The best facts on a 2019 Shelby GT350 (great car)

WVTrakPak

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I would never sell my Porsche 911 (991.1). It's also a great car.

I had a 997.2 S and I really enjoyed it but missed the roar of the V8 and just my love of the Stang brought me back. I absolutely love the wifes 986 and we will probably have it a long time or a newer version.

There is no comparison at VIR, the 350 is far superior, I don't like the front end getting light in the esses.
 

1995COBRA-R

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I had a 997.2 S, and I really enjoyed it but missed the roar of the V8 and just my love of the Stang brought me back. I absolutely love the wifes 986 and we will probably have it a long time or a newer version.

There is no comparison at VIR, the 350 is far superior, I don't like the front end getting light in the esses.

I think the Porsche 986 (the 1st gen Boxster) is a little light on performance at VIR. It is really good at a technical track like Barbara in AL.

The Shelby GT350 is perfect when tearing up the hill towards to Oak Tree Turn with using the track's fast car capability.

I have the 2019 Shelby GT350 which was devolved with the help of Billy Johnson who also drove a Ford GT at La Mans (he was also fast in any S550 Mustang).

Voodoo8.jpg
 

WVTrakPak

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I think the Porsche 986 (the 1st gen Boxster) is a little light on performance at VIR. It is really good at a technical track like Barbara in AL.

The Shelby GT350 is perfect when tearing up the hill towards to Oak Tree Turn with using the track's fast car capability.

I have the 2019 Shelby GT350 which devolved the car from the help of Billy Johnson who also drove a Ford GT at La Mans (he was also fast in any S550 Mustang).
View attachment 1593967


The 986 has not been to VIR, but my 997.2S was there, and it was light compared to the 350. The 986 would not get nose light in the esses like the 911 did. The 986 is truly a great driver car and quite possibly the most fun you can have with 217 hp.

Billy has worked developing every Ford Performance car for the past several years. He is a great guy, got to meet him at VIR.
 

1995COBRA-R

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The early 986 Boxster (1997-2004) had a few problems other than the oil leaks:
1) They had porous cranks in that oil got into the engine.
2) The Intermediate-shaft bearings can fail. That is a $2000 fix.
3) Not a 911

The 986, the 987, and the 981 Boxster/Cayman is not or will ever be the Porsche 911 which has been produced since 1965.
 

WVTrakPak

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The early 986 Boxster (1997-2004) had a few problems other than the oil leaks:
1) They had porous cranks in that oil got into the engine.
2) The Intermediate-shaft bearings can fail. That is a $2000 fix.
3) Not a 911

The 986, the 987, and the 981 Boxster/Cayman is not or will ever be the Porsche 911 which has been produced since 1965.


1) I believe this was only on the very early cars and was quickly fixed. My 98 does not have this issue.
2) This is on all Porsches from 1996-2008. Your beloved 911 also has this well known issue when it changed to water-cooled.
3) Nor does it want to be. The drop top 911 is a far inferior car in driving experience as it was not designed to be a convertible. The Boxster was designed to be a vert and is the better engineered car. I know your fanboy Porsche guy loves to dis the Boxster and other variations of the brand, but truth is that without the Boxster, the whole company called Porsche may not exist as the sales saved it. I enjoyed my 911s greatly but at the limit at VIR, it was not as predictable as my 350. If I were buying a new Porsche today, it would either be a Boxster or a GT4, I would not buy a 911.
 

1995COBRA-R

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...If I were buying a new Porsche today, it would either be a Boxster or a GT4, I would not buy a 911.

I respect that decision. The old 1965 Porsche 911 and the old 1965 Mustang are both old tired cars from another era.

You are arguing this in a Mustang forum?
 

tt335ci03cobra

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With 213hp being the cap, I would opt for a lotus exige.

With RR being the constraint, I’d opt for a gt3rs. The nose is too light at speeds above 100-125 in a non downforce 911 in my experience.

That said one will have more fun in a well sorted mr2 or boxter than in a less optioned or specced 911, unless they love the sadistic torture of calming an axe wielding hellbent wife that has a bipolar desire to first lovingly help cut the firewood then to kill you with the axe, blunt wood, and even the chopping block.

I could learn to enjoy taming a sorted ruff or gt3rs though.

FR, just set it up perfectly, turn off nannies, expose chest hair, scratch balls, show off gold pinkie ring and cowboy hat, pull rare steak strings from teeth, wax all completion. (Assuming you have American top tier fr, otherwise keep the Miata for self pleasure).
 

tt335ci03cobra

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One key thing is the fun and experience of driving. If it’s only about lap times and bang for the buck, the hobby would be very sterile.

I personally like taming and honing my 03 cobra or driving a built foxbody, c4 vette, e30, older 911, and even 60’s and 50’s restobuilds for the experience and pleasure of driving.

I can hop in McLaren and go much faster, but the shit eating grin from keeping my 03 cobra on track or getting a clean lap out of a 911 is rewarding. Frustrating, but rewarding.

My ideal track toy would be something like a stripped gt350rc widdled to 3000lbs, with no isolating components in the suspension, and the motor moved rearward, the transmission redone as a transaxle, with a haltec lever, many down forces, and turbo motivation in the form of a single 76 with an 80 wheel setup around response and spool.

Anybody got $500k I could borrow?

For $75k, a 2019 gt350r is a very close consolation prize and I’m happy ford offers it. It’s 4/5th to 11/10th of what a gt3rs offers in performance and excitement/experience.
 

WVTrakPak

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One key thing is the fun and experience of driving. If it’s only about lap times and bang for the buck, the hobby would be very sterile.

I personally like taming and honing my 03 cobra or driving a built foxbody, c4 vette, e30, older 911, and even 60’s and 50’s restobuilds for the experience and pleasure of driving.

I can hop in McLaren and go much faster, but the shit eating grin from keeping my 03 cobra on track or getting a clean lap out of a 911 is rewarding. Frustrating, but rewarding.

My ideal track toy would be something like a stripped gt350rc widdled to 3000lbs, with no isolating components in the suspension, and the motor moved rearward, the transmission redone as a transaxle, with a haltec lever, many down forces, and turbo motivation in the form of a single 76 with an 80 wheel setup around response and spool.

Anybody got $500k I could borrow?

For $75k, a 2019 gt350r is a very close consolation prize and I’m happy ford offers it. It’s 4/5th to 11/10th of what a gt3rs offers in performance and excitement/experience.


There is a lot of truth here and one should be more concerned with a car that is to their own ability than being faster than ones buddy or lap times. I started tracking in 2010 and was appx 128 mph top speed at VIR in my 07 GT. I was not the fastest but one of the faster cars in my group then. Fast forward to today and 4 track cars later and I am 150 or so in the the 350 and that is plenty of speed for me. I love the feel and the response of the car and the sound and all that is a ball of fun, but it still must be reconciled with the thoughts of just a little more power and I could....

There was a ZR1 at the last event I attended and it was nasty fast probably approaching 170 at least and i just had to think that I really don't feel I have the talent to enjoy that car. It would be fun to pilot for a while but I think in the end I could not be comfortable in it.

Very thankful Ford built the 350.
 

13COBRA

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There is a lot of truth here and one should be more concerned with a car that is to their own ability than being faster than ones buddy or lap times. I started tracking in 2010 and was appx 128 mph top speed at VIR in my 07 GT. I was not the fastest but one of the faster cars in my group then. Fast forward to today and 4 track cars later and I am 150 or so in the the 350 and that is plenty of speed for me. I love the feel and the response of the car and the sound and all that is a ball of fun, but it still must be reconciled with the thoughts of just a little more power and I could....

There was a ZR1 at the last event I attended and it was nasty fast probably approaching 170 at least and i just had to think that I really don't feel I have the talent to enjoy that car. It would be fun to pilot for a while but I think in the end I could not be comfortable in it.

Very thankful Ford built the 350.

It would take you two or three track days to get comfortable in it...probably just like it did your GT350 from your 07 GT.

My first track experience driving was my 2008 ACR.
 

03reptile

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I think the Porsche 986 (the 1st gen Boxster) is a little light on performance at VIR. It is really good at a technical track like Barbara in AL.

The Shelby GT350 is perfect when tearing up the hill towards to Oak Tree Turn with using the track's fast car capability.

I have the 2019 Shelby GT350 which was devolved with the help of Billy Johnson who also drove a Ford GT at La Mans (he was also fast in any S550 Mustang).

Voodoo8.jpg
This article conveniently leaves out the fact that these new Cup 2's on the 2019 GT350 tramline like a mother and add significant resistance to steering wheel input. Even at the comfort mode the steering requires quite a bit of heft on correction inputs. These tires are fine for a smooth race track that doesn't have pot holes and pavement breaks but in the real world we all know the condition of many of our roads, and it's crappy. I think the majority of the GT350 owners drive their cars on public streets with an occasional trip to the track. Why Ford chose to give us a tire that fights us when steering and hunts and seeks over every irregularity on the roads we all travel is a mystery to me. I unloaded the Cup 2's and put on Michelin PS A/S 3's and the steering returned to normal feed back and resistance. The tramlining disappeared and the car is now far more pleasurable to drive. Post script: Sorry for the multiple posts, the site kept telling me there was an error on the server and to try again. Stupid computers!
 
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03reptile

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I think the Porsche 986 (the 1st gen Boxster) is a little light on performance at VIR. It is really good at a technical track like Barbara in AL.

The Shelby GT350 is perfect when tearing up the hill towards to Oak Tree Turn with using the track's fast car capability.

I have the 2019 Shelby GT350 which was devolved with the help of Billy Johnson who also drove a Ford GT at La Mans (he was also fast in any S550 Mustang).

Voodoo8.jpg
This article conveniently leaves out the fact that these new Cup 2's on the 2019 GT350 tramline like a mother and add significant resistance to steering wheel input. Even at the comfort mode the steering requires quite a bit of heft on correction inputs. These tires are fine for a smooth race track that doesn't have pot holes and pavement breaks but in the real world we all know the condition of many of our roads, and it's crappy. I think the majority of the GT350 owners drive their cars on public streets with an occasional trip to the track. Why Ford chose to give us a tire that fights us when steering and hunts and seeks over every irregularity on the roads we all travel is a mystery to me. I unloaded the Cup 2's and put on Michelin PS A/S 3's and the steering returned to normal feed back and resistance. The tramlining disappeared and the car is now far more pleasurable to drive.
 

03reptile

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I think the Porsche 986 (the 1st gen Boxster) is a little light on performance at VIR. It is really good at a technical track like Barbara in AL.

The Shelby GT350 is perfect when tearing up the hill towards to Oak Tree Turn with using the track's fast car capability.

I have the 2019 Shelby GT350 which was devolved with the help of Billy Johnson who also drove a Ford GT at La Mans (he was also fast in any S550 Mustang).

Voodoo8.jpg
This article conveniently leaves out the fact that these new Cup 2's on the 2019 GT350 tramline like a mother and add significant resistance to steering wheel input. Even at the comfort mode the steering requires quite a bit of heft on correction inputs. These tires are fine for a smooth race track that doesn't have pot holes and pavement breaks but in the real world we all know the condition of many of our roads, and it's crappy. I think the majority of the GT350 owners drive their cars on public streets with an occasional trip to the track. Why Ford chose to give us a tire that fights us when steering and hunts and seeks over every irregularity on the roads we all travel is a mystery to me. I unloaded the Cup 2's and put on Michelin PS A/S 3's and the steering returned to normal feed back and resistance. The tramlining disappeared and the car is now far more pleasurable to drive.
 

03reptile

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I think the Porsche 986 (the 1st gen Boxster) is a little light on performance at VIR. It is really good at a technical track like Barbara in AL.

The Shelby GT350 is perfect when tearing up the hill towards to Oak Tree Turn with using the track's fast car capability.

I have the 2019 Shelby GT350 which was devolved with the help of Billy Johnson who also drove a Ford GT at La Mans (he was also fast in any S550 Mustang).

Voodoo8.jpg
This article conveniently leaves out the fact that these new Cup 2's on the 2019 GT350 tramline like a mother and add significant resistance to steering wheel input. Even at the comfort mode the steering requires quite a bit of heft on correction inputs. These tires are fine for a smooth race track that doesn't have pot holes and pavement breaks but in the real world we all know the condition of many of our roads, and it's crappy. I think the majority of the GT350 owners drive their cars on public streets with an occasional trip to the track. Why Ford chose to give us a tire that fights us when steering and hunts and seeks over every irregularity on the roads we all travel is a mystery to me. I unloaded the Cup 2's and put on Michelin PS A/S 3's and the steering returned to normal feed back and resistance. The tramlining disappeared and the car is now far more pleasurable to drive.
 

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