ignition
legend returns
he supercharged Ford Shelby GT500, a brute in need of fnesse, looked clumsy chasing the less powerful, less expensive, but far more compelling Mustang Boss 302 around a road course. Now, for its sixth-generation Mustang, Ford has canned both the GT500 and Boss 302 in favor of a happy medium, the all-new 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustang. On paper at least, the GT350 skews more toward the track-focused Boss 302. Under the GT350’s hood, there’s a fat-plane V-8 (see sidebar), unique to this car. The high-revving, 5.2-liter, naturally aspirated engine will produce more than 500 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. That power will be sent through a six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip rear diferential. A seriously revamped chassis and suspension have the GT350 sitting 2 inches lower than the standard Mustang GT. The car also has a wider front track, staggered 19-inch aluminum wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, 15.5-inch cross-drilled front brake rotors with Brembo six-piston calipers, 15-inch rear brake rotors with four-piston calipers, upgraded bushings, higher spring rates, and magnetorheological dampers (a frst for the Mustang). Performance options will include a front-strut tower brace and cooling systems for the diferential, engine oil, and transmission. Extensive exterior revisions express the Shelby GT350’s intense performance mission. Bodywork from the windshield forward is unique to the GT350, with a lowered hood, an angry front fascia with a bigger front splitter, wider aluminum front fenders, and a carbon-fber-composite grille opening embossed with Shelby’s signature cobra emblem. The interior is equally purposeful, with Recaro sport seats, a fat-bottom steering wheel, and fewer refective materials compared with the basic Mustang (because you don’t want sunlight blinding you when you’re in a hairpin turn). The prospect of a throw down between the GT350 and a Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 already has our palms sweating, but we’ll have to wait until the car goes on sale—closer to summer—to get behind the wheel and rev the V-8 past 8,000 rpm. Yes, 8,000 rpm. —Christopher Nelson
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Automobile | February 2015
Ford’s Fantastic Flat-Plane Mustang The Shelby GT350 Mustang will be the most powerful naturally aspirated ponycar Ford has ever built
“ This is an American interpretation of a fat-plane crankshaft V-8, and the 5.2-liter produces a distinctive, throaty howl from its four exhaust tips.” Jamal Hameedi, Ford Global Performance Vehicles chief engineer