Yes, I heard that by American Muscle, too. The ZL1 auto (non-1LE) is 3,944 lbs, for comparison. The GT500 CFTP is a whopping 3% heavier. However, the auto ZL1 1LE is only about 3,880 lbs, 200 lbs lighter than the CFTP. I'm sure the CFTP is great, but it would have been icing on the cake if they could have kept it under 4,000 lbs, even if it was 3,995 lbs, for a little psychological boost. Oh well, at least it's not a Hellcat (4,450 lbs base models!).
That would be most of us....present company included. I am 6'2" and 220lbs. By the book I am 30 to 40 pounds overweight. Why should I be picky about the car being 4,070 pounds instead of 3,999 when I am 40 lbs overweight myself. LOL!
One of the first things that I will do with my 2 seat GT500 will be to go and weigh it based on the way that I have configured my CFTP car and will then post the actual weight of my vehicle based on ~1/4 tank of fuel and of course no driver.
The weight reduction programs for these 2 seat Mustangs such as the 2012 Boss Laguna Seca, Base GT350R and now the GT500 optioned with the CFTP does not come down to a "meaningless bragging factor" but actually comes down to Ford building and refining these lighter cars to the point where they will ultimately show improved performance numbers for not only our Mustang enthusiast community but also for taking on their competition when it comes to best in class performance benchmark times whether it be on a road course or a drag strip.
Good post, Harry and you summed up my reasoning perfectly.
False, False and False. The GT 500 weighs about a 120lbs lighter than the base. Yes you will get better performance out of the unsprung weight of the Carbon Fiber wheels but the reduction in weight won't benefit most people will who own the car. Obviously making the car lighter wasn't Ford's biggest priority when they sought to get the performance numbers they wanted. They could have made the car far lighter but at a much greater cost. The few hundred pound difference will net a professional driver significant gains but a person who is a track enthusiast (amateur) is not going to be able to push the car to its limit and be able to take advantage of the weight difference. A 10.6 and whatever the best track time possible for the car are just bragging rights unless you are one of the few expert drivers who can get the car to match them. Now when you mount a roll cage in your CFTP GT500 and you beat the best records at the Nurburgring I will believe you otherwise you are just another enthusiast that is playing car racer occasionally for fun and bragging rights.The weight reduction programs for these 2 seat Mustangs such as the 2012 Boss Laguna Seca, Base GT350R and now the GT500 optioned with the CFTP does not come down to a "meaningless bragging factor" but actually comes down to Ford building and refining these lighter cars to the point where they will ultimately show improved performance numbers for not only our Mustang enthusiast community but also for taking on their competition when it comes to best in class performance benchmark times whether it be on a road course or a drag strip.
Do you really think that Ford built these 2 seat Mustangs many that come with CF wheels, CF wings, rear seat delete based on meaningless bragging rights?
In the case of the 135 Base R models built over 4 MY's it was Ford's intention to produce the purist form of a GT350 and offered those cars to the general public based on the owners using them in whatever fashion they chose and at the same time they also made a strong statement as to how far they would go in order to provide the ultimate performance R model.
Ford built these lighter weight Mustangs in order to take on their competition with respect performance times and also built them for individuals such as you, Tom and many others that want the purest form of that particular model regardless if any of us track them or not.
I can tell you that I did not order my CFTP based on bragging rights but ordered my car based on wanting the most performance enhanced GT500 that was available to me at the time and suggest that you may have ordered your 2 seat GT500 on the very same premise as myself?
Actually Ford built them as light as they could based on the bean counters allowing them to do all that they could. Dave Pericak and his team at the time (early 2010's) wanted a clean slate. Ford said no, rebuild the S197. The S550 is an evolution of the S197. Dave and crew had a goal set out to have the car gain effectively no noticeable weight, basically within a few pounds of the S197 counter parts. So basically low 3600's for a GT. But because Ford gave their team a louisville slugger with no lube, the car gained 80 - 90lbs base instead. He was pissed. He even used Ford's marketing against them and said pretty much wait a sec...we're trying to display European sophistication, handling, and touting great fuel economy but we gained basically 100lbs on each trim? And then followed up with an epic double facepalm and a few choice colorful words. The video is out there. No joke. The 500 could have potentially been right there with the ZL1 1LE in weight BETTER equipped. But nope. Team Mustang wanted to use an aluminum tub, aluminum subframes, and aluminum cross braces but got nixed due to penny pinching. The 350R could have been a sub 3600lbs large coupe in the right configuration...
