Voodoo vs Coyote Reliability

[Braaaaaap]

Hello everyone,

I've been really interested in the GT350 recently. Every editor seems to love the car, and most people say to go for the 350 if you can afford it over a GT.

This is where I get confused. . . the forums. These forums seem to imply there's masses of issues with the voodoo engine. Oil consumption, blown motors, A/C units, etc. I understand that many unhappy owners flock to the forums to rant, but I can't help but worry there is an issue.

Ford is a high production company. I read that ford only built 7,115 GT350s (including R models) in 2017. This is obviously not a guaranteed source, but regardless - this is a low production car. On top of this, the engine is built by hand.

So. . . how real are these problems? There's a lot of unlucky owners for such a low volume car. Are these problems truly widespread? Has ford addressed any of the problems?

I want a Mustang. . . not a Ferrari. It seems as though the GT is a Mustang. Rental fleets trust them, and owners seem to abuse the heck out of those things. From what i've read on these forums, the 350 sounds like a Ferrari.

Thats why i'm here. I really hope someone can prove me wrong.

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[Nfs1000f]

At the risk of sounding like an a-hole, please search this subject. This topic has been debated ad nauseam. We do not need another thread on this subject.

 

[TomcatDriver]

How is a poll relevant? Polls are great for opinions, and if you have a Coyote or Voodoo that blew up, or conversely is running like a champ, all you are voting for is your own limited sample size or maybe that of a couple buddies. Neither are likely to be as reliable as a Toyota 2ZZ-GE.

 

[Braaaaaap]

At the risk of sounding like an a-hole, please search this subject. This topic has been debated ad nauseam. We do not need another thread on this subject.

I have spent hours reading horror stories on the forums. Honestly, the GT350 sounds pretty terrible after reading all the complaints on the forums.

How is a poll relevant? Polls are great for opinions, and if you have a Coyote or Voodoo that blew up, or conversely is running like a champ, all you are voting for is your own limited sample size or maybe that of a couple buddies. Neither are likely to be as reliable as a Toyota 2ZZ-GE.

You’re right. I hid the poll results because I can’t delete it. I’ll ignore that. It sounds like I won’t get much help on this forum. Unfortunate because I really did research this topic extensively.

 

[TomcatDriver]

I've got a 17 GT350 with 12,000 miles (which for a GT350 is pretty high) and it's running fine, with zero oil consumption, so with my sample size of one it's great. If it blows up next week I'll change my mind. 99% of owners have never been on this forum and when people start having problems with their car it's pretty common to start seeking information on the internet, so the sample you get is going to be badly skewed. That being said, clearly if the engine was completely indestructible you wouldn't find any horror stories.

Clearly the Mustang is not a Corolla. The Corolla forum is mostly about how many hundreds of thousands of miles you can get with nothing more than oil changes. Most high performance cars have more powertrain problems than small low powered engines. If you are more worried about it blowing up out of warranty get a Coyote, as the replacement cost is much lower than a Voodoo.

 

[Braaaaaap]

I've got a 17 GT350 with 12,000 miles (which for a GT350 is pretty high) and it's running fine, with zero oil consumption, so with my sample size of one it's great. If it blows up next week I'll change my mind. 99% of owners have never been on this forum and when people start having problems with their car it's pretty common to start seeking information on the internet, so the sample you get is going to be badly skewed. That being said, clearly if the engine was completely indestructible you wouldn't find any horror stories.

Clearly the Mustang is not a Corolla. The Corolla forum is mostly about how many hundreds of thousands of miles you can get with nothing more than oil changes. Most high performance cars have more powertrain problems than small low powered engines. If you are more worried about it blowing up out of warranty get a Coyote, as the replacement cost is much lower than a Voodoo.

I appreciate your reply. That's good to hear! Do you daily your GT350? I was looking for high milage 350s, but it sounds like most people keep them as weekend/track warriors. Totally understandable considering the fuel economy isn't out of this world.

Good point about the forum. I wouldn't be surprised if most 350 owners haven't ever heard of mustang6g... It does seem as though the 2018 coyote is pretty close to the Voodoo now as far as compression goes.

I guess this whole mess is probably blown out of proportion

 

[TomcatDriver]

I appreciate your reply. That's good to hear! Do you daily your GT350? I was looking for high milage 350s, but it sounds like most people keep them as weekend/track warriors. Totally understandable considering the fuel economy isn't out of this world.

Good point about the forum. I wouldn't be surprised if most 350 owners haven't ever heard of mustang6g... It does seem as though the 2018 coyote is pretty close to the Voodoo now as far as compression goes.

I guess this whole mess is probably blown out of proportion

I mostly daily drive if the weather is good, probably averaging at least 3 days a week. Now in the spring I'm driving it almost every day. There are a few guys on the forum that DD their 350s.

 

[Braaaaaap]

I mostly daily drive if the weather is good, probably averaging at least 3 days a week. Now in the spring I'm driving it almost every day. There are a few guys on the forum that DD their 350s.

What kind of fuel economy are you looking at in the city?

 

[TomcatDriver]

If I drive conservatively my average tends to end up around 18mpg. My commute is 8 miles each way, about 5 miles on a 35-45 mph speed limit street with multiple lights & stops, then I have about 3 miles (not freeway) at about 50-60 with no stops, then a couple more stops at the end.

 

[GTthree50]

I mostly daily drive if the weather is good, probably averaging at least 3 days a week. Now in the spring I'm driving it almost every day. There are a few guys on the forum that DD their 350s.

What kind of fuel economy are you looking at in the city?

I'm one who daily drives his and at just over 11,000 miles I am not at this time suffering from a single of the horror story issues. Though that could change the very next time I hit the start button. The gas mileage is pretty bad compared to the Coyote or say an LS motor in a Vette but caring about mileage is not the focus of these cars. I just accept that it drinks gas and have to fill it up at least once a week. I can also add that yes the VooDoo has had some problems but if you broaden your research to all high-performance cars from all over the world you are going to find that many of them have major crap go wrong. It is just kind of how it seems to go. For example I owned two air cooled 911's prior to the Shelby and the litany of stories of bad valve guides and excessive oil consumption follow these cars like a dark cloud but you will find no shortage of fiercely loyal owners who know that is the nature of that beast. If you like the 350 and can make it fit your budget, go for it. It's a fabulous car.

 

[torque124]

You will not see better than 13 mpg in the city , purely city driving... Freeway, if you cruise at say 70Mph, it will get you 24, tops. Mine is a 16 Track pack with no oil consumption and no issues to date (knock on wood), just shy of 13k miles now.

 

[ShelbyGT350DG]

I daily drive mine. No problems so far, but I only have just below 4,000 miles.

 

[oldbmwfan]

People rarely log on to forums just to say, "hey, guess what my engine hasn't blown up yet!"

5k miles and change on my R including 6 track days and mostly "fun" driving only, plus highway trips to/from the track. No oil consumption, no issues. But it is a fun car only for me.

 

[GrabberBlue]

I daily mine, 12 MPG 25% city/75% highway. No issues to report.

 

[LIGHTNING350]

With all the problems the 5.0 is having this is pretty easy. GT350 by a landslide.

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