375 MILE REVIEW!

[ghostrider]

I have a gt3 rs on order and a shelby 350r Avalanche. I think I'm looking forward to the shelby more than the rs. I am going to love the sound.

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[AMpowerJ]

Great review .... I'd like to join in and add a point of view as well.

I picked up my GT350 yesterday and put 350 miles on it driving it back home from GA. My initial impressions echo much of what the OP said. I'm coming from owning BMWs for the past 15 years ... E36 M3, E90 M3, E92 M3 (Supercharged), F10 M5, and a F80 M3. I use to think BMW knew how to make a car handle and feel planted until I drove this car. It feels like it is welded to the road. Everyone that says "my car corners like it's on rails", has never driven a GT350. I can't wait to take this to the track. I believe this car will make you look like a better driver than you actually are.

Here are a few initial thoughts about my GT350 with the track pack ....

- Seats are tight! I'm not huge, 188 @ 5'10" and it is a tight squeeze for me in the hip area. I hope they will break in a bit cause I don't have much weight I can shed in this area. Pretty much hip bones on either side being squeezed.

- Stock exhaust is fantastic. Will probably be the only car that I own where I will never changed the exhaust

- Stock radio sucks. Not really a surprise but might update this one day.

- The car feels like it was forged out of a single block of titanium. Not a rattle or creak anywhere at this point. (My BMW rattled from day 1)

- Car feels wider and heavier than my M3s

- Ride height is acceptable. I really don't want to mess with the suspension on this car since the factory got it so right. It could stand to be a half inch lower IMO

- 6th gear is useless unless you are going 85 on the interstate and I don't like how the exhaust valve closes in 6th. Probably happens for drone but the gearing is too tall. Engines bogs with a minor grade in 6th on normal back roads. I drove it mostly in 5th except on the interstate.

- Transmission is great and the shifter seems perfect to me. Very direct and no play. Again something I don't see needing to change.

- Paint is much better than the paint on my BMWs from an orange peel perspective. But body gaps could be a little better and more consistent but I'm being nitpicky here.

- The car looks so much better in person. It is wide and low and has a real muscular and special appearance about it.

- Brakes are going to be great when they really get used.

- Brake pedal and gas pedal are spaced too far apart to heel/toe like I'm use to with my BMWs. No longer am I able to use the left edge of my foot for the brake and rock it over to blip the gas pedal with the right edge. I am going to have to retrain myself to brake with my toe and pronate my foot out to blip the throttle with my heel. More of a traditional heel/toe approach I guess.

 

[BmacIL]

Great review .... I'd like to join in and add a point of view as well.

I picked up my GT350 yesterday and put 350 miles on it driving it back home from GA. My initial impressions echo much of what the OP said. I'm coming from owning BMWs for the past 15 years ... E36 M3, E90 M3, E92 M3 (Supercharged), F10 M5, and a F80 M3. I use to think BMW knew how to make a car handle and feel planted until I drove this car. It feels like it is welded to the road. Everyone that says "my car corners like it's on rails", has never driven a GT350. I can't wait to take this to the track. I believe this car will make you look like a better driver than you actually are.

Here are a few initial thoughts about my GT350 with the track pack ....

- Seats are tight! I'm not huge, 188 @ 5'10" and it is a tight squeeze for me in the hip area. I hope they will break in a bit cause I don't have much weight I can shed in this area. Pretty much hip bones on either side being squeezed.

- Stock exhaust is fantastic. Will probably be the only car that I own where I will never changed the exhaust

- Stock radio sucks. Not really a surprise but might update this one day.

- The car feels like it was forged out of a single block of titanium. Not a rattle or creak anywhere at this point. (My BMW rattled from day 1)

- Car feels wider and heavier than my M3s

- Ride height is acceptable. I really don't want to mess with the suspension on this car since the factory got it so right. It could stand to be a half inch lower IMO

- 6th gear is useless unless you are going 85 on the interstate and I don't like how the exhaust valve closes in 6th. Probably happens for drone but the gearing is too tall. Engines bogs with a minor grade in 6th on normal back roads. I drove it mostly in 5th except on the interstate.

- Transmission is great and the shifter seems perfect to me. Very direct and no play. Again something I don't see needing to change.

- Paint is much better than the paint on my BMWs from an orange peel perspective. But body gaps could be a little better and more consistent but I'm being nitpicky here.

- The car looks so much better in person. It is wide and low and has a real muscular and special appearance about it.

- Brakes are going to be great when they really get used.

- Brake pedal and gas pedal are spaced too far apart to heel/toe like I'm use to with my BMWs. No longer am I able to use the left edge of my foot for the brake and rock it over to blip the gas pedal with the right edge. I am going to have to retrain myself to brake with my toe and pronate my foot out to blip the throttle with my heel. More of a traditional heel/toe approach I guess.

The seats do break in. I drove a track pack with about 2000 miles on it and I'm 6'0, 240 lbs and was very comfortable. They just hug you, but not in a bad way ala Focus/Fiesta ST seats or even the normal Mustang recaros.

 

[Rogue]

I have a gt3 rs on order and a shelby 350r Avalanche. I think I'm looking forward to the shelby more than the rs. I am going to love the sound.

That's pretty cool - can't wait to see pictures of both...

 

[Rogue]

These are great reviews - i'm always keen to hear perspectives of people who drive a variety of top notch performance cars.

 

[crazyfish]

I think most of the reviews will be the same or similar. Excellent. This car is extreme and quite a bit different animal. Docile enough to drive everyday and performance and handling in reserve. I finally got a day with dry roads and decent temps to actually push my car a bit.

All I can say is "It ROCKS!"

I have a set of abandoned roads in my area plus a couple of clover leafs and the car handles. My personal best on this little area of turns without losing traction or letting the rear slide out on my 99 viper was about 100 mph. My 14 GT track car 90ish. The GT350 easily bested that without letting it get scary. Got to about 110 before running out of land or cahonas. Car doesnt lean and doesn't jump back and forth. Very stable car. Nice, taught and compliant. Does the car got top end? Got it to 140 with tons left on rpm and 2 gears. I can't wait to get this car on the track. So far the best car I have owned and driven.:amen:

 

[crazyfish]

Sorry pics with the car cleaned up.

 

[Schilling]

Last night I pushed it a bit. It's been 3 years since I've tracked so my heel/toe is a little off. I made a hard downshift from fourth to third and the back end jumped on me. Several years ago I lost it once tracking my GT3 doing the exact same shift and screwing up my blip so be careful. As much as I hate to say it, rev matching would be a nice feature. I've taken a handful of friends in my car now who are car nuts and all of them can't believe how well the car handles. The most common response is how flat the car feels on hard cornering. It's suppose to be a nice weekend in Dallas so I'm hoping to get some more miles on Shelby this weekend. Currently at 500.

 

[R 350 gt Donson]

Last night I pushed it a bit. It's been 3 years since I've tracked so my heel/toe is a little off. I made a hard downshift from fourth to third and the back end jumped on me. Several years ago I lost it once tracking my GT3 doing the exact same shift and screwing up my blip so be careful. As much as I hate to say it, rev matching would be a nice feature. I've taken a handful of friends in my car now who are car nuts and all of them can't believe how well the car handles. The most common response is how flat the car feels on hard cornering. It's suppose to be a nice weekend in Dallas so I'm hoping to get some more miles on Shelby this weekend. Currently at 500.

If your in the area, stop on by anytime....:cheers:

 

[stanglife]

If you make it to FL, stop by here, too ;)

 

[Stuntman]

Pics of Viper? Still have it?

 

[65sohc]

Rev matching would be WAY more useful than line lock.

 

[stanglife]

Rev matching would be WAY more useful than line lock.

Voted post of the month!

 

[crazyfish]

Pics of Viper? Still have it?

No don't have it any more. Loved that car. Still the only car that you can downshift at 80 mph and leave some rubber. Just a brute.

The best analogy I can say viper vs. Gt350. Conan the barbarian vs. A Ninja. Both get the job done but in different ways.

 

[HizliBullet]

i didnt read the article i just thanked the pics posted

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