GT350 Too Low for the UK

[Stratnumberone]

Hello all,

I have a GT350 on order and intend to take it back to the UK in a couple of years. I have seen one or two comments on the threads regarding how low the front end is. They claim that the GT350 is a North America only car because the front end is too low to pass European pedestrian safety standards.

Whilst I suspect that this may be incorrect (surely it's not lower than a number of Italian super cars) I have no idea about this subject.

Do you any of you know?

Many thanks.

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[McDoodle]

Hello all,

I have a GT350 on order and intend to take it back to the UK in a couple of years. I have seen one or two comments on the threads regarding how low the front end is. They claim that the GT350 is a North America only car because the front end is too low to pass European pedestrian safety standards.

Whilst I suspect that this may be incorrect (surely it's not lower than a number of Italian super cars) I have no idea about this subject.

Do you any of you know?

Many thanks.

No idea if the low front rumours are correct - as you say how on earth do Ferrari and Lamborghini manage to get type approval for anything! I'd love a GT350 and I've been trying to get someone from Ford UK to confirm why exactly they won't be for sale here - I've even been pestering Andy Barratt for an answer - but I've yet to get a response, not even a 'we're not going to sell it in the UK so go away and stop bothering us' type of response. In my blind optimism I'm taking the 'no comment' stance as some sort of indication that maybe it is coming to Europe and they're waiting to get the launch of the GT out of the way before it's officially announced :lol: ... I think it's called living in denial

That said, if you're importing your own car the EU regs don't apply anyway do they?

 

[SSC]

Hello all,

I have a GT350 on order and intend to take it back to the UK in a couple of years. I have seen one or two comments on the threads regarding how low the front end is. They claim that the GT350 is a North America only car because the front end is too low to pass European pedestrian safety standards.

Whilst I suspect that this may be incorrect (surely it's not lower than a number of Italian super cars) I have no idea about this subject.

Do you any of you know?

Many thanks.

I saw this in a post. GT350 has 5.9" or 150mm clearance.

UK limit is 5". Ground Clearance: Minimum ground clearance with the driver normally seated is 3" (75mm) excluding exhaust system and sump. Minimum ground clearance under the sump is 50mm. It is permitted to add shims to or modify the engine mountings in order to comply with these minimum heights.

Looking at the gap in this picture, it seems well clear of the road.

http://gtspirit.com/2015/06/28/video-ben-collins-drives-the-mustang-gt350r-at-goodwood/

 

[Stratnumberone]

Thanks for the views and info so far, gents. I will continue looking into this and see if I can come up with anything solid. As for the GT350 making it to the UK in an official capacity, well I think it will take a while. Trying to get hold of one over here is proving 'challenging' for virtually all concerned!

I read somewhere on a forum here (or maybe over at pistonheads) that Ford were doing some kind of '#shelby lost' thing in London, whereby an R was turning up at various places around the city. I imagine it's fair to assume that the car must have been made uk road legal before such an event, isn't it?

Cheers.

 

[Twin Turbo]

There's an assumption, and that's all it is, that the GT350 cannot pass the Euro Pedestrian Impact tests. This is based on the fact the hood of the GT350 sits lower and (one assumes) closer to the engine. The Euro Pedestrian Impact Test required a certain space between the top of the engine and the underside of the hood.

That's why Ferraris and Lambos, at lease the mid-engined ones, have no problem passing the test......there's nothing under the hoods for a pedestrian's head to hit! "Active" hoods are another way around this. In the event of the car detecting its hit a pedestrian, a small explosive device will "pop" the hood up, again preventing the pedestrian's head hitting anything in the engine bay.

But, as I said, we currently only assume this is the reason GT350 isn't being sold here. My thoughts are it's more likely Ford weren't sure what the uptake would be......and they could pretty much guarantee they'd sell all that could Stateside.

All that being said, if you bring your GT350 to the UK, there's no such test as part of the IVA (Individual Type Approval) required to register the car here

 

[marks]

No idea if the low front rumours are correct - as you say how on earth do Ferrari and Lamborghini manage to get type approval for anything! I'd love a GT350 and I've been trying to get someone from Ford UK to confirm why exactly they won't be for sale here - I've even been pestering Andy Barratt for an answer - but I've yet to get a response, not even a 'we're not going to sell it in the UK so go away and stop bothering us' type of response. In my blind optimism I'm taking the 'no comment' stance as some sort of indication that maybe it is coming to Europe and they're waiting to get the launch of the GT out of the way before it's officially announced :lol: ... I think it's called living in denial

That said, if you're importing your own car the EU regs don't apply anyway do they?

I had a response from Andy on bringing the GT350 to the UK and apparently it's not going to happen as they can't put together a satisfactory business case for it.

 

[Stratnumberone]

I had a response from Andy on bringing the GT350 to the UK and apparently it's not going to happen as they can't put together a satisfactory business case for it.

Sounds odd. I have a sneaky suspicion they would sell a good number. That said, I also suspect that they could keep GT350 production at max output and sell everything they can make in the USA/Canada anyway = less logistical issues and probably higher profit margins.

 

[marks]

Yes it is odd but then it's odd they took so long to bring the Mustang to the UK!

 

[JB]

Sounds odd. I have a sneaky suspicion they would sell a good number. That said, I also suspect that they could keep GT350 production at max output and sell everything they can make in the USA/Canada anyway = less logistical issues and probably higher profit margins.

Still the volume would probably be too low to recoup the cost of re-engineering and homologating for Europe.

 

[tooley]

I had a response from Andy on bringing the GT350 to the UK and apparently it's not going to happen as they can't put together a satisfactory business case for it.

And of course they got the business case for the s550 spot on didn't they ! Vastly underestimated demand to the extent that I've probably got to wait until this time next year to get mine....

 

[McDoodle]

There's an assumption, and that's all it is, that the GT350 cannot pass the Euro Pedestrian Impact tests. This is based on the fact the hood of the GT350 sits lower and (one assumes) closer to the engine. The Euro Pedestrian Impact Test required a certain space between the top of the engine and the underside of the hood.

That's why Ferraris and Lambos, at lease the mid-engined ones, have no problem passing the test......there's nothing under the hoods for a pedestrian's head to hit! "Active" hoods are another way around this. In the event of the car detecting its hit a pedestrian, a small explosive device will "pop" the hood up, again preventing the pedestrian's head hitting anything in the engine bay.

This is a reason I keep hearing - but how much lower does the F-type bonnet look than the GT350!? Going by these pictures there doesn't look to be an awful lot of room between bonnet and engine once the lid is closed either. Same goes for the F12 too. As the S550 already has an active bonnet for Europe they seem to have a ready-made solution.

But, as I said, we currently only assume this is the reason GT350 isn't being sold here. My thoughts are it's more likely Ford weren't sure what the uptake would be......and they could pretty much guarantee they'd sell all that could Stateside.

Probably the most likely reason, but what happens once the initial peak of demand in the States has died down? It's a shame Ford didn't spread the cost of all the various worldwide type approvals over all Mustang sales - given what a phenomenal success the car has been it would probably have worked out at less than $5 or 10 per car, but I guess that estimate is based on my very simplistic view and the real-life economics are probably way more complicated.

 

[Twin Turbo]

As the S550 already has an active bonnet for Europe they seem to have a ready-made solution.

This is only the second time I've heard this. First was from a friend who attended the press launch in Germany. However, nowhere else have I seen this stated.......I thought Ford would have made a bigger noise about this! I need to take a close look at a Euro S550 to see it for myself!

 

[McDoodle]

This is only the second time I've heard this. First was from a friend who attended the press launch in Germany. However, nowhere else have I seen this stated.......I thought Ford would have made a bigger noise about this! I need to take a close look at a Euro S550 to see it for myself!

I read it in a couple of places (in the owners handbook I think was one of the places) but it was also mentioned by Andy Barratt in one of his posts regarding the lack of strut-brace on euro cars .... so as it was coming from the main man I was taking it to be a fact

Rather than just say 'lack of business case' it would be nice to know exactly what the re-engineering issue is. I guess they have estimated how many they would sell and the unit price required to make money and they feel they can't balance that equation - either they won't sell enough or they won't be able to charge enough. Shame they don't take a leaf out of other manufacturers books and build something just for the hell of it. Honda did it with the NSX (and to a lesser extent the S2000), VW did it with the Veyron (admittedly a tad more expensive than a Mustang) and going right back to the R129 500SL in the early 90's (not to mention any Aston Martin from the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's!) - all cars that were sold at a price that barely broke even, but done just for the hell of it and/or the 'halo' effect (with the exception of Aston Martin of course - they were built just for the hell of it! ).

 

[Twin Turbo]

Thanks for the clarification on the active bonnet.....I mean, hood

Hopefully that business case will be re-visited once the S550 receives it's first facelift.

It would be a pity for other markets to miss out on low volume Mustangs!

 

[slowhand99]

I read it in a couple of places (in the owners handbook I think was one of the places) but it was also mentioned by Andy Barratt in one of his posts regarding the lack of strut-brace on euro cars .... so as it was coming from the main man I was taking it to be a fact

Rather than just say 'lack of business case' it would be nice to know exactly what the re-engineering issue is. I guess they have estimated how many they would sell and the unit price required to make money and they feel they can't balance that equation - either they won't sell enough or they won't be able to charge enough. Shame they don't take a leaf out of other manufacturers books and build something just for the hell of it. Honda did it with the NSX (and to a lesser extent the S2000), VW did it with the Veyron (admittedly a tad more expensive than a Mustang) and going right back to the R129 500SL in the early 90's (not to mention any Aston Martin from the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's!) - all cars that were sold at a price that barely broke even, but done just for the hell of it and/or the 'halo' effect (with the exception of Aston Martin of course - they were built just for the hell of it! ).

Like the Ford GT?

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