Have you ever heard of the word anticipointment? It's one of those Urban Dictionary words that seem to be all the rage with the kids nowadays. Basically, it means that you look forward to something with great anticipation, but the experience ends up being incredibly disappointing.
Yeah, that's kind of how I felt after attending the GT350 Track Tour at Sebring International Raceway. Let me count all the ways that this event wasn't awesome.
First of all, I do want to compliment Ford for their intent with this event. The GT350 Track Tour is a combination press event/owner event, which means that GT500 and Boss 302 owners were invited to drive the car side-by-side with members of the press. As a Boss 302 owner and a sometimes auto writer, I qualified in multiple ways. The curious nature of this setup turned out to cause problems for me later in the day, but we'll get to that.
Jim Owens, VP at Ford Performance, kicked off the day with a rousing welcome to all of the attendees, some of whom really stepped up their driving game by wearing their Piloti shoes. He then introduced one of my personal driving heroes, Cindi Lux, who is the chief instructor at the Ford Racing School at Miller Motorsports Park. She let us know that she had brought several of her fine instructors with her to be coaching us, which I was glad to hear based on my outstanding experiences with both the Boss Track Attack and the ST Octane Academy. However, she followed up that good news with the Disappointment Number One: We would not be driving the full course.
Uh, come again?
See that little gray line by Turn Three? We were going to be coming onto course on Turn Twelve, turning right on Turn Thirteen, and then turning right again at that little gray line, which basically cut off everything that makes Sebring, well, Sebring.
Oh, and we'd only be getting three laps behind the wheel. That was Disappointment Number Two.
I was assigned to the Blue group, which meant that I was going to be the last of the four groups to actually drive the cars. Before my drive, I was rotated through three stations where I heard the same facts about the Shelby GT350 and GT350R three times.
Here are the things Ford really, really wants you to know about the Shelby GT350 (I wrote them down, just in case hearing it in triplicate wasn't enough):
- The motor generates 526 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque.
- That motor? It's a 5.2 liter, flat-crank V8.
- The aero on the GT350R means that the R will generate more downforce than a 991 GT3.
- The GT350 is entirely different from the A pillar forward. It doesn't share anything with the GT.
- The R has carbon fiber wheels weighing 18 pounds, a first for a production vehicle. I picked one up. It was light.
- Nearly everything on the GT350 is a custom-built, bespoke part. There's nothing "off-the-shelf." Even the Michelin tires have a custom tread pattern. The seats, shifter, and steering wheel are all GT350 specific. Even the chrome surfaces have been dulled for track driving.
- The MagneRide suspension is also customized. It can detect variations in pavement in less than seven milliseconds, and can communicate it to the rest of the vehicle just as quickly.
This is a picture of a flat crank, in case you've never seen one.
Got all that? Good, because it's very important. Now, this next thing I'm going to show you was in no way disappointing.
Stealth Gray Focus RS. The desire is strong. In fact, I'd be much more interested in a Focus RS Track Tour. Maybe as a Fiesta ST owner I'll get an invite to one. In fact, I mostly tuned out from the second reading of the list of GT350 features so I could drool over the RS. I've yet to see a color that doesn't suit it.
Okay, well, after all of that and much standing around talking to one of the event girls (she was very interested in becoming a race car driver, so I advised she get a comp license), it was finally time to drive the cars. Yes, I had waited roughly three hours to drive the car, but I was sure that it was all going to be worth it. I grabbed my helmet and my Sony Action Cam (now available at clearance prices at Best Buy) and I headed over to be fitted for my HANS device.
Here's my video from my drive:
Ha. Were you tricked? Because that was Disappointment Number Three. No video was allowed to be recorded on the drive for, um, "safety reasons." However, that didn't prevent Ford from putting their own GoPros inside the car…gaahhhh. So my camera is unsafe, but theirs? TOTALLY SAFE. Maybe they were afraid that my video would look something like, well, this Lime Rock video from my bestie Matt Farah?
My favorite Farah Quote: "That's how short this video is. And I'm sorry for that."
So, in case you're somewhere where circumstance prevents you from listening to my whiny voice and wind noise, let me sum up what I said on that video: My drive was Disappointment Number Four.
I was lucky enough to drive an "R" — and a yellow one, no less. My instructor, Stan, was a super cool guy and a fine driver. He allowed me to do a little more shifting than they were supposed to (I went down to second in the slower turns and up to fifth in the exit of turn six into turn seven), and he didn't make me stick to the event-mandated 100 mph limit. Unfortunately, even with allowing about thirty seconds between the my entry and the car ahead of me, I caught up in less than one lap. They were only allowing passing in turn six, so I had to chill behind the driver ahead of me for half a lap until Stan was able to radio for a point-by. I passed quickly and easily in turn six and caught the car ahead of that before the end of my second lap. So, I chilled behind him until turn six again, at which point I put the motherflippin' hammer down all the way into the hairpin of turn seven. Yes! Finally, some clear track! I roared through turns eight and nine, revving the engine to the limiter in third gear …
And then my session was over.
"Ahhhh! I need another lap!" I shouted. I was not granted another lap.
In summary, I got about three or four fast turns out of three laps and spent a lot of time waiting to pass at about 50 mph. That being said; even in less than ideal traffic conditions, it's impossible not to be impressed by that motor. It just never stops revving. Like, never. My natural inclination was to shift at 7,000 rpm, but that's not a winning strategy in the GT350R. The motor sings its happiest when you let it go all the way to redline. It's a feeling and a sound that's unlike anything else on the market — at any price.
Likewise, the lateral grip is just bananas and predictable as well. I never really had the chance to go full tilt into a corner, but I also never felt like I was in danger of losing grip. The accelerometer read 1.29 G to the left and 1.41 to the right. My Boss has never seen anything like that. The best I've ever pulled is slightly over 1 G. In comparison, the 991 GT3 I drove at Atlanta Motorsports Park was peaking at just over 1.5 G. It's entirely possible that with more speed and more downforce, the Shelby could have similar lateral grip.
That's it. I can't tell you about the glorious MagneRide suspension. I can't tell you about the greatness of the brakes. I can't tell you much of anything other than what it's like to be entirely frustrated behind the wheel of this spectacular machine.
I will be blunt here: Anybody who writes a glowing review of this car, based on the drive that Ford provided at Sebring, should never be allowed to pen another syllable about cars. If a person were to write such a piece, the reader can only draw one of two conclusions:
- The author is desperately shilling in hopes of being invited back to another event in the future
- The author cannot drive his way out of a paper bag, and would have been similarly impressed by a base V-6 car with Shelby badging
In fact, feel free to draw both of those conclusions. Based on the "OMG WOW" conversations I heard around the paddock, I have no doubt that you'll be able to read your share of these reviews in the next several days. But when they tell you how they pushed it to the limit at Sebring, just go ahead and click that little X in the upper right hand corner of your browser.
Ford heavyweights, if you're reading, I want you to pay attention to this: I am a bonafide fucking Ford fanboy. I have bought three new Fords in the last three years. I wanted to write a glowing, slobbering review of the GT350R. I paid for my own airfare, my own hotel, and my own rental car just so I could drive your masterpiece at Sebring. I didn't get to do that. Therefore, the best grade I can give the Shelby GT350, as a Boss 302 and Fiesta ST owner, is an "incomplete."
Send us a press car. Let me drive it back-to-back with my Boss. Then I'll be able to give you a real review. Until then, our readers and I are left wanting. And your car deserves much better.
The post 2016 Ford Shelby GT350R Review: Seems Awesome, But We Really Have No Idea appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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