"Super car" is an over reach.

 

Report on my day, many, many observations:

1) Drove the GT350.
2) Sat in the GT350R but did not take it out, it was a drizzly day here and the R had just been detailed and placed in the showroom with velvet rope around it.
3) first impression exterior - the car is very attractive, the body panel fit was exceptionally good, paint approached outstanding, the proportions are very nice from every angle. The only very minor disappointment as far as outside appearance was the wheels, very ordinary, the are not ugly so they don't distract, but they don't add anything to the overall appeal. I preferred it without the black painted roof option. The car was somewhat larger than I expected, but in a good way. I really liked the car when I saw it.
4) first impression interior, a friend of mine as a z51 c7 corvette, the interior here is much better, and much improved from past Mustangs I have been in. Still, its hard to put your finger on it, but something is just a little off. I preferred the leather trimmed seats to the larger bolstered racing seats.
5) Now for the good stuff, engine and sound. I admit and I think others are coming around now to PDK, its really good, but how anyone serious about feel and performance can drive anything but an NA engine, and not want to riot against all the new turbo movement, is way beyond me. I love the planet too, but I would rather die young and drive NA. The motor is great, seems to come alive between 2500 and 3500, and has beautifully linear acceleration. the sound is fantastic. I mean really fantastic.
6) Trans - the 6 speed manual is great, syc's well, super smooth, clutch is anything but heavy, I wouldn't want it any lighter.
7) Suspension / handling / compliant ride - Hardest to tell here because the road was reasonably straight, steering feel was pretty good, suspension felt nice, the ride was really good in both settings. The thing you miss in this, and most every car except Porsche outside of a hyper car, is the low weight. There is such a big difference between 3000 lbs and 3750.

So, in summary, the car would not be a track car, but a driver. I would like an edgy a driver as possible, but a fun one and one that my spouse could ride along too. This car is attractive, tight and well made (they took me through the process, a lot of the car is hand made), great motor and sound, super gearbox, nice handing and complaint ride.

Bottom line, have an allocation, Grabber Blue, working on the other options to be to the dealer by Monday. SUPER.... FUN..... CAR. Best thing I can say, I thought it would be good, and it exceeded expectations.

 

After driving this car for 6 months on and off the track i'm going to agree with Forbes' assessment. I've never driven car that I have to force myself to drive home and park it. I could easily drive 5 hours straight for no reason in this one...everyday.

Indian M3 - glad you liked it! Really nice you got a tour and drive prior to purchase too, you're first i've heard able to do that. Congrats on the Grabber Blue allocation!

 

Here's an R for sale under $100k!

I have no affiliation: http://sanfranciscosportscars.com/20...-shelby-gt350/

 

You may recall the GT350 we adorned with a healthy amount of carbon, it was back today. The last remaining plastic trim pieces were replaced with carbon and the car looks fantastic.

Here is a picture from our first photo shoot, prior to today's carbon fender vent installation.



Here is a picture from today after the carbon fender vent was installed.



The rear wheel flap is a small detail, but not one to be overlooked. It was replaced with carbon as well.

 

Save yourself $10k!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/5567831419.html

 

If you can wait, there will be plenty of R models available by next year. Additionally as standard equipment, 2017 base GT350 models will include oil coolers.

2016 dealers allocation of R models is 1 per every 3 base GT350s. 2017 allocation of R models is 1 per every 2.

 

There a few Rs available on ebay with one buy it now price at $96k. They are still not selling ...

 

At Mecum today a 2015 Shelby GT350 Tech Pack still in the wrapper sold for over $145,000

 

That's a charity price?

 

2015 was a limited production run ... I think 37 R's and 100 GT350s total or something like that.

 

That has to be a charity price, a shill or the fool of the year.

My dealer called and offered me a GT350 at MSRP two weeks ago.

Nice car but not interested. I like my silver and red Laguna Seca more. My prediction. The day will come when Track/tech pack cars are worth less than low mileage prime examples of Boss 302 Laguna Secas for numerous reasons especially first year Legunas. Especially Silver & reds. Only 150 made.

 

Driven both a bunch. There's ZERO disadvantage of the R in daily driving over the GT350 in terms of ride quality. The only negatives would be the MPSC2's not being as good in cold and wet weather as the MPSS, the blocked rear visibility of the R wing, and slightly worse splitter to ground clearance for steep driveways.

Other than that, both would make for great DDs.

 

Stunning example delivered to it's owner in Dubai

 

Hagerty's put the Boss Laguna Seca on it's top 10 future investment cars for 2014, i'd agree with that assessment.

I personally see the Shelby GT350 as having Porsche GT3 like value, sells for well over MSRP even used and will likely not drop much below that price over the years. The R versions I predict will be like the RS and likely only go up in value, especially if production ends in 2017 as suggested.