So for the past of couple of days I've had the privilege of driving a brand new Shelby around and wanted to post my thoughts on the car.
As for comfort, it does have a little more to offer. The Navigation and sound system is pretty awesome, and the track apps in the Shelby offer a little more than in the Boss. This particular Shelby doesn't have the Recaros, and the regular seats suck. I definitely feel more comfortable in my Boss as far as seating goes.
The clutch and shifter are better in the Shelby. The Shelby's clutch has a more positive feel, harder to push, but its good because it gives you more feedback as to whats going on. The Boss clutch is so soft that its hard to tell when it's engaging. I have a 2 post Barton shifter bracket in the Boss, and since installing that I haven't missed a single shift. But the Shelby shifter is still more positive feeling and has a shorter throw. Maybe I need to add the Barton short shifter to the Boss??? I sometimes have a hard time matching shifts smoothly in the Boss when driving moderately aggressively. Driving easy or driving wide open I am ok, but anything in between is a crap shoot for me. Again, I feel like this might be due to the softer clutch in the Boss. The downside to the Shelby though... 6th gear is almost useless. At 80 mph, the engine is only turning 1900 rpm. The car pulls it o-k, but it does seem to be lugging to do it. It would be perfect with a 3.73 gear like the Boss. At the same time, I feel like the Boss could be geared higher. 1st gear is almost too low, and at 80 mph you are turning around 2700 rpm which seems a little high.
The throttle response is great on both cars, but the Shelby definitely has loads more torque. My biggest gripe with the Boss is that the throttle seems twitchy. I generally drive with the track key (honestly just because of the idle lope at red lights) so maybe that's my issue. I need to drive with the silver key more and see if it's the same way. When its cold, the car seems to lunge and surge while accelerating. I've paid close attention to it and it does it while speeding up even if I hold my foot in a steady location. It doesn't seem as bad once it gets up to operating temperature. The Shelby on the other hand, is very smooth! Just roll on the throttle a little and away you go! The power is incredible. But the long flat torque curve and the 7500 RPM shifting in the Boss can get the blood flowing too.
It may seem at this point that I'm leaning towards the Shelby, but I have complaints about it as well. The Shelby I drove is a convertible. It is a heavy car for sure... well, if it isn't, it sure feels like it. Compared to the Boss, it has much more body roll. I wouldn't say the suspension is softer... with the shock setting on "sport" the Shelby seems to take bumps about as harshly as the Boss with the shocks on level 5. Yet the body roll is still there. I'm not sure that its really a problem, but it does make the Shelby feel less refined and more like my old SN95 Cobra than a modern sports car. On the plus side, the Shelby doesn't seem to exhibit wheel hop at all. It either goes or it spins. The Boss, well, it bounces around all over the place which is extremely annoying. I should perhaps take the shocks back down to the stock level 2 setting.
As for the brakes, they are about the same to me. The Boss is lighter so even though it has less brakes, they seem adequate for the car on the street. The Shelby seems to take slightly less pedal to achieve the same results, but that's likely due to the larger rotors and bigger pads.
Over all both cars are very impressive. If the Shelby had Recaros I would like it better and would be a better comparison. But my final opinion is that for just general driving around, the fun factor is definitely better in the Shelby. However, on a road course, the lighter weight will shine on the Boss. So I guess its really just dependent on what you like and what you're gonna do with the car. I tend to go to the local mountains and ride Deals Gap (US 129 The Dragon) and the Cherohala Skyway. Here I feel that the Boss is a better contender. But just spirited driving around town is quite a bit more fun in the Shelby.
If you've driven both (not just around the block), I'd love to hear your opinions too. I want to keep the Boss, but it needs some work to get it where I want it after driving the Shelby around for a couple of days.
As for comfort, it does have a little more to offer. The Navigation and sound system is pretty awesome, and the track apps in the Shelby offer a little more than in the Boss. This particular Shelby doesn't have the Recaros, and the regular seats suck. I definitely feel more comfortable in my Boss as far as seating goes.
The clutch and shifter are better in the Shelby. The Shelby's clutch has a more positive feel, harder to push, but its good because it gives you more feedback as to whats going on. The Boss clutch is so soft that its hard to tell when it's engaging. I have a 2 post Barton shifter bracket in the Boss, and since installing that I haven't missed a single shift. But the Shelby shifter is still more positive feeling and has a shorter throw. Maybe I need to add the Barton short shifter to the Boss??? I sometimes have a hard time matching shifts smoothly in the Boss when driving moderately aggressively. Driving easy or driving wide open I am ok, but anything in between is a crap shoot for me. Again, I feel like this might be due to the softer clutch in the Boss. The downside to the Shelby though... 6th gear is almost useless. At 80 mph, the engine is only turning 1900 rpm. The car pulls it o-k, but it does seem to be lugging to do it. It would be perfect with a 3.73 gear like the Boss. At the same time, I feel like the Boss could be geared higher. 1st gear is almost too low, and at 80 mph you are turning around 2700 rpm which seems a little high.
The throttle response is great on both cars, but the Shelby definitely has loads more torque. My biggest gripe with the Boss is that the throttle seems twitchy. I generally drive with the track key (honestly just because of the idle lope at red lights) so maybe that's my issue. I need to drive with the silver key more and see if it's the same way. When its cold, the car seems to lunge and surge while accelerating. I've paid close attention to it and it does it while speeding up even if I hold my foot in a steady location. It doesn't seem as bad once it gets up to operating temperature. The Shelby on the other hand, is very smooth! Just roll on the throttle a little and away you go! The power is incredible. But the long flat torque curve and the 7500 RPM shifting in the Boss can get the blood flowing too.
It may seem at this point that I'm leaning towards the Shelby, but I have complaints about it as well. The Shelby I drove is a convertible. It is a heavy car for sure... well, if it isn't, it sure feels like it. Compared to the Boss, it has much more body roll. I wouldn't say the suspension is softer... with the shock setting on "sport" the Shelby seems to take bumps about as harshly as the Boss with the shocks on level 5. Yet the body roll is still there. I'm not sure that its really a problem, but it does make the Shelby feel less refined and more like my old SN95 Cobra than a modern sports car. On the plus side, the Shelby doesn't seem to exhibit wheel hop at all. It either goes or it spins. The Boss, well, it bounces around all over the place which is extremely annoying. I should perhaps take the shocks back down to the stock level 2 setting.
As for the brakes, they are about the same to me. The Boss is lighter so even though it has less brakes, they seem adequate for the car on the street. The Shelby seems to take slightly less pedal to achieve the same results, but that's likely due to the larger rotors and bigger pads.
Over all both cars are very impressive. If the Shelby had Recaros I would like it better and would be a better comparison. But my final opinion is that for just general driving around, the fun factor is definitely better in the Shelby. However, on a road course, the lighter weight will shine on the Boss. So I guess its really just dependent on what you like and what you're gonna do with the car. I tend to go to the local mountains and ride Deals Gap (US 129 The Dragon) and the Cherohala Skyway. Here I feel that the Boss is a better contender. But just spirited driving around town is quite a bit more fun in the Shelby.
If you've driven both (not just around the block), I'd love to hear your opinions too. I want to keep the Boss, but it needs some work to get it where I want it after driving the Shelby around for a couple of days.
