End of the GT350 Production. What is Ford's plan?

[Hi-PO Stang]

I am not so sure the FPC experiment is over. If the GT350 is to be discontinued after the 2020 model year , I think the reason would be the GT350 chassis was dated and instead of updating the chassis Ford decided to stop production because of the outdated chassis and not the engine. I could see Ford offer something like a Boss 351 FPC engine in the GT500 chassis to appeal to non supercharged buyers.

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[trevman2]

Supercharge a 5.0, put it into a GT350R and bring back the Cobra nameplate?

 

[Tomster]

I am not so sure the FPC experiment is over. If the GT350 is to be discontinued after the 2020 model year , I think the reason would be the GT350 chassis was dated and instead of updating the chassis Ford decided to stop production because of the outdated chassis and not the engine. I could see Ford offer something like a Boss 351 FPC engine in the GT500 chassis to appeal to non supercharged buyers.

Its an s550 chassis. The same chassis that the 500 and every other mustang shares with some panel differences.

What makes the 350 unique is the sum of the parts (engine, trans, suspension, aero, etc).

The s550 350 is dead. Upwards and onwards.

 

[PP0001]

I am not so sure the FPC experiment is over. If the GT350 is to be discontinued after the 2020 model year , I think the reason would be the GT350 chassis was dated and instead of updating the chassis Ford decided to stop production because of the outdated chassis and not the engine. I could see Ford offer something like a Boss 351 FPC engine in the GT500 chassis to appeal to non supercharged buyers.

If you consider a 6 year model run for the second generation GT350/R's and a ~25,000 car run of FPC engines as an experiment then I guess your idea of an experiment is much different than mine.

To be clear the GT350 will be discontinued after the 2020 MY and that was not because of a chassis and/or suspension system that was outdated by any means.

If a upcoming Boss 351 is in order it certainly will not come in the form of a 351 C.I. FPC engine as Ford had all that they could handle with the engineering of a 315 C.I. FPC Voodoo engine.

I could possibly see a CPC engine as in the new GT500 for a Boss 351 but even then a 351 C.I. CPC engine would be very difficult to imagine.

Going forward I could envision a 3rd generation Boss 302 before I see a Boss 351 but never say never.

 

[Hi-PO Stang]

I only referred to the 5.2 FPC engine as an experiment in reference to a previous post indicating the 5.2 FPC was an experiment. I will always think the 5.2 FPC engine was one of the greatest engines ever made. Since Ford now uses the 5.2 GT500 block for production of the GT350 FPC engine, it will be very easy for Ford to drop a flat plane crank in the GT500 block and produce the 5.2 liter FPC engine in the future. I just don't see Ford putting a manual trans behind a 760 HP GT500 engine. If Ford were to take the supercharger off the GT500 CPC engine and put a manual trans behind it , the combination would not be unique enough to generate enough interest.
As far as the GT350 chassis goes, I think Ford has made improvements to the Mustang chassis for the GT500 that makes the GT500 chassis more robust than the GT350 Chassis.

 

[Twin Turbo]

Going forward I could envision a 3rd generation Boss 302 before I see a Boss 351 but never say never.

Given your reputation for posting good, solid info........does that mean I should get my hopes up for a 3rd gen Boss 302?

I'd be torn though.....I think Ford did the perfect job with the '12 & '13, honoring the original '69 & '70. In my book they got it spot on and the S197 Boss remains one of my favourite late model Mustangs, mainly thanks to a friend who has a '13 in Gotta Have It Green and who has let me drive it, as well as me being a passenger on a European roadtrip.

I think Ford has the ingredients for an awesome S550 Boss (PP2/GT350 suspension.....GT350 brakes etc). The engine would need to be special enough to qualify for its own name though (as per the Roadrunner).

Boss as a stripped back manual transmission track capable car............Mach 1 as the more luxurious 10-speed auto (optional) road car?

Or did I read too much into your winking smiley lol

 

[NorthernBeast]

first they discontinued it so there is no differentiation "value" to defend, and two, it's called commoditization. You early adopters guys took the financial hit, and we 'late comers' get to reap the benefits. Every product works like that. Ford doesn't owe Shelby owners any faux exclusivity either.

Yes, I can buy the larger front/rear brakes and put it on the GT or EB. And I can give FP a wad a cash for the Diff cooler too. The point was that Ford proper should be including these now orphaned GT350 parts on a purported 'track trim' PP2 (or Mach1) car (directly or as part of an option group) and marketing/brand management needs to get out of the way. If I wanted to pay 65,000 for a Mustang or thought it's valuation was justified, I would have done so.

If Ford started offering all those parts then the price would go up and then you would be in GT350 price range. Those parts are premium and Ford has no reason to provide them at anything less than a premium price. As with Porsche you can't option GT3 or GT2 parts onto a non GT division Porsche. Ford is trying to make the Mustang model line like that of Porsche. That is why you won't see a trickle down on Shelby parts onto non ford performance division vehicles. Most of what you're looking for I available through Ford Performance anyway if you want to upgrade your vehicle

 

[NorthernBeast]

Given your reputation for posting good, solid info........does that mean I should get my hopes up for a 3rd gen Boss 302?

I'd be torn though.....I think Ford did the perfect job with the '12 & '13, honoring the original '69 & '70. In my book they got it spot on and the S197 Boss remains one of my favourite late model Mustangs, mainly thanks to a friend who has a '13 in Gotta Have It Green and who has let me drive it, as well as me being a passenger on a European roadtrip.

I think Ford has the ingredients for an awesome S550 Boss (PP2/GT350 suspension.....GT350 brakes etc). The engine would need to be special enough to qualify for its own name though (as per the Roadrunner).

Boss as a stripped back manual transmission track capable car............Mach 1 as the more luxurious 10-speed auto (optional) road car?

Or did I read too much into your winking smiley lol

I would love to see another Boss Mustang on the S550 platform. The Mach 1 poses a problem just in terms of product roll out and timing. There would be too many special models overlapping. But it would be awesome

 

[shogun32]

Those parts are premium

huh? The brakes are straight out of the brembo catalog. The oil cooler is 100% off the shelf parts. Even the Tremec is from their standard OEM offerings and I can buy a nearly identical part on the open market for 3 grand new. Now had any of those parts been made out of Ti or had exotic treatments and metallurgy, you might have had a point.

 

[Norm Peterson]

The track car theme has been played long enough.

So six years of the current GT350 plus two years of the Boss 302 is too much recent attention to the road course side for you?

What's the matter, FE-engined trims of the 1960's, the 429's of the early 1970's, plus the drag racing emphasis given to the Fox, SN95, and Terminator cars, and the three most recent GT500's isn't enough attention to the drag racing side for you? Crybaby.


As to the FPC 5.2 . . . a neat try with too much displacement and too much attention paid to keep it from sounding the way a true FPC V8 is supposed to sound.

Basically, there's already too much musclecar/drag-race influence in the very engine you're accusing of not being drag-racy enough.


Norm

 

[NorthernBeast]

huh? The brakes are straight out of the brembo catalog. The oil cooler is 100% off the shelf parts. Even the Tremec is from their standard OEM offerings and I can buy a nearly identical part on the open market for 3 grand new. Now had any of those parts been made out of Ti or had exotic treatments and metallurgy, you might have had a point.

Then go buy them? I just told you they're in the Ford Performance catalog. They obviously are premium if you consider them an upgrade over what comes standard and for Ford if they can charge more for them on the vehicle.

 

[svttim]

huh? The brakes are straight out of the brembo catalog. The oil cooler is 100% off the shelf parts. Even the Tremec is from their standard OEM offerings and I can buy a nearly identical part on the open market for 3 grand new. Now had any of those parts been made out of Ti or had exotic treatments and metallurgy, you might have had a point.

Your parsing words now. They are premium over the standard GT. Yes, they are available. In fact you can buy better brakes if you so choose.

 

[Hack]

huh? The brakes are straight out of the brembo catalog. The oil cooler is 100% off the shelf parts. Even the Tremec is from their standard OEM offerings and I can buy a nearly identical part on the open market for 3 grand new. Now had any of those parts been made out of Ti or had exotic treatments and metallurgy, you might have had a point.

Pretty sure Brembo doesn't make those two piece rotors. Those things are AWESOME.

The Tremec is a special design as well and the inclusion of a mechanical pump for the oil is a unique feature AFAIK.

Not sure why you have to knock the GT350. Please just accept it as the halo car for the Mustang line-up. I don't see what the big deal is. The GT and EB are also awesome cars. The GT350 is just awesomer-er.

 

[mustangfanatic]

Given your reputation for posting good, solid info........does that mean I should get my hopes up for a 3rd gen Boss 302?

I'd be torn though.....I think Ford did the perfect job with the '12 & '13, honoring the original '69 & '70. In my book they got it spot on and the S197 Boss remains one of my favourite late model Mustangs, mainly thanks to a friend who has a '13 in Gotta Have It Green and who has let me drive it, as well as me being a passenger on a European roadtrip.

I think Ford has the ingredients for an awesome S550 Boss (PP2/GT350 suspension.....GT350 brakes etc). The engine would need to be special enough to qualify for its own name though (as per the Roadrunner).

Boss as a stripped back manual transmission track capable car............Mach 1 as the more luxurious 10-speed auto (optional) road car?

Or did I read too much into your winking smiley lol

This :-)

Agree that Ford has all the ingredients on the shelf to make a Boss 302 with the development of a few model specific parts to make it unique. I had a '13 LS, it was an outstanding car that I sadly had to part with due to personal circumstances.

Personally I doubt Ford will offer any new model beyond the Mach I with the current generation. Maybe the Boss returns for a third generation with the revised car? Selfishly I would love that since my GT350 should be paid off by then :-)

 

[Hack]

This :-)

Agree that Ford has all the ingredients on the shelf to make a Boss 302 with the development of a few model specific parts to make it unique. I had a '13 LS, it was an outstanding car that I sadly had to part with due to personal circumstances.

Personally I doubt Ford will offer any new model beyond the Mach I with the current generation. Maybe the Boss returns for a third generation with the revised car? Selfishly I would love that since my GT350 should be paid off by then :-)

Unfortunately the fancy Boss parts ended up going into the regular GT 5.0 engines. Well not really unfortunately, but now it's going to be more difficult to make something with a significant power boost. I'm sure there's always room for improvement, but I'd really prefer to see Ford do a Boss 351. I understand some people on here don't think it will happen, but I think a 351 ci. engine would give a lot more headroom for NA power increases without hurting the long term reliability of the engine when used heavily on track.

Yes the original Boss didn't have a big power increase over the standard Mustang GT 444 vs. 435 (or 420), but in my humble opinion the power boost is really important to make a track car as desirable as possible. The Voodoo is a big part of what makes the GT350 so special, for example. I'd prefer to see Ford do this in the next generation Mustang though.

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