GT350 vs GT350R

[ironguru49]

So I'm in the middle of a pickle between which one to get. It will be my daily drive, so I would add in the back seats and get the teach package in the R, and I would have a separate set of tires for track weekends and such. I honestly can't find any real difference between the two. Best I got was from CarAndDrivers

"
While the GT350R is incredible on the racetrack, we’d prefer to drive the GT350 on a regular basis. It has standard equipment such as:

• Coolers for the differential, engine oil, and transmission
• Brembo front-brake calipers
• Recaro front sport seats
• Adaptive dampers
"

Anyone who has driven both tell me the major differences or are they same driving comfort?

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[Wildcardfox]

a few videos that describe some of the differences. The base GT350 has changed its equipment, so look at the year and model to see what are included on that model year.

 

[Demonic]

R has:
Carbon fiber wheels from Carbon Revolution
Bespoke Michelin Cup 2 tires
Carbon fiber rear wing
No exhaust resonators
Deeper front spoiler
Front grill opening is smaller for better aero, but this has been carried over to the 2019 standard GT350
Calipers are the same but painted red
Red badging, pin striping, and interior stitching
Removal of rear back seat, as you pointed out
Revised shock software to compensate for the different wheels and tires
Supposedly the R engines have a slightly modified variable valve timing controller, but I don't know of this ever being solidly demonstrated

 

[ironguru49]

a few videos that describe some of the differences. The base GT350 has changed its equipment, so look at the year and model to see what are included on that model year.

Thank you, unfortunately I'm forward deployed right now and youtube is blocked :(

 

[Wildcardfox]

Thank you, unfortunately I'm forward deployed right now and youtube is blocked :(

Demonic’s post has you covered then.

 

[ironguru49]

R has:
Carbon fiber wheels from Carbon Revolution
Bespoke Michelin Cup 2 tires
Carbon fiber rear wing
Deeper front spoiler
Front grill opening is smaller for better aero, but this has been carried over to the 2019 standard GT350
Calipers are the same but painted red
Red badging, pin striping, and interior stitching
Removal of rear back seat, as you pointed out
Revised shock software to compensate for the different wheels and tires
Supposedly the R engines have a slightly modified variable valve timing controller, but I don't know of this ever being solidly demonstrated

So I know for the fact of how expensive the wheels/tires are I would swap them out for a more everyday set. Do you daily drive it? The difference between the two cars I'm looking at is about 5k. I do love the black/Black/red look of the GT350R.

Hard choice

 

[Demonic]

So I know for the fact of how expensive the wheels/tires are I would swap them out for a more everyday set. Do you daily drive it? The difference between the two cars I'm looking at is about 5k. I do love the black/Black/red look of the GT350R.

Hard choice

If you're looking at two roughly equivalent cars in condition and mileage, a $5k difference for an R is a no-brainer. I wouldn't say I daily drive my R through the year, as I'm outside Boston. But in the nicer half of the year there are times when I'll daily drive the R for a week at a time and never get tired of it. On long trips on the highway the tramlining can be a bit tiring, but doesn't bother me. I drove my R 1600 miles home from the dealership across the country without issue. That being said, I'm kind of a purist when it comes to the feel of sports cars, so I enjoy the raw feeling. If you're easily bothered and looking for a comfort car, then yeah, either the GT350 or R might get a bit tiring for you. But the difference in daily ride quality is very similar between both cars. The R when set to comfort mode isn't any harsher than a BMW M car set to sport mode.

 

[ironguru49]

If you're looking at two roughly equivalent cars in condition and mileage, a $5k difference for an R is a no-brainer. I wouldn't say I daily drive my R through the year, as I'm outside Boston. But in the nicer half of the year there are times when I'll daily drive the R for a week at a time and never get tired of it. On long trips on the highway the tramlining can be a bit tiring, but doesn't bother me. I drove my R 1600 miles home from the dealership across the country without issue. That being said, I'm kind of a purist when it comes to the feel of sports cars, so I enjoy the raw feeling. If you're easily bothered and looking for a comfort car, then yeah, either the GT350 or R might get a bit tiring for you. But the difference in daily ride quality is very similar between both cars. The R when set to comfort mode isn't any harsher than a BMW M car set to sport mode.

I'm right there with your in the purist sense. I've drove Manual most my life and I have an auto now, absolutely hate it. I enjoy driving and Manual gives me that love. Comfort for me is A/C and decent speakers.

I'll be moving to Alexandria here soon. Long highway trips we take the Wife's CRV haha.

 

[moto vudu]

I'm currently using my R as a daily in AZ. The tramlining has been greatly reduced since I replaced the Cup 2 tires with the PS 4S.

 

[ironguru49]

If you're looking at two roughly equivalent cars in condition and mileage, a $5k difference for an R is a no-brainer. I wouldn't say I daily drive my R through the year, as I'm outside Boston. But in the nicer half of the year there are times when I'll daily drive the R for a week at a time and never get tired of it. On long trips on the highway the tramlining can be a bit tiring, but doesn't bother me. I drove my R 1600 miles home from the dealership across the country without issue. That being said, I'm kind of a purist when it comes to the feel of sports cars, so I enjoy the raw feeling. If you're easily bothered and looking for a comfort car, then yeah, either the GT350 or R might get a bit tiring for you. But the difference in daily ride quality is very similar between both cars. The R when set to comfort mode isn't any harsher than a BMW M car set to sport mode.

Looking at it the car doesn't have the Electronic package :(

 

[Demonic]

Looking at it the car doesn't have the Electronic package :(

Yeah that appears to be one of the base 18's. But backing up a bit, does this mean you haven't seen the car in person? Have you spoken with the dealer to verify the car is available and at what price? There are a bunch of old window stickers of GT350's and R's floating around on dealer websites that either haven't been taken down after the car sold, or the asking price is different from what's on the window sticker.

 

[PP0001]

Looking at it the car doesn't have the Electronic package :(

I have driven a GT350 and a GT350R back to back at Sebring and can tell you that besides the difference in performance the exhaust note on an R model is much superior to a GT350 based on all R models coming with no resonators. Certainly something of an aural experience from 5000 RPM all the way up to 8250 RPM.

With myself generally being much older than many of the enthusiasts on this forum I would be all over this Base 920A R model and that is not only coming from a purist standpoint which deletes ~9 items from an Electronics Package car but also from a rarity standpoint.

You would be in a very exclusive group of individuals that owns one of the few Base 920A R models for the 2018MY prior to the Electronics Package becoming mandatory on all R models as of May 1st, 2018.

Of the ~20,000 GT350/R's built over the last 4MY's there were only a total of 2134 R's built during that time period with only ~140 Base R's built in total and no more coming out of FR ever.

That may not mean much to you or to most others but there are a few of us that really appreciate these bare bones and rare Base R models but we certainly also respect all those that want and appreciate the Electronic Package cars as well.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[ironguru49]

Yeah that appears to be one of the base 18's. But backing up a bit, does this mean you haven't seen the car in person? Have you spoken with the dealer to verify the car is available and at what price? There are a bunch of old window stickers of GT350's and R's floating around on dealer websites that either haven't been taken down after the car sold, or the asking price is different from what's on the window sticker.

I've talked with the dealer and it is available, out the door price of 69k. Currently I'm in the middle of the ocean so I get to do all my hunting via google.

 

[Demonic]

Yeah, that's a tough call. As PP0001 mentioned the base cars are rarer, but you also have to decide what you'll enjoy driving. Having a date or friend be able to enjoy the car with me as a passenger meant more to me than robbing them of AC and a stereo just to have the rarer car, which is why I passed on a couple base models during my search. But then again $69k is a steal. Good luck trying to sleep with that decision on ya...

 

[lightrules]

I struggled between a 2018 GT350, 2018 GT350R, and paying invoice on a 2019 GT350. I ended up jumping on a deal on a 2018 R, especially since the price difference was around $4k (after CA TTL) between the R and the 2019. I got the black/matte black/red and man, it's mean-looking and drives like it's on rails. I agree if the price difference is "only" $5k, the R is the way to go.

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