No offence intended Gibbo, but you are extremely optimistic about the whole ownership experience. Especially with regards to costs, servicing and performance. I keep seeing this car being related to 458's....
I'm not knocking the car, I nearly ordered one myself when they announced it, but I don't think it's going to be some kind of giant killer, just a very fast Ford that looks good and handles well. It's bang for buck but it's not undervalued in my opinion.
I fail to see how one is being optimistic?
Servicing is yearly and an oil change, any dealer trying to charge more than £200 for 1hr work will be told where to go, I'll take it to a Specialist for the stamp in the book. Anything fails on the car it has a warranty which will be repaired at no cost, its a new car. I cannot see fuel consumption being any higher than I am used to either and if it is no big deal, I want a big V8 so am happy to have a Shell tanker following me around.
The performance is what it is, a good all rounder which can be made into something a lot more special, the beauty of the car being in the US market now for a couple of years it is easy to so what works, what does not and the choices are limitless and the Coyote engine has being in Mustangs now for nearly 10 years so power modifications are vast. I remember the doubter on my last Mustang, a car which out the factory was quite a poor handling affair, but back then even when my driving ability and car knowledge was more limited I was still able to transform it to the point passengers were surprised and impressed with its handling and grip abilities. Ford also achieved the same with BOSS 302. Ford love to leave stock cars very rubberised as to speak so later down the line they can easily release improved varients such as 350/350R and also give their customers plenty of modding opportunity and keep the SVT/FRPP departments booming in business along with the tuners they work with such as Roush, Steeda and Saleen.
The 350R is the giant killer, the countless reviews, lap times seem to be evident of that whilst at the same time at heart its an S550 so also works superb as a daily driver with typical S550 running cost. The 350/350R really is an incredible achievement for Ford, a car that can lap tracks and keep with Fezza's, GT3's and GTR's whilst being a better mannered road car with vastly lower running cost and also cost a fraction in the first place. Really no one can knock Ford for their achievement here, its a huge shock because it has really come from nowhere and shows the S550 platform to be very capable.
The un-educated need to realise Ford did not re-design the whole S550 for the 350 or 350R, they like to tell you how they changed so much on the car but the reality is they did not do any weight reduction by changing body panels, chassis etc, infact the 350 weighs more than a GT. This is why the 350R had rear seats deleted and CF wheels fitted to try and claw back some of the weight increase. People need to realise apart from the engine the 350/350R are GT's with uprated parts. Even though the engine is still based on the Coyote Ford changed a lot, flat plane crank being the big one and you will never replicate that unique and awesome sound in a regular GT. But the suspension, brakes can all be matched. The engine their is two options, BOSS/Cobra intake manifold, 350 intake kit, cams, oil pump upgrade and then the regular Coyote is safe at 8000rpm and will produce 500 horses, some are now going this route already, but the same money gets you a supercharger kit. So depends which way you want to go, balance and handling by not adding weight with a high-revving V8 with around 500 horsepower. Or chuck a blower on the engine adding weight to the front of the car but have 700-900 horsepower. I will go the latter.
I don't want a 350R as there are certain things I do not like about it, I hate the CF wheels, not to sure about the rear seat delete and dislike the fact it has no toys in it. I would however love a regular 350 with tech package, but that will not come either or if it does come won't be until 2017/18 when the cars are facelifted. I really hope it does come and Ford price it at 50-55k GBP because they then have a car which magazines/press will compare against BMW, Mercedes, Audi sports/GT coupes simply because the price is comparable even if still lower.
But the differences between a GT and 350 are not so much or so expensive to achieve when focusing on handling.
I know what I want to achieve and for me I want it too look great with a hint of aggression whilst being a good tight handling car and eventually with a huge amount of power.
I've now ordered and paid for everything due to savings at thanks giving but I have already got the following for the car:
Interior / Exterior styling
1. ECOBoost rear decklid (silver running pony): £100
2. Collection of shift knobs, black, white, silver, billet etc: £100
3. GT350 steering wheel: £200
4. Mustang Black lower side decals: £30
5. Black Pony for front grill: £30
6. Light tint kit (might not use): £40
7. Steeda front chin splitter (might not use): £175
8. Hood gas lift struts: £60
9. Blue Ford Racing coil covers: £50
10. STO & SHOW Licence plate bracket: £50
11. LED Interior bulbs: £20
12. Labour: £0 fit it all myself except maybe decals.
13. Would love a GT350R style rear wing: £300-£8000....(NOT DECIDED)
£855.00
Handling & Safety Upgrades
1. Ford FRPP Track Handling Kit containing dampers, springs, anti-roll bars, jounce bump stop kit, uprated bushes (Lowers 1" and improves handling): £750
2. BMR Cradle Lockout Kit, stops excessive cradle/wheel hop movement: £100
3. BMR Vertical Links, reduced wheel hop: £100
4. Steeda Strut Tower brace, chassis tightening front: £125
5. Steeda G-Trac brace, chassis tightening front: £100
6. Steeda adjustable differential support/brace system, stops excess differencial movement: £60
7. Steeda jacking rails, makes jacking car safer: £90
8. Steeda transmission bushing mount insert, stops binding: £20
9. Steeda transmission shifter base bushing support: £50
10. 25mm/23mm wheel spacers: £200
11. Labour: £300 allignment and bushing install, rest fit myself!
TOTAL: £1895
Power & Noise adders
1. Corsa Sport 3" catback exhaust system: £775
2. CAI/Panel Filter with remap +50 horsepower: £300 (NOT DOING for a year)
3. Whipple 2.9l Supercharger Kit with throttle body and cooling upgrade for 750-800ish horsepower: £6500 (Will do 12-18 month into ownership)
4. Labour: £0 fit myself!
TOTAL: £775 (£7000ish if do tune/SC)
Shipping & Taxes
1. Around £1250!
TOTAL: £1250
Some think it is crazy to be buying stuff before even having the car but I know how I want it to look, I know what I want to achieve. I have enough car knowledge and driving knowledge to know what I want from the car and how to achieve it. Then a lot of research has being done to make sure I get the correct parts.
So far £3500 spent on parts and around £1000 in shipping and taxes. But the car will be how I want it. In short 40k for brand new Mustang sounding, looking and handling exactly how I want it to be.
In short I have actually managed to stay within my 40k budget for the car and achieving what I want, helped greatly by me getting the car pre price increase and saving a lot of money in Black Friday promotions and getting better shipping rates to the UK.
I will no doubt drop another 10k on the car in a year or so time, supercharger, wheel and tyres at which point power/drivetrain warranty kissed goodbye.
I really have done my research and have worked on enough cars and done enough advanced driving to know what I would like to achieve and how I want it to look/sound.
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