mach 1 will be similar to a GT350—they will feel and drive completely different. Flat plane crank engine, different braking—GT350 has 15” rear fixed piston brembos, Mach 1 uses floating brakes, same as on the PP2. And other features.

but the Mach 1 is not a repalement to the GT350, it isn’t meant to be. It is meant to be a new vehicle that carries on the legacy of the Mach 1 name. So it will have it’s own unique character and be the fastest 5.0 powered mustang around a track.

 

[Wildcardfox]

A MASSIVE chunk of that is the shifter. Not the transmission itself.
I'd easily place the coolers as a bigger upgrade than the transmission. More so based on how few 2019+ MT-82's have broken. A shifter and shifter bushing is a LOT easier to replace than adding more coolers.

Drive a 350 if you can, the tremec is much more than substantial than a MT82 with a shifter upgrade in comparison terms. It’s on another planet in terms of a better more heavy duty transmission. It’s one of the best transmissions that can be had in a car.

Remember, Ford classified the PP2 as an enthusiast car, so it was a car that was meant to be a hard driving car that you can enjoy driving in, but it was not a street/track car like the GT350. So they did not include coolers in it. Perhaps the Mach 1 they consider differently because the 350 is discontinued, which makes the inclusion of the coolers make sense as people will track the vehicle, but the the Tremec is the party piece, that is the end all and be all of the Mach 1 in what sets it apart from all other coyote powered vehicles.

as for broken MT-82, I’m not referencing the early breaking issues with the first gen MT82, I’m just talking about the shear nature of the shifting the transmission in its stock form with the stock shifter. It’s not good. Not even close to the Tremec in my GT350R. It’s does not want to you shift it like the Shelby and it screeches if you try (I.e. hard power, clutch in and shift, and off the clutch and back on power). The Mach 1 having the Tremec instead of the second generation MT82 found in my 2019 PP2. The Tremec is a huge addition.

 

[WildHorse]

Mach 1 as a sort of "GT350

Its the ugly overweight sister to the GT350.

 

[Mikepol2]

Its the ugly overweight sister to the GT350.

Wow, not sure I could think of a more offensive description LOL! But hey, everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion.

 

[Schwerin]

Drive a 350 if you can, the tremec is much more than substantial than a MT82 with a shifter upgrade in comparison terms. It’s on another planet in terms of a better more heavy duty transmission. It’s one of the best transmissions that can be had in a car.

Remember, Ford classified the PP2 as an enthusiast car, so it was a car that was meant to be a hard driving car that you can enjoy driving in, but it was not a street/track car like the GT350. So they did not include coolers in it. Perhaps the Mach 1 they consider differently because the 350 is discontinued, which makes the inclusion of the coolers make sense as people will track the vehicle, but the the Tremec is the party piece, that is the end all and be all of the Mach 1 in what sets it apart from all other coyote powered vehicles.

as for broken MT-82, I’m not referencing the early breaking issues with the first gen MT82, I’m just talking about the shear nature of the shifting the transmission in its stock form with the stock shifter. It’s not good. Not even close to the Tremec in my GT350R. It’s does not want to you shift it like the Shelby and it screeches if you try (I.e. hard power, clutch in and shift, and off the clutch and back on power). The Mach 1 having the Tremec instead of the second generation MT82 found in my 2019 PP2. The Tremec is a huge addition.

I have. my statement still stands.

 

[Mikepol2]

I have. my statement still stands.

I might argue that one of the most overlooked improvements of the Tremec over the MT82 is the gear ratios (which also is likely the reason for the gas guzzler tax). The M1 puts force down to the pavement in a way that is much more comparable to my 2018 with 4.09s Than a stock PP2. I’ve driven both and the butt dyno confirms this.

 

[Schwerin]

I might argue that one of the most overlooked improvements of the Tremec over the MT82 is the gear ratios (which also is likely the reason for the gas guzzler tax). The M1 puts force down to the pavement in a way that is much more comparable to my 2018 with 4.09s Than a stock PP2. I’ve driven both and the butt dyno confirms this.

Its gearing is more placed between the 15-17 and 18-21 MT-82 which is why.

The 2020 Bullitt also had the Gas Guzzler tax.

 

[Mikepol2]

Its gearing is more placed between the 15-17 and 18-21 MT-82 which is why.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/tremec-gear-ratios-vs-speed.155956/#post-3199907

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