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GT350 vs GT350R - Talk me out of an R

RPDBlueMoon

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I'm surprised you can get that high of an offer with that many miles on it and having used it like you do (driving in snow/salt etc.). I would probably either keep driving the car as is or take the trade.

Personally I would trade for a newer/low miles GT350. I'd find one with a long warranty and keep using it the same way you have been. The regular GT350 is the one that's intended to be used the way you want to use it. Everything the R has over the regular GT350 is geared toward making it great on track and many of those things could make it a little less enjoyable on the street. And I've been around this forum for a while - I don't think you are a track guy or if you are you sure don't talk about it.

For a cool climate the heated seats are awesome. The R doesn't get those IIRC.

The GT350 has more comfortable suspension settings. I think it is perfect for commuting. Firm and controlled, but almost never too firm.

The regular GT350 wheels are relatively inexpensive and even though you have money you don't seem to ever want to waste it. The carbon fiber wheels costs thousands each to replace. You can get insurance coverage for them, but that is costly as well. The CF wheels have the reputation of being amazing, but I don't think they are worth the extra money for your use case.

The lower ride height and big splitter on the R are going to be annoying at times for both you and your wife. Sure you can think of it as fun trying to figure out how to get where you're going without scraping, but it's enough on the regular GT350. The R is quite a bit lower. I would personally avoid it, especially for winter driving where you are essentially going to be driving a snow plow on some days.

And your 10 YO won't be riding in the back seat of the R. Reason enough IMO. You won't be able to drive it whenever you need to drive the 10 YO somewhere. Means it will be parked more of the time and just in your way.

The R is amazing - I'm not cutting it down at all. But for what you want - the regular GT350 is a much better choice IMO.
Yeah the GT350 makes the most since, considering he does cross country road trips and uses the GT350 as a daily driver. With the GT350R you have to worry about your splitter and the carbon fiber wheels. You could install the seats and get the insurance or swap out the wheels but by then you would have already invested even more money into the car on top of price of the initial sale. The GT350R is just more hardcore, the GT350 has the perfect balance of being hardcore but still being practical (As OP already knows, otherwise he probably would not daily his GT350).

It would be better to get a GT350 and then just by the red pinstriped vinyl, red badges and the CF wing vs getting a GT350R and getting new rims/rim insurance, and adding rear seats (Its not easy to get that done, the kit isn't available and you need to find someone who is willing to give up their seats with a GT350 or find some online)

Ford already thought of this, which is why there is the GT350 and GT350R :)
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MNGT350

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For any driving on the street, heck for most track driving that's not at the limit, your car with your upgrades seems like 99% of what an R offers. If you wanted to go overboard, spend 5 grand and get ceramic front rotors and with your signaturre wheels you'd have significantly less unsprung mass vs. an R. That, with your carbon fiber drive sfaft, MGW shifter, and other mods is squeezing essentially all the possible juice out of the GT350 (short of forced induction or other engine/tune mods).

To me, it sounds like a decision that would be all about emotion, little to do with logic. That's fine, just be honest about your motivation.
 

Nate_V8

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I mean if I made the amount of money you make/have I also would treat a GT350 as a regular honda civic grocery getter. You're not an anomaly, you just have enough money to not give a crap and treat the cheapest car in your inventory just so. If someone had just enough money to afford a Gt350 and treated it like that then that would be different.

From from what I read just get the R and show off your new grocery getter. Hell I would lol. I'm not joking either
 
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UnhandledException

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I mean if I made the amount of money you make/have I also would treat a GT350 as a regular honda civic grocery getter. You're not an anomaly, you just have enough money to not give a crap and treat the cheapest car in your inventory just so. If someone had just enough money to afford a Gt350 and treated it like that then that would be different.

From from what I read just get the R and show off your new grocery getter. Hell I would lol. I'm not joking either
You should not make assumptions like these about a person you dont personally know. In some cases you might be right, in others not so much. I have owned this car for 4 years now and 2.5 of those years this was my only car - literally. No other car in the garage but the GT350. My financial situation isnt something I want to get into but know this, I am able to own these cars and drive them the way I do by making certain choices about how I spend money. I dont go on cruises or disney world twice a year, nor I renovate my house like most people do. Its a zero sum game. I can tell you it is extremely rare I hire a person to do anything for me, including yard work, plumbing, electrical - even all kinds of landscaping work. Its a mentality thing, small things add up. The only “plus” expense I have is the cars/garage. You would be surprised how much money people spend (but dont pay attention) because its their lifestyle.
 

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You should not make assumptions like these about a person you dont personally know. In some cases you might be right, in others not so much. I have owned this car for 4 years now and 2.5 of those years this was my only car - literally. No other car in the garage but the GT350. My financial situation isnt something I want to get into but know this, I am able to own these cars and drive them the way I do by making certain choices about how I spend money. I dont go on cruises or disney world twice a year, nor I renovate my house like most people do. Its a zero sum game. I can tell you it is extremely rare I hire a person to do anything for me, including yard work, plumbing, electrical - even all kinds of landscaping work. Its a mentality thing, small things add up. The only “plus” expense I have is the cars/garage. You would be surprised how much money people spend (but dont pay attention) because its their lifestyle.
Wow, well said Matt. I'm like you in many ways. I make enough to not ever have to lift a finger to do anything, but IMHO, if you cant do it yourself, you are reliant on other people. Being able to afford things that you otherwise couldn't is a bonus.

Becoming an IBEW electrician early in my life paid dividends. I do my own stuff and do not rely on anyone.
 

stanglife

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I rely on friends some.... Tom, want to wire my garage? haha
 

RPDBlueMoon

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I mean if I made the amount of money you make/have I also would treat a GT350 as a regular honda civic grocery getter. You're not an anomaly, you just have enough money to not give a crap and treat the cheapest car in your inventory just so. If someone had just enough money to afford a Gt350 and treated it like that then that would be different.

From from what I read just get the R and show off your new grocery getter. Hell I would lol. I'm not joking either
Lol "treat a GT350 as a regular Honda civic grocery getter". Thats pretty funny. Yeah If I had money like my garage would be full of muscle cars. My daily would be a '71 Barracuda I'd make the GT350R my weekend car lol.
 

Nate_V8

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You should not make assumptions like these about a person you dont personally know. In some cases you might be right, in others not so much. I have owned this car for 4 years now and 2.5 of those years this was my only car - literally. No other car in the garage but the GT350. My financial situation isnt something I want to get into but know this, I am able to own these cars and drive them the way I do by making certain choices about how I spend money. I dont go on cruises or disney world twice a year, nor I renovate my house like most people do. Its a zero sum game. I can tell you it is extremely rare I hire a person to do anything for me, including yard work, plumbing, electrical - even all kinds of landscaping work. Its a mentality thing, small things add up. The only “plus” expense I have is the cars/garage. You would be surprised how much money people spend (but dont pay attention) because its their lifestyle.
I don't know why you felt you had to defend your finances. If anything you just validated what I said. My post wasn't meant to be negative, I read your post and gave my opinion based on what I read, sorry if it came off offensive, I don't beat around the bush.
If I was in the position you are in I would be buying an R and DD'ing it all day. If you aren't buying it to track all the time then the next best thing is to DD it rather than letting it sit in garage as a beauty queen racking up 100 miles a year. There are people who buy these cars and use them for 1/4 mile purposes with blowers. Different strokes for different folks, do what makes you happy. That's all I said before in less words lol

I did assume though that you weren't an idiot drowning in debt and trying to get the forum to convince you to not bury yourself further. Being well off financially is not something you need to defend good sir!
 

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Tank

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another vote for the R...

when I was looking for my own, a wise 350 owner told me...

“If you want an R and get a non-R, you will always want an R”

...so I got an R :)
 

Tank

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Hey Matt,

With all the good luck you’re having with your ‘17, I’m just a little surprised you’d be looking at another GT350 - of any flavor.

So many variables and the differences aren’t as varied as say moving into a GT500.

I think you should consider staying at the apex of Ford Performance Mustangs and keep them as your DD. You’d be the only one and your experiences would be unique and bookworthy IMHO.

Good luck with whatever you decide :like:
 
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UnhandledException

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Hey Matt,

With all the good luck you’re having with your ‘17, I’m just a little surprised you’d be looking at another GT350 - of any flavor.

So many variables and the differences aren’t as varied as say moving into a GT500.

I think you should consider staying at the apex of Ford Performance Mustangs and keep them as your DD. You’d be the only one and your experiences would be unique and bookworthy IMHO.

Good luck with whatever you decide :like:
This is what my wife keeps telling me which I didnt want to get into here primarily because it will turn this into the vodoo the doom and gloom conversation:) You have a point, I have a car that so far is bullet proof. Engine, transmission, diff havent had a single hiccup. You never know what I might end up with an R but there is no way to know.

I did make bunch of mistakes with this car that I would not repeat with an R. So many things I didnt think it through properly and unfortunately learned the hard way and there is no way to undo them. This is one of the reasons why I want another "do-over" to get a blank slate/second chance and dont repeat the mistakes such as:

- Spraying the undercarriage of the car every winter with fluid film to prevent rust. Bad idea. First of all, nothing rusted on the frame of the car in 4 winters/snow/salt whatever. With that said, the fluid film attracts so much dirt that my suspension components and the underbody of the car looks black that is several mils (not mm) thick dirt. No way to clean it, its all over the car.

- Not covering the entire car, tip to toe, with xpel. I did a piecemeal approach with xpel where I covered the front first, then doors, then half roof and never covered rear quarter/full roof/trunk/rear bumper. Where there was no xpel has several scratches/chips and sorry no way to make it look stock/paint the panel/etc all those "against xpel" arguments are BS and not practical. I should have spent $3000 more and covered the car. No way to go back.

- The stock wheels that weigh 32 lbs each ruined the ride for so long until I added the 20 lbs signature wheels, the stiff ride created a lots of squeaks and loose interior trim. Lighter CF wheels will not do this.

- Washing the undercarriage of the car with an undercarriage pressure washer attachment (the thing with wheels and nozzles facing up). Again, very bad idea. My driveshaft, diff, bunch of transmission bolts etc covered in rust because of this. I got water where it would never got to.

- Engine bay that was never washed/cleaned. I simply did not maintain the engine bay. I never cleaned it, never washed it and now there is dirt permanently all over the intake plenum and all around that there is no way to make the dirt go away unless I take a pressure washer and hold it right on it - which I never will.

- Not using a funnel to drain the excess oil from the filter first 5 oil changes or so. The extra oil that dripped on the sway bar/engine underbelly cover again attracted dirt permanently with no way to properly clean it.

- Not using additional ramps to get the car on my 4 post lift ramps. The 4 post lift ramps have built in sand paper like surface and unfortunately first few times I got the car on it without my later DIY built ramps completely shredded the front splitter.

There is probably more of this but these things really make me sad and part of me willing to try this again is to not screw up like this again.
 

stanglife

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All really good observations. I have a couple comments.

1 - you make me want to do 100% PPF on the car...but even though I say this is a long term keeper...I tend to only keep cars a few years...in which time, I will never get close to that money back for PPF. Some people care, some don't when it comes to buying a used car...but I generally keep the car pretty rock free.

2 - Unfortunately - heavy wheels don't cause the squeaks and rattles...Fords poor quality does. My previous 16 R developed a couple little ones in 10k miles and my 300 mile 2020 R came with a couple from the factory.


This is what my wife keeps telling me which I didnt want to get into here primarily because it will turn this into the vodoo the doom and gloom conversation:) You have a point, I have a car that so far is bullet proof. Engine, transmission, diff havent had a single hiccup. You never know what I might end up with an R but there is no way to know.

I did make bunch of mistakes with this car that I would not repeat with an R. So many things I didnt think it through properly and unfortunately learned the hard way and there is no way to undo them. This is one of the reasons why I want another "do-over" to get a blank slate/second chance and dont repeat the mistakes such as:

- Spraying the undercarriage of the car every winter with fluid film to prevent rust. Bad idea. First of all, nothing rusted on the frame of the car in 4 winters/snow/salt whatever. With that said, the fluid film attracts so much dirt that my suspension components and the underbody of the car looks black that is several mils (not mm) thick dirt. No way to clean it, its all over the car.

- Not covering the entire car, tip to toe, with xpel. I did a piecemeal approach with xpel where I covered the front first, then doors, then half roof and never covered rear quarter/full roof/trunk/rear bumper. Where there was no xpel has several scratches/chips and sorry no way to make it look stock/paint the panel/etc all those "against xpel" arguments are BS and not practical. I should have spent $3000 more and covered the car. No way to go back.

- The stock wheels that weigh 32 lbs each ruined the ride for so long until I added the 20 lbs signature wheels, the stiff ride created a lots of squeaks and loose interior trim. Lighter CF wheels will not do this.

- Washing the undercarriage of the car with an undercarriage pressure washer attachment (the thing with wheels and nozzles facing up). Again, very bad idea. My driveshaft, diff, bunch of transmission bolts etc covered in rust because of this. I got water where it would never got to.

- Engine bay that was never washed/cleaned. I simply did not maintain the engine bay. I never cleaned it, never washed it and now there is dirt permanently all over the intake plenum and all around that there is no way to make the dirt go away unless I take a pressure washer and hold it right on it - which I never will.

- Not using a funnel to drain the excess oil from the filter first 5 oil changes or so. The extra oil that dripped on the sway bar/engine underbelly cover again attracted dirt permanently with no way to properly clean it.

- Not using additional ramps to get the car on my 4 post lift ramps. The 4 post lift ramps have built in sand paper like surface and unfortunately first few times I got the car on it without my later DIY built ramps completely shredded the front splitter.

There is probably more of this but these things really make me sad and part of me willing to try this again is to not screw up like this again.
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