What’s better Boss 302 or a GT350?

[Pudmullet]

How bad is the VOODOO? It sounds like a POS. I just purchased a 2018 R and now I'm concerned about the engine.

It's a 2018 R with 2k miles.

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[PP0001]

I’m contemplating selling my 2012 Boss 302 that I’ve owned since new. I’d like to replace that with a GT 350. I’ve read many different takes but I’m torn if it’s worth the money? Power? Seems like the Boss is better on street. I’m old, more of a car show type than a track guy. I like spirited driving but don’t need to be in competition at 71. Any owners here that have had both cars?

Like you I am in my 70's and also bought my first Boss 302/LS cars some 15 years ago and still own a Black 2013 Boss 302 LS example and have hundreds of hours of seat time and thousands of miles of driving pleasure in those outstanding vehicles.

Was also fortunate to purchase numerous 2015-2020 Mustang Shelby GT350/R models and had pretty much the same amount of seat time and driving miles in those amazing vehicles as well.

Like others have said, those two Mustang models have very different driving and performance characteristics and for me the driving engagement for either model is very rewarding and would not choose one over the other as I enjoy them both immensely.

After 15 years of owning your 2012 Mustang Boss 302 and if logistics/space is an issue, I would suggest that you stay with your Boss 302 car otherwise find some additional garage space for another Mustang model of your choosing as it would be a shame to give up your 2012 Boss 302 IMO.

Having said that, if you are adamant to make a change from your present 2012 Boss 302 and don't want to deal with a lack of garage space, I suggest that you take a serious look at moving to either a 2-seat GT350R or a 2-seat Boss 302 LS model all subject condition, mileage, provenance and of course how much you may want to spend for a new vehicle?

Good luck with your decision going forward!

 

[wingnutt]

How bad is the VOODOO? It sounds like a POS. I just purchased a 2018 R and now I'm concerned about the engine.

80 thousand on mine, 20 thousand boosted and I drive it EVERYWHERE

 

[wingnutt]

Gt350 is a better car with more power and a better transmission but the road runner engine is more reliable. The voodoo will give up its rod bearings it’s just a matter of when. The roadrunner won’t.

 

[PNOY350]

I had a 16 GT350 (sports car feel) for 2 years and put about 32k miles then traded it in for Focus ST which imo was more fun to drive, yup, I'm weird. Fast forward to Nov 2025, bought a 13 Boss 302. Wow! I love the the muscle rawness of the Boss and I just feel and hear everything, from changing gears to the tire to the road contact noise, love it!
So from what I now know, if you put either car in front of me and told me to choose one, I would go with the Boss.
Good luck though.

 

[dpAtlanta]

The info on threads about the "unreliability" of VooDoo's reminds me of the Global Freezing scare in the '70's:

In Search of with Leonard Nimoy: 'The Coming Ice Age' (1978)

My 2019 VooDoo is creeping up on 60,000 miles with ZERO issues.

 

[PP0001]

Gt350 is a better car with more power and a better transmission but the road runner engine is more reliable. The voodoo will give up its rod bearings it’s just a matter of when. The roadrunner won’t.

Not sure where you are sourcing your information from, but in any event you can be rest assured that of the 24,219 Mustang Shelby Gt350/R examples built over the 6-year production run, the percentage of rod bearing failures was quite insignificant in the big scheme of things.

Now if you want to recognize owner neglect and/or abuse when centered around these exotic, high revving and high-strung 5.2L FPC engines, I have seen plenty over the years with some abuse/neglect coming from fellow car buddies of mine.

Over the last ~11 years I have witnessed scenarios such as improper break in procedures for the first 1000 miles, not checking oil levels/consumption on a regular basis, not allowing the engine oil, transmission or differential fluids to come up to proper operating temperature prior to aggressive and spirited driving along with high rev launches on a regular basis just to name a few.

With respect to the hand built 5.0 Boss 302 engines that were built at Ford's Essex engine plant in Windsor, Ontario, have to agree that those particular engines are about as rock solid as any HP engine that Ford has produced in many decades.

Was fortunate to have purchased some early 2012 Boss 302/LS Pilot Production examples that were built in the fall of 2010 with the Windsor engine build dates indicating July and August of that same year and once they were broke in, I shifted them at the 7,500 RPM redline on regular basis with the TracKey engaged and without incident.

 

[Champale]

PP0001 always wins every thread with pictures of his cars! Such cool stuff.

 

[PP0001]

PP0001 always wins every thread with pictures of his cars! Such cool stuff.

Appreciate your kind comments young fellow!

If I recall correctly pre-production engine "PP20" from Windsor was installed in chassis number "PP0002" which was a Pilot Production 2012 Performance White Boss 302 which was the first 2012 4-seat Boss 302 Pilot Production example built on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010.

That particular vehicle went onto what was called the 2011 NASCAR Xperience Tour and attended 16 NASCAR races starting in February 2011 with the Daytona 500 and ended in Homestead at the end of the year.

Of the 6 Boss 302/LS examples that I was fortunate to own it was quickest and fastest unit of that entire group.

 

[Mach 307]

Listen, love the GT350 and Voodoo, very cool, awesome car. That said, acting like the Voodoo is reliable is wild, it has its reputation for a reason, or it would not have that reputation. I don’t think people just make that up for fun, tons of them have issues. Those of you with higher mileage on yours, that’s awesome, but it’s not the norm. Acting baffled about reliability issues like it isn’t pretty damn common is sort of misleading.

 

[Rev Happy]

acting like the Voodoo is reliable is wild, it has its reputation for a reason, or it would not have that reputation

What do you want them to say? One has 80K miles with no issues and the other has 60K without any problems. They're speaking off of personal experience.

If you track them, they'll have a short life span. If you keep them relatively stock and just drive them on the street, you shouldn't really have any issues. Some of the earlier cars had oiling problems. I have a 2020 and never have to add any. The separator has hardly any oil in there either when I clean it out during an oil change. If my motor went tomorrow, I would simply rebuild it. To me, no other modern Mustang has the emotion or personality the 350 has and it's not even close. I'm not attacking you...just a little education.

The Boss/Roadrunner isn't bulletproof either when tracking. A local guy blew his motor at Big Willow. There's a whole YouTube video on it.

 

[Mach 307]

What do you want them to say? One has 80K miles with no issues and the other has 60K without any problems. They're speaking off of personal experience.

If you track them, they'll have a short life span. If you keep them relatively stock and just drive them on the street, you shouldn't really have any issues. Some of the earlier cars had oiling problems. I have a 2020 and never have to add any. The separator has hardly any oil in there either when I clean it out during an oil change. If my motor went tomorrow, I would simply rebuild it. To me, no other modern Mustang has the emotion or personality the 350 has and it's not even close. I'm not attacking you...just a little education.

The Boss/Roadrunner isn't bulletproof either when tracking. A local guy blew his motor at Big Willow. There's a whole YouTube video on it.

Not trying to attack anybody myself either. I don’t expect them to say anything different because that’s their personal experience. The point I was trying to make, is while let’s say one of them had that “higher” mileage experience, there’s let’s say ten cars that had an engine replacement. So while yes they had that experience, many others do not. Which generally, the people who have those “higher” mileage experiences, along with sharing their experiences, say the problem it self is fake or overblown by others.

That’s where I begin to feel the truth gets stretched a bit for no real reason, because I don’t think people are lying about it having issues being rather common. I mean, there’s a reason Ford wanted them off the books so bad for ESP’s and why you cannot even get a “used car” ESP on them anymore with inspection. I feel like everyday somewhere I see a thread or post about it happening, which is why I feel this way. Obviously the issues are more with the early cars, but they weren’t fully solved even in the 19/20’s. Again, I think the 350 is an awesome car, and agree with you fully on that, it’s absolutely bespoke. I’m also glad to hear it has treated you well, that is awesome.

If the ESP’s were readily available the 350 would have certainly been on my radar more, but I couldn’t do it given the concerns about it. Tracking adds a whole other layer, and when I speak of reliability of any of these cars, I really am speaking of stock vehicles that are driven in an enthusiast fashion, not necessarily tracked. Again, I love hearing when guys have gotten lots of miles out of them, I think it’s great. I just feel it’s unfair to the majority of others who haven’t had great luck, to act like they’re overblowing it, that’s the only point I was trying to make.

 

[EoDevil]

I just feel it’s unfair to the majority of others who haven’t had great luck

We're all still waiting on where you're getting this absolutely cracked info showing that majority of GT350 owners have had bad luck with their motors.

 

[Pudmullet]

We're all still waiting on where you're getting this absolutely cracked info showing that majority of GT350 owners have had bad luck with their motors.

The accounts of no issues are reassuring. My 350R has 2130 miles, has never been on the track, and never will while I have it. It will wind up in the hands of one of my sons someday. I will likely put less than 1k miles on it a year and I'm very anal about upkeep. Thanks everyone!

 

[EoDevil]

The accounts of no issues are reassuring. My 350R has 2130 miles, has never been on the track, and never will while I have it. It will wind up in the hands of one of my sons someday. I will likely put less than 1k miles on it a year and I'm very anal about upkeep. Thanks everyone!

It's honestly fear porn for them at this point. The topic is most always brought up unprompted, unrelated to the original post, from people who don't have one; a classic case of over-rationalizing a reason not to ever get in one.

The narrative continues to shift to the point that guy literally thinks "majority of GT350 owners have motor issues", which is a wild claim. Just don't buy or interact with the car if you're that scared.

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