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GT350 vs GT350R - Talk me out of an R

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UnhandledException

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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.
Xpel makes a big difference. Trust me, if there has been any pros vs cons thread only I must have read it. I read everything there is to read and this has been one of those things that I changed my mind 10 times before.

That being said, my personal experience has been that it is important to have if you pay attention to how your car looks. Do rock chips, scratches, scuff marks bother you? Are you the type of person who washes his cars himself? Do you walk to your garage out of the blue just to stare at your car in full appreciation because its beautiful? :)

I have had my ZR1 fully covered and ceramic coated since brand new and in 11,000 miles it looks exactly like it did brand new. Ceramic coating makes the water not stick and drying (I use air drying method using master blaster) so much easer. You have no water spots, or any spots for that matter. Car looks like it has wax on it all the time.

My GT3RS was halfway wrapped when I got it with 500 miles on it and I can tell you I waited 2000 miles to wrap the rest and my doors/rear quarter have over 2 dozen little pencil tip size chips. Door handles are covered in scratches. It looks bad.

To sum up, if you drive your cars a lot (more than 50 miles/week) and get close to them (washing them/drying them yourself) where imperfections bother you, you should do it.

As for the squeaks, you have a point. Mine was not so bad first year, but it got progressively worse. Past 55,000 mile mark engine started developing more NVH which can be felt in the cabin. I suspect it might be engine mounts.
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rmk350

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I just want to see the GT3RS! My dream car. Porsche is my next car after the 350 for sure. GT4 or GT3 though. Not sure I could justify the money to have an RS sitting until I'm ready to drive it. LOL.

As to your question, from what it sounds like the 350 is the perfect car. 50K is a lot to justify when you already have the pinnacle of sports cars in the RS. Keep driving the wheels off your 350 and jump in the RS when you want a different experience. Again, pics please!
 

Dr. JL

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Buy the R. I went from a '16 Tech Pack to a '16 R. Lost a ton of $...no regrets. Then, when looking for a Track Pack (DD), I found another used R for the same price. Best cars for the money/wow factor.
 

Hack

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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.
I realize having dirt caked under the car is a little ugly, but it's the best thing in the world to protect from corrosion. I use a lanolin product Wool Wax on my Fiesta ST and it did the same thing. I was really happy about it.

My '70 Mustang convertible is a total rust bucket, but it had fluid leaks from the transmission and engine that did a similar thing. The areas covered with oil and dirt were in great condition. Everything else rusted, but those areas were amazing. So my expectation is that the Fluid Film is doing what you want... preserving the body of the car.
 

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DaveB

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I daily my 18 non r as well. I've only had it for about 7 months but in the dry, wet, hot, cold. Winter is just about here and trying to talk myself out of driving it in the snow....but my 13 1LE camaro that I traded on this drove year round everyday for 6 years on the the same tires as are on this car.
Anyways, my recommendation is keep what you have as you know the car...what's right, wrong, or whatever. It's a solid car and reliable even with your upgrades. You can use it how you need and want without a second thought. The r is cool yes, but I bought the non r because I can use it as I see fit, with no extra issues of breaking the cf....seen wheels broken at the track for running up on the smooth curving! The well balanced suspension manners in regular and sport modes...etc. and I can park it and go over speed bumps. I occasionally scrape on driveway curbs...so an r would be worse. Anyways, I'll stop rambling....good luck with your decision.
 

UpTop

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Loving the username... Unhandled exceptions don’t last long around me though, jk.. I’m going for a 20 HEP R (most likely used), mainly for the resale factor in case the car somehow doesn’t meet expectations. That or a 7.2 GT3. I think upgrading makes sense for you considering your car has as many miles as it does. selling ur current car in the future will most likely be a pita, and I personally wouldn’t trust a super high mileage voodoo as a workhorse. If you’re not worried about resale or rarity GT350 is the car. If you’re willing to drop 4cylinders the focus rs might be the car for you, super fun in the snow/dirt.
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