Upgraded from a GT to GT350! First take review.

[thill444]

OP, well written and thoughtful post. For the record I cross-shopped the Mustang several times against my C7/Z51/magride and Camaro's. I much preferred the styling and ergonomics of the Mustang but I much preferred the driving experience of the SS 1LE and ZR1's I test drove.

Then I test drove a GT350 and the rest was history. You get the driver experience of the Camaro SS 1LE but you get the Mustang styling and ergonomics plus you get the Vodoo which the V8 in the Camaro and Corvette cannot touch in terms of sound and just overall driving experience when you shift an NA V8 at 8K RPM. No other car can offer this for under $50K and come close.

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[Mustang5ohMan]

Very nice congrats on the upgrade! It sucks to hear they’re discontinuing this ride! For me I’d love to have 1 even thought the GT PP1 is enough high revving performance for the street.
There’s not too many for sale around here locally either. What kind of deal did you manage to pull off from MSRP?

 

[CD3]

Congrats! Check the MPG difference with the gurney flap removed once your excitement dies down

Really!! Substantial diff w/o the Guerney flap???

 

[sox3]

I haven't seen much of a difference in mpg with the gurney flap installed on my local driving. Maybe on a long highway drive more of an effect.

 

[BeastAR]

Awesome write-up. Congrats on the new car. Enjoy

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

There’s not GT350 locally and I’ve seen two on the road in the last 2 days... I can’t purchase sight unseen either...

 

[Coolhand]

TL;DR - based on the 150 miles I was able to put on the clock in this first day alone, I’m going to summarize this by telling all MY15-17 owners right now: make the jump if you can. Jesus Christ, do it and you won’t regret it.

I’ve been scouring for MY18-20 GTs for awhile and gave Bullitts a look, but then I stumbled across this GT350 in the exact spec I wanted. Tech Package, Handling Package, Recaros, and painted in Performance Blue with white stripes.

I’m not only blown away by the obvious upgrades, but it’s all of the little improvements that have taken place over the S550’s lifetime that stand out. Breaking things down into arbitrary categories:

**Engine:** After reading reviews from owners and outlets and watching a million videos, the line where people say you’ll want to instinctively shift way below the redline, I figured I’d call bullshit. Been used to high redlines and thought the Coyote’s 7K wouldn’t have been too far off. Wrong. The higher pitch, gearing, and power delivery just keep swelling to the point that it *sounds* about right, and then you realize you have another 2K to go. Just unreal, and totally tractable. People used to Gen II Coyotes won’t downgrade in terms of useable torque and normal revs; that’s overblown. It feels identical up to about 2.5K, then you feel tangibly more shove by 3-4K, and then it’s just a complete rubber band of acceleration from there. Cons? It’s INCREDIBLY buzzy. NVH was actually concerning at first, but then you realize that it’s fine. Vibration increases dramatically north of 5K and Coyotes are in a different class of smoothness here. But it feels better under load with a decent amount of throttle. Light throttle and unloaded high RPMs are where it feels disconcerting.

**Transmission:** Not even a discussion. The clutch is still acutely springy around the bite point (for reference I removed my GT’s assist spring which made it feel a little more linear and slightly heavier), but the bite point is far more communicative and clearly defined. The shifter itself is a thing of beauty, but not a fan of the knob. Third feels a little notchy/resistant, but the definition shifting into 1st, 5th, and 6th are night and day. The ratios feel pretty similar to what I had with the 3.73 rear end in the GT. 1st feels a little longer and more tractable, and the 3rd-4th shift feels much shorter, and it’s my favorite shift by far. THERE IS ZERO SLOP IN THE DRIVETRAIN. NONE. The MT-82 has this awful sense of slack when manipulating the clutch with persistent odd “thumps” while engaging most gears. None of that exists here and the sense of build quality skyrockets as a result. FWIW, I had a Barton Hybrid installed in the GT. This is better than that by a mile. Same rowing definition, but less notchy and more glidey.

**Brakes:** Haven’t done any hard stops during break-in, but they’re identical in daily operation and feel similar up to the 50% use I experienced. I was expecting a sharper initial bite but felt the transition from car to car seamless here. Predictable, strong, no comments.

**Handling/Comfort:** Can’t make a fair comment for any handling above 5/10ths and I can’t stand when people pretend to have an idea outside of a track, so let’s talk ride quality and “commute handling.” The notion that you sit ‘on top’ of the wheels in the GT goes away and you feel like you’re in one cohesive, bolted chunk of car. The front and rear end don’t get upset by expansion joints. The car corners incredibly flat in either mode when taking fast, decreasing radius ramps. There is next to no secondary motion when hitting bumps or making adjustments. And the ride quality feels identical in terms of cushioning, just way more sorted out. “Sport” mode damper adjustments up the stiffness to a practical degree, even providing some neat steering rebound that’s novel but annoying around town,while ride comfort takes a 20-30% hit, based on my perception at least. Hope to test at a track one day.

**Steering:** The SINGLE biggest improvement, bar none. No delayed reactions to input, no dead on-center feel (incredibly small at least), and amazing communication of road texture and bumps. The weight builds up SO well, with all three modes feeling way less artificial. I left my GT in comfort because the normal and sport settings ramped up weight artificially, and it felt like you were steering with some kind of rubber band hiding in the rack and pinion. The GT350’s weighting feels ideal in normal this time around. Steering effort has a larger range of variance based on speed, lateral load, and turning degree. Tramlining is not awful like I was expecting (I wonder if it’s because these SC2s are harder than the gooey ones on the GT350R/PP2). I was expecting some bad times when driving on parts of highway where the road surface changes at odds with the lane. Not bad at all but definitely noticeable compared to the GT. You’re busier at the wheel, but not necessarily busy. Let’s see if that opinion stays the same 50k miles later.

**Sounds system:** “The Voodoo is all the music you need.” Not applicable to me; this is my daily and I love driving with some music and the windows down. Would LOVE to see SavageGeese do a sound test on this. Absolutely did not expect the B&O system to blow the socks off of whatever my upgraded Shaker system was in the GT - was it Bose? Either way, excellent clarity in all ranges high to low. The GT felt a little empty in the mid and a little tinny up top, and the bass felt like it lacked a lot of range - decent but not anything to write home about. I’m genuinely impressed with the GT350’s. The highs are clearly defined; the mids are full, and there’s not only plenty of bass, but at a variety of ranges too. Very pleasant surprise.

**Nav/Media:** Let’s just summarize by saying it’s a jump from Sync 2 to Sync 3. Where I’m hoping to see improvement is in consistency between Bluetooth paring and avoiding random crashes. That drove me crazy. Time will tell. Response is much better and transitions seem smoother, or could just be placebo. The mini info screen between gauges looks like a higher resolution.

**Build Quality:** Panel gaps are in check (thank god). Window looks aligned, and interior construction feels better. No pillar squeaks, but there is a slight rattle that comes at random below the dash trim to the left of the nav. Will see what happens here.

**Economy:** Holy crap it’s awful. Sure, I’m focused on mixing up the rev ranges and it’s probably staying north of 2K more than it should with some judicious throttle here and there, but I’m currently averaging 10.3mpg. SHEESH. I’ll reset the trip and try my best to drive it entirely civilized to see what a fair assessment looks like with my commute. Averaged about 17mpg in the GT.

**What I wish it had:** Sad that MyColor gauge and ambient lighting didn’t carry over, and wish it had the MY18+ rev matching, but heel toeing seem easier than in my GT due to the engine response, so not too worried there. Looking into Xineering’s auto blip unit.

**Other cool stuff:** The “Swing” on the rear decklid is gorgeous and completes the stance imo. This car gets insane attention. Complete night and day reactions from surrounding drivers. Lots of minivans being driven by Vettel clones too I guess. I LOVE the overrun crackles and pops. They’re insane! My GT had a Corsa Xtreme catcback which felt comparably loud (maybe ~5db louder?) but it only really CRACKLED when things were hot after repeat WOT runs. This thing pops like crazy when decelerating beyond 4K. It’s also entirely easy to trigger indefinite burbles by leaving about 1% throttle on during deceleration. But it almost makes me feel like I’m using one of those try-hard BMW burble tunes. Normal mode with the muffled start-up is a godsend for my neighborhood too. The mildly flat-bottomed steering wheel is novel and makes physical touch feel a little niftier, and the alcantara feels magical. At least while it’s new and clean. The 9 and 3 feel slightly less chunk too, or the rim itself could be more pronounced. Not sure but they bugged me in my GT.

Plans are to get tint, ceramic coating, a resonator delete, and a pair of SV104 wheels in bronze. In that order. Dream goal is to get it tuned by FatHouse for a twin turbo build. I don’t plan on getting rid of this anytime soon.

Going to take her out one more time before going to bed. Can’t get enough of her and I’m trying to fly through this break-in period!

For reference, I put 97,000 miles on the GT over the course of 5 years and feel that I know that car like the back of my hand. Feel free to ask me anything if you’re looking for specific comparison feedback.

Nice color!

 

[OppoLock]

There’s not GT350 locally and I’ve seen two on the road in the last 2 days... I can’t purchase sight unseen either...

I purchased sight unseen and can’t recommend it enough.

Sorry guys, but doing a 1,000 mile break-in is absolutely impossible in my mind.

I’ve had it for a week and put on 875 miles now. Did a 100 mile easy break-in consisting of varied RPMs and minimal steady state cruising, but since then it’s been normal operation.

Can’t get over the vast improvement in quality control!

And the steering.

And the suspension.

And the engine.

Needs more decibels though. Looking for something that will add volume without losing that Chewbacca bark. Sound clips aren’t helping when combing through resonator replacements. Everything sounds raspy and I’m sure that’s not the case in real life.

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

I purchased sight unseen and can’t recommend it enough.

Sorry guys, but doing a 1,000 mile break-in is absolutely impossible in my mind.

I’ve had it for a week and put on 875 miles now. Did a 100 mile easy break-in consisting of varied RPMs and minimal steady state cruising, but since then it’s been normal operation.

Can’t get over the vast improvement in quality control!

And the steering.

And the suspension.

And the engine.

Needs more decibels though. Looking for something that will add volume without losing that Chewbacca bark. Sound clips aren’t helping when combing through resonator replacements. Everything sounds raspy and I’m sure that’s not the case in real life.

Yeah that raspiness is not the business. What do you mean quality control? Less paint flaws?

 

[Byronj]

Someone is excited over their new GT350. Congrats man. Now take it to the track that’s what it’s made for.

 

[OppoLock]

Yeah that raspiness is not the business. What do you mean quality control? Less paint flaws?

Any suggestions?

My GT was a very early ‘15 run.

It had loads of rattles: passenger C-pillar, aluminum dash trim at both ends, the A-pillar speaker cover, speedometer bezel, and eventually the transmission tunnel cover. The passenger seat forward/rearward adjustment bar flopped over bumps and sounded like a little pogo stick. Also, the windows never fully sealed so you would get bad wind noise at speeds above 50-60mph.

As far as the exterior, the paint finish had a swirled haziness next to the license plate recess. The panel gaps were terrible, especially along the hood. The passenger side half-shaft always “crunched” during low speed accel.

Sync 2 crashed at least once every other month. The on-board nav would bug out to the point that I stopped using it. The clock would fall back about 10 seconds each day so I routinely had to set it forward. Vehicle reports stopped being supported but would pop up all the time. The screen brightness had a mind of its own at night, where I would routinely keep it at the darkest setting, but would have to reset it every time by going up a notch (which would actually dim it further), then go back down to the lowest notch.

And the drivetrain clunkiness was the worst part.

Not only is all of that gone with the GT350 (although there is that small rattle below the dash trim that the other user helped with, and the DOOR CLIPS THE FRONT FENDER on the passenger side along the lower character line, which already caused a nick in the paint), the switchgear has more damping and is more solid, like the window switches and volume knob. It’s just less noisy which is the opposite of what I expected. I wouldn’t be surprised if these improvements are across the board on all S550 models but I can’t make that claim from experience.

The only thing that feels noticeably cheaper is the sunglass compartment. It flexes more, like it feels thinner, and there is way less damping to its ejection. It feels closer to a click than before. And for some reason the console storage opening clips.

Someone is excited over their new GT350. Congrats man. Now take it to the track that’s what it’s made for.

Wish they had one near me. Wouldn’t care to take something this heavy to auto-X either... Hoping to go to Sebring sometime in the next year or two!

 

[Check06]

Congrats on the 350. Got a 16 GT myself about a yr and a half ago. I was excited when I got it and it had some performance on it but I needed more which lead to the P1X kit now. I love the car but handling for this power level is not great, especially at speed. but that's not a huge surprise to me, I knew it'd be a big jump in power and more than the car was "meant for" suspension wise but its got me wondering about getting a GT350 and transferring the P1X to a GT350 and this post is more encouraging

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