GT500 Road Test

Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.

I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.

They ought to let me design a Mustang.

No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW M3.

agreed,

stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque, stealth

scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80 mph, then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water. spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing. decals are for toy models and teenagers.

still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.

Sigh....

I can't get enough of that car.

I'll never have that car.

dwight

"Anabaena Microcystis" wrote in news:453afac4$0 $97275$ snipped-for-privacy@authen.yellow.readfreenews.net:

It looks great and the 1/4 mile is pretty decent, but don't give me that crap about Shelby having any input. The only thing he did was cash the checks from Ford for letting them use his name.

At any rate, the car weighs too much and it's nose heavy. The nose-dive during hard braking is just ridiculous. Didn't look all that hot in the corners, either. All that having been said, let's see how it compares to other cars in the mid-$40s. Bring on the comparos.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

I'm starting to have second thoughts about getting one after seeing the test drive articles. I think the car is just too heavy, period. I think I will just go with a garden variety GT vert, which I can get with an auto tranny, throw on a KB blower, 14" brakes, a good tranny buildup and maybe a few forged goodies for the engine. This will give me, basically, a GT500 auto for $10k-$15k less and several hundred pound lighter.

Overall, Ford did a good job with the GT500 but they just didn't go the last few steps, IMO. Things like weight, leaving out the twin screw blower, no auto tranny option and way too high pricing are just pushing me away from it. Plus, I can't justify over $50k for a Mustang convertible of any variety and with the vert's MSRP at nearly $48k it will likely stay above $50k for the production run.

"Michael Johnson, PE" wrote in news:gfWdnXbFaOqWg6HYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Agreed on all counts. I think if the convertible sold for under $40k you couldn't beat it. But $48k is just too expensive for what you get.

Michael, why limit your choice to a Mustang? If you're looking in the $40-45k range, there are a lot of nice rides.

Plus the Challenger and Camaro should be making an appearance before too long. I really think it will be a Mustang GT though. It is a car I can get at a decent price and after market support is fantastic so modding it would be easy and economical. It will be next year before anything happens on my end (thanks to a slow housing market) so I might change my mind three more times by then. ;)

My thoughts on the subject as I consider another car are this..

1) I was going to modify my '97 GT... ended up not being able to have the downtime so the mods are few. So I want to get something that's a lot closer to where I would mod to. 2) I want RWD with an MT with a clutch pedal and only two door that doesn't look like a rice boy car with a V8 or I6.

So....

There's the GT500.... apparently difficult to get, probably still overpriced by stealerships... Still with many of the compromises a mustang has. Lot's of power. On the plus side, lots of stuff available for it.

The BMW 335i... a good deal less power than the GT500 but doesn't have the compromises that come from the base car like the GT500. Mods and parts are likely to be expensive because it's a BMW.

Base corvette.... I probably won't fit well in it comfortably the way I like to sit, hard to find and well it's a base model, which will probably mean I'll end up feeling it needs modding or reget not getting a better version, and well, it's a chevy.

That last statement however is the *real* kicker here as the GT500 is not a car in the mid-40's itself, at least not for the forseeable future. I was in

2 different Ford shops over the past week buying an '06 Expedition for the wife in hopes of improving my return on some oil stocks I have :-).....Anyway, I saw a total of 4 GT 500's and 3 Roush Stage 3's during my visits. The first location had 1 GT500 vert with a sticker of $48,500 and a "Market Adjustment" of $25K ....They had it on Ebay at the time and ended up not hitting the reserve with a final bid of $61,705. (Item 200036841657)

The location place where we bought our vehicle had 3 more (one coupe and 2 verts) each with a $15K "Market Adjustment" to the sticker price. They were selling the Stage 3's at the Roush sticker which ran around $51k.

Looking at Ebay's completed auction, most of the ones that actually sold have been going for ~$60K

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have one, but at $60-$75K, I think IMHO one could modify a stock GT to outperform the beast and still have plenty o' cash left over for other toys..

KW

I will always have my '89 LX to tinker with and satisfy the need to heavily mod a Mustang. Its next turn under the knife will give it a

351W stroked out to 427 cubic inches. Then a full Maximum Motorsports suspension setup is next with killer brakes.

The reason I want an auto is I will always have the '89 LX. It has a T-56 and should satisfy the need to row through the gears. Anything I by will have to have rear wheel drive though. That is an absolute requirement. The good thing is that RWD cars are becoming more available and I think this trend will continue.

On a side note, I think the first auto maker that releases a RWD small car in the spirit of the Nissan 240SX will have a runaway hit and start a new trend in small car performance. This is when things will get real interesting regarding performance and hot rodding small cars.

It is the price that keeps me from it. At $48k it is just too much money for what it is, a gussied-up Mustang.

If I am going to spend over $50k then this is probably my #1 choice:

The Corvette is tempting but I have never been a huge fan. I think if I went that way then a mid sixties model would be the way I would go. A nice '66 Vette convertible is a thing of beauty.

In the end I would lay odds on me buying a garden variety GT with an auto tranny and doing some mods to get it to GT500 performance levels or just getting the SLK55 and being an extremely happy camper all the way around. :)

I haven't seen any around me, but I haven't checked more than a couple dealerships... big ones though. My guess is they were pre-sold to people with more money than sense.

It's not a 60-75K car, period.

Mercedes doesn't make anything with a clutch pedal anymore so I don't even bother looking. That said the 335i, the M3 light if I don't have the model number right, is supposed to be priced right about at the GT500's sticker MSRP vs. MSRP. It has a twin turbo I6 making about 300hp...

Uh, the SLK280 and the SLK350 have 6-speed manuals.

And, AMG makes a couple of Mercedes-based cars with manuals for only a few euros more. ;-)

With a clutch, actuated by a pedal operated by one's left foot and gear lever mechanically connected to the transmission?

An MB 'manual transmission' has been a manually selectable automatic computer controlled transmission in so many products I stopped looking at their entire line.

They have a very nice 7-speed auto with a quasi paddle shift option. Maybe I'm getting old but a manual isn't on my list of must have features anymore.

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Brent P) wrote in news:Jq2dnc-4uOLsjqDYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

It's not even a mid-$40k car either.

"Michael Johnson, PE" wrote in news:QNidneb2CKNGmKDYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Suh-weet. So what'll happen to the KB? Up onto the shelf for a while until the urge hits again, or will it immediately find its way onto the

351?

Great point, but that car would need some balls. The 240SX simply didn't have enough power to be a serious contender.

Even the "base" GT500 is too much. Just a thought, but if Ford hadn't bothered calling Shelby and just put the car out with all the goodies sans the Shelby name, I'll bet it could've been close to reasonable.

Hey Now! But.. but.. it's a Chrysler! ;)

Absolutely, but go for a spin in a C6 one day. I'll bet you a drink you become a fan.

The SLK55 is one sweet ride. It's even comfortable.

I was discussing toys with my wife the other day (no, not _those_ kind), and I decided that I'd either like to have a nice custom bike or a street rod. Either way, something outrageous for nice days. At the moment, I'm partial to a street rod. Don't have to balance it at stoplights.

The 427W will have to be enough on its own. Can you imagine the torque if it were put on a 427 c.i.d. engine! I don't know what to do with the blower. I'll have several good parts from heads, intakes, water injection etc. Probably put it on ebay or The Corral.

Todays garden variety V-6s should be enough. Then throw in a little modding and I think they could be hella fun cars. The 240SX guys would import the Japanese version's 1.8L turbo engines and get 300 rwhp from them. The handling of the 240SX convertible (the coupe should be much better) I had was great. The weight balance, steering feel and overall light weight of the car made for a fantastically fun ride. The 240SX's still command a fairly high price for a lower mileage car because of the drifting craze. A 240SX with another 100-150 hp would be a VERY fun car.

I agree. The Shelby name probably adds $5k to the MSRP and has made all the baby boomers bid their price up way beyond the car's real worth. IMO, the GT500 vert is, at best, a $40k car and the coupe is a $37k one.

That is as much a Chrysler as a Jaguar is a Ford. ;)

If I ever get to the test drive stage I'll be visiting many, many dealerships of all varieties. After all, isn't that half the fun of buying a new sports car?

I see that car as giving me the best overall experience for the money. That being performance, comfort, hard top convertible and looks that get the "WOW" response from family and friends. There is one in our neighborhood and it just looks good from any angle, with the top up or down. I just can't imagine being dissatisfied with that car.

I looked hard at bikes a few years ago and decided to wait and see if it was a passing fad. It was. I would definitely opt for the street rod. Plus, many of those custom bikes are hell on your ass. They have little or no suspension in the rear. Ever look at the rears on the bike shows? I don't think any of them let a shock absorber near the back half of the bike.

However it's MSRP is just under $41K. ($40,930 on edmunds) Invoice is $37K.

It's probably a bit over priced considering where Ford stopped with it, but it's not horrible considering what a GT ends up once it's optioned out.

The problem with the GT500 is that it's on dealer allotments thusly the stealerships are price gouging because there are enough stupid people in the world who will pay $60K for it. When a dealership is only going to be able to sell 2 of them because they can't get more than that and neither can the other Ford dealers, they can afford to let it sit until someone stupid enough walks in the door. They don't really have to worry about everyone going to the next town over and buying it from someone else like they do with most models. A GT500 for between sticker and MSRP like any other Ford isn't horrid.

Just to compare, the BMW 335i is $40,600 MSRP and invoice of $37,350. So it's right there price wise, but it should be like any other car. And I can get it in dark green ;) Then again, I've never dealt with a BMW dealer... they could be worse than Ford dealers for all I know.