Coming to Canada and the United States later this year is Ford’s “most race-ready road-legal Mustang ever,” the Shelby GT350R.
Under the bonnet of this beast is a 5.2-liter DOHC flat-plane V8, whose 500+ horsepower and over 400 lb-ft of torque make the engine the most powerful naturally aspirated unit Ford offers today. An air-to-oil cooler for the V8 and a standard cooler for the six-speed manual help the GT350R handle the hardest of track days.
Suspension is composed of revised springs, bushings and jounce bumpers, antiroll bars, a lowered ride height, cross-axis ball joints up front, and a limited-slip differential with a 3.73 axle ratio in the back.
Like its exotic sibling, the Ford GT, the GT350R was optimized for better aerodynamic performance and downforce. Key components include front and rear underbody belly pans, revised front splitter, vented hood and wheel wells, and an aggressive diffuser.
The track-day machine is also lighter than the GT350 Track Pack model by 130 pounds. Whatever Ford could remove, it did, including the rear seats, air conditioning, stereo system, trunk carpeting and floorboard, exhaust resonators, backup camera, and so on. Weight reduction is further enhanced by standard 19-inch carbon fiber wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
Those who prefer a little comfort in their GT350R can opt for the Electronics Packages, which includes dual-zone air conditioning and a seven-speaker audio system among its list of features.
And as a bonus after you’ve cleaned and chamois the spoiler it doubles as an ironing board! That would come in very handy on the Hot Rod Power Tour or the One Lap of America.
“Like its exotic sibling, the Ford GT, the GT350R was optimized for better aerodynamic performance and downforce.”
While its sibling the Ford GT was NOT optimized for the 5.2 Voodoo or 5.0 Coyote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Modular_engine
How the hell is the Ford GT the GT350R’s sibling?
I didn’t write it I was simply quoting.
Ford has put a huge effort in racing the 3.5EB. The engine has proved itself in the Daytona Prototype they’re running. It wouldn’t make sense to have a V8 in the GT at this point.
I disagree as their should simply be two engine options as some customers might prefer a V8. Seems foolish to me I could spend less money for a GT350 or a GT500 and in the case of the GT500, receive a 550hp V8 motor from the factory no less.
The v6 is shorter. Don’t think the v8 would fit into that aero optimised-teardrop shape. Remember, this car is designed to win at Le Mans first and foremost.
I am convinced Ford is trying to break the internet today.
“Jounce jumpers” ??
That’s what the press release said.
Should mean “jounce bumpers”.
Fixed!
Looking VERY forward to the Camaro Z/28 vs. Mustang GT350R matchup!!!
Who knows if there will even be an Alpha Z/28, let alone an Alpha Z/28 with the LS7.
my woman’s 07 Shelby cobra 500 has a supercharger and is rated at 500hp, Is this new model much of an improvement on her old one>
Is that a serious question?
This is not a GT500. Your woman would be disappointed.
It’s not a Cobra and yes the GT350 and it’s Voodoo 5.2 are much better.
Mustang/Camaro – Fast becoming one of the last places on Earth where you can still get a V8, raucous or otherwise. Everything else is getting castrated
Now the Raptor too???
The Raptor will have more HP and torque than the previous version. That’s getting castrated?
(I do like the 6.2L Boss V8)
Come on. You know it’s not the same thing. Like Jack & Pepsi. Rum & Shasta.
Pepsi is hobo juice.
I’d rather have a 7 & 7 anyway.
In many ways I prefer the 3.5EB over the 5.0L in the F150. If I bought an F150 for myself, it would be a SuperCab XLT, with the FX4 package, and 3.5EB, in Guard Green or Caribou.
That’s the ideal truck and colors. No doubt. And I love turbos normally. But I must have put at least a million miles on V8 and my main transportation will always have a V8. Many were already older, high mileage V8s when I got them. And they never gave me problem or ate head gaskets. Never. I drove the ballz off them too. Poor maintenance, etc.
No any turbos I own better be wrapped in an SVO, GNX, Supra, Typhoon or Syclone. Or catback aftermarket huffers.
@DenverMike – as we have seen with Ecoboost sales in the F150, people care more about power characteristics than cylinder count.
But as we’ve seen, replacing cubes with boost is a means of chasing one’s own tail.
@DenverMike – power is power. Other than noise no one I know complains about that fact in relation to the F150.
Don’t confuse him with logic and rationality.
The love, respect, fetish for V8s is like the cliche I hate using but fits;
If you have to ask, you wouldn’t understand,.
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING has come close to a V8’s reliability, longevity, strength, musical note, etc.
When something BETTER comes along, I’ll be all over it!
And they charge you LESS for the V8 in trucks. Win. Win. Win. WIN!!!
All of those things have nothing to do with cylinder count. (with the mild exception of exhaust tone, though a good set of headers goes a long way)
I’ve never understood the obsession with V8 durability; an equally engineered engine will perform more or less the same over the long haul regardless of cylinder count.
The truly legendarily long-lived and reliable motors have almost exclusively been fours and inline sixes. And inline sixes and V12s have it all over V8s in the sound department. And smoothness too.
The only advantage of a V8 that I can see is that in pushrod form they are physically small for their displacement, which means you can fit a lot of cubes in a relatively small space. So if you are going to make power by the lazy methodology of just making the lump bigger, it is easy to do with a V8.
They were tough engines, but where are they now? BINGO, they were also gross polluting, gas guzzling pigs! The V8 however, has evolved, cleaned up and highly efficient, with new tech/advancement. They can move a lot of mass, when let’s face it, today’s cars are getting to be heavy pigs themselves.
No need to rev V8s way up to get things moving. Or spool up turbos. With cylinder deactivation, you get the best of both worlds, without having to deal with high heat, high pressure and all the thing that can and do go wrong when hot rodding a small engine instead of natural V8 cubes.
My local Ford dealership person told me that the GT350 is not coming to Canada but from this article the GT350R will be. Is this the case?
Looks good, but wing delete.
If you need this car over a regular GT350, that wing will almost certainly come into play.
I’m not a wing guy, but this is probably a fast car. Delete aerodynamic aids on a track toy at your peril.
“carbon fiber wheels” Is that a first for a road car or have I just not been paying attention?
That should have been the headline. Carbon fiber wheels are a big deal.
Seems like a hardcore package something like Cobra R from way back. I like.
Notice the side sheet metal accent/”used to be scoop” is backwards. Not saying it’s good or bad, just different from what I’m used to on a Mustang.