For a daily driver with plans to track it, GT350 or GT?

[paulm1]

. What upgrades did you do to your GT?

so far just chassis mods, 3 piece factory strut tower brace & g trac brace up front. Subframe bushings and braces out back. Spent about $650, some of the parts were salvage. Made a night and day difference in steering response and handling. You don't have to spend a lot to get a lot.

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[Tx88]

Ok I know I'm gonna get bashed for this. I'm not a brand fan boy. Love fast Cars. Here we go:
For the price you are going to pay for a M1, an SS 1LE is going to spank it at any track any day. Assuming same driver skill. Its also a GM parts bin car. No bespoke parts to worry about should you trash it. Its never going to be worth anything... but... it's got magna ride so, if you want a great track car and a daily driver and are worried about the costs of maintaining a GT 350 or the up front costs of a M1 might I suggest test driving a SS 1LE.
The one thing I miss in my GT 350 is that insane chevy small block instant torque.

So, unless you absolutely have to own a mustang consider it.

PS, this is not a dig at you but meant for the OP.

I haven't really looked into the Camaros, but I can't ever imagine myself owning one. They don't grab my attention or excite me the same way mustangs do and I know I'd regret buying a Camaro instead of a Mach1 or GT350.

 

[K4fxd]

Personally I'd go with a Mach 1 but it sounds like you are set on a GT350.

I've owned just about every brand of motorcycle, everytime it wasn't a Harley I wished it was. So I will only buy HD's from now on.

 

[Tx88]

Personally I'd go with a Mach 1 but it sounds like you are set on a GT350.

I've owned just about every brand of motorcycle, everytime it wasn't a Harley I wished it was. So I will only buy HD's from now on.

Solid advice. The mach1 is the smart choice but the GT350 is the dream. if only there were a way to buy both

 

[Biggsy]

I guess everything is covered, but I just want to add that if the unreliability of the GT transmission is a factor preventing you from getting one then do a TR3160 swap. You could be about $3-4k all in it. Transmission (can find used under $2.k), clutch(OEM GT350 or Spec), custom driveshaft , MGW shifter (optional) and tune (to adjust ratios). I am hoping to start putting together the kit for when mine goes out. You get the reliability of the CPC, upgraded transmission and you can pocket the remaining money for other upgrades.

edit to add: also depending on which trim you get, you may look into swapping diff gear ratios for optimal gear usage on the track. 3.73 or 3.55 I believe are the best options

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

I don't know why anyone would feel bad about daily driving a GT350 - it's not some high-end Ferrari or Lamborghini or another exotic. How is driving it a waste? Who are you "saving" it for? It might be worth a little less down the road, but the smiles per mile will be higher than a garage queen. I daily a '21 ZL1, I put about 5k miles per year on it, so it's not too bad from a mileage perspective for my situation (I actually end up driving it about 4 or 5 days/wk since I work from home 2-3 days/wk). Plus, you'd get to enjoy that Voodoo every day. Just buy the GT350 and daily it. Easy question if you ask me.

 

[RandomTask]

100% get the 350. If that's your dream car you'll never make a GT or even a Mach 1 a Shelby. And you will always regret it.

Full disclosure, I have a Mach 1 and its an absolute weapon on the track. I just ran 3 days back to back on the track in the NTX heat 2 weekends ago, and it never missed a beat. I do have a bunch of track mods, but still, the Mach 1 is a fantastic package.

 

[luc]

The nice thing about the GT350 is that you can drive it straight from the dealership to the track (as long as you bring your helmet). In any case the GT guys will say GT and the GT350 guys will say GT350. All I will add to this is that if you are worried about wear and tear from daily driving then you will really dislike the wear and tear from track use. In other words, if you plan to track the car then don't worry about racking up miles on the street. Even if you wrap your car in a plastic bubble for the track (like the Lamborghini and Ferrari folks do) you never know when some guy in a Miata is going to fly into the back of you because he was running 10 year old tires "that are still good".

I will strongly disagree with the Miata comments
My experience, and i have been in the open track/race business for 30 years, is that it is usually drivers with more money and ego than skills that create problems
Certainly not Miata drivers that by far are the “victims “ of high horsepower cars that refuse to let them pass after being a rolling chicane through the technical stuff
T 8 to 10 at Laguna come to mind

 

[Excelerater]

the fun does not start till you hit 6000 RPM on a 5.2 for me that is too high for a street car

 

[wingnutt]

the fun does not start till you hit 6000 RPM on a 5.2 for me that is too high for a street car

well then never get on a street bike

 

[Excelerater]

well then never get on a street bike

I miss my FZ-09......

 

[wingnutt]

I miss my FZ-09......

mine was a 954RR

 

[Tomster]

you'll never make a GT or even a Mach 1 a Shelby.

The only way any car is a Shelby is if it has work done at Shelby American and is issued a csm number.

These cars are Shelbys in name only because Ford pays the Shelby American foundation a great deal of money to use the name.

I have three of them in my garage and none of them are shelbys.

 

[mybootsonfire]

Ah that's what I'm afraid of, I'll order a GT or Mach1 and then one day run into a GT350 and realize I made a mistake. On the flip side, the GT350 horror stories have me worrying that I'll buy the car and then my engine will decided to blow the minute it's out of warranty.

Have you run into any issues so far dailying it and do you track it/plan to track it at all? How often do you need to fill up on gas? Obviously MPG isn't a big consideration/issue for me but I'd rather not be at the gas station every day lol.

No issues so far. I was a little concerned having read all the complaints about burning oil and what not so I got an extended warranty for the peace of mind. I'm averaging about 13.5 mpg but my daily drive is a lot of stoplights, stop and go, etc.

The one thing I will agree with is the fun all being at higher rpms. That is less than ideal for a street car. Technically I can drive around my entire city in first gear. It'd be obnoxious, but it is possible. If you do a lot of stoplight to stoplight driving, the GT350 can be a bit of a letdown. But when you get it out on the highway, or better yet a canyon road, it's incredible. Bit of a jekyll and Hyde car in that sense.

 

[RandomTask]

The only way any car is a Shelby is if it has work done at Shelby American and is issued a csm number.

These cars are Shelbys in name only because Ford pays the Shelby American foundation a great deal of money to use the name.

I have three of them in my garage and none of them are shelbys.

Uh oh, the Shelby Police found me.

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