The New 2018?? GT500

The word on the street is that the 2017 or 2018 or whatever year GT500 is going to rival the Dodge Challenger Hellcat's horsepower numbers. (Link Here) So that means 700+ horsepower.

Let me start by being totally honest.  Since I own a 2014 GT500 which was the last year for the GT500, I really don't want there to ever be a new one.  Nor do I wish any future Fords to exceed the 662 factory horsepower numbers my car makes.  It just bugs the hell out of me when you buy something special and then there is a new something special the next year.  If you don't believe me just ask the 2012 GT500 owners.  They bought a brand new monster just to have it quickly be overshadowed by an even bigger monster in 2013.  It infuriates me.

So that all being said I will say I understand why Ford is making it...sort of.  When Dodge finally decided to join the big boys and make a road beast they were the "talk of the town."  Everyone was going on and on about the Hellcats.  Hellcat was all you heard in auto media and even I got caught up in it. I was calling Dodge dealers trying to get one before I realized I didn't need it.  So or course Ford wants to bring back its brute GT500 to get some of that media hype and show they can make another blunt instrument to be feared.  I get it....

However as an owner of a GT500 I can honestly say the last thing it needs is more horsepower.  It needs better brakes, better tires, better suspension, better horsepower it doesn't need.  But people feel the new platform will bring these things that the old GT500 lacked.  Everyone wants to see what the new Mustang chassis with the limited slip diff will do with 700+ horsepower.  The dream would be a car that handles like a GT350 but with the boosted grunt of the GT500.  The rumors are that it will use the same engine block as the GT350 Voodoo but with boost, so there shouldn't be a huge weight gain.  This then begs the question, "Why not just boost a GT350?"  In other words keep it a GT350 but boost it.  I don't know.  Previous GT500s used different engine than the GTs but I guess because it's the "biggest" it gets the GT500 name, but then it's using the same engine only boosted....  Blah, blah, blah.

I personally don't see the need for a new GT500.  Talking from experience there are few times you can actually have fun with all that power.  In a big city like Toronto, traffic is constantly in the way.  But you say, "The power is for the track stupid, not the street." Okay smart guy then why does someone buy a GT350R? "Well because it's an awesome track car."  Then why would you buy a GT500?  You see, it's kind of an endless question and the answer is a new GT500 is not really needed other than because they want to do it.  Perhaps you can argue it's for the drag strip but in reality they exist to make cars and coffee crash videos.

So no I don't want to see a new GT500.  I'm sure it's just because I don't want another factory GT500 on the road boasting more horsepower.  My car was kind of legendary for being the last big horsepower car from Shelby before Carroll Shelby passed away and the last of the GT500s.  I would love to keep it that way.  Of course what will happen will happen and eventually I'm going to have to go back to my old problem of do I add more power to my car or get rid of it.  With electric cars moving into the spotlight of what's considered fast perhaps all these petrol brutes will soon be the joke at a stoplight.

Dave Wood Pre-owned Centre In Newmarket

There is a used car dealership near me that certainly has an interesting stock of cars.  When I first moved to the area it seemed like any normal used car dealer but recently they appear to have started focusing on performance and specialty vehicles.  I walked past there today and took a few shots.







Just out in the lot today there was a 2010 and 2012 GT500 Shelby Cobras.  A 2015 Mustang GT, a Camaro convertible, a Charger R/T, and an old 1961 GMC truck with a 454 big block in it.

Then inside the showroom there was a Challenger Hellcat, a GT350, and a Camaro with it says a Limited edition Panther package that produces 600 hp from it's supercharger.  Never seen on of those before.  Unfortunately the dealership was closed for a civic holiday do I had to take shots through the showroom window.

 

I'm not sure why they are focusing on such a performance driven stock in a town like Newmarket but it's certainly fun to see these cars come and go.  I certainly didn't know about a Camaro Panther package before this.

As a side note I've heard this dealership isn't very good.  However my only experience with them was when my girlfriend's car broke down and she coasted into their lot a couple years ago.  She is an attractive blonde and was on the last straw with her troublesome car.  If there was ever a time to sell a person a car that was the time.  However the Dave Wood salesmen just stood in the showroom looking at her through the window.  She called CAA and they towed it away. They never came out or even attempted to approach her.

Some Interesting Stats

Everyone is going nuts about the new GT350 and rightly so it's an amazing vehicle.  But is it as amazing as the Shelby from the last generation?  Here are some stats from Car & Driver Magazine.  The GT500 stats in red.

Car & Driver Magazine Issue: Aug. 2012/ Feb. 2016
Vehicle Tested: 2013 GT500/ 2016 GT350
Price as Tested: 63,080/ 56,970
HP: 662hp/ 526hp
Torque: 631 lbs/ 429 lbs
0-60: 3.5 sec/ 4.3 sec
0-100: 7.9 sec/ 8.9 sec
1/4 mi: 11.8 sec/ 12.5 sec
Top Speed: 189 mph/ 175 mph
Braking 70-0: 155 ft./ 171 ft.
300 ft skidpad: 1.0g/ 1.0g
Weight: 3882 lbs/ 3790 lbs
EPA City/Hwy: 15/24 mpg/ 14/21 mpg

Everyone says 2018 is the year of the GT500 but for now perhaps the old king shouldn't be counted out just yet.

Black is the New Orange - Traded-in My 2007 Mustang GT

So it has finally happened.  After years of moaning and complaining that I wanted something else in my garage I finally made my choice.  I purchased a 2014 Mustang GT500 Shelby Cobra.

A couple weeks ago I narrowed down the choices between the 2014 GT500 and a 2016 GT350.  The GT500 was in Nova Scotia and the GT350 was being shipped from Ford to a dealer here locally.  Both were black which isn't a color I get excited about but both are damn hard to find so it's hard to be picky about the color.

2016 GT350

The GT350 is of course an awesome car and has all the hype around it this year.  Everyone wants one and I was lucky to have found one.  But a few things bothered me about it.  First the car had been ordered by a guy who ended up getting divorced and canceled his order.  So the car coming to the dealership wasn't something I would pick.  Like I said it was black, no stripes, and had the technology package rather than the track package.  Why someone would rather have the nav and fancy stereo than the extra cooling for racing I have no idea.  They had no others so I couldn't come for a test drive.  So I told them it wasn't really exciting me.  Then out of the blue they said a guy that had ordered an orange GT350 was thinking he'd rather have black so there was a chance he would want to switch.  Well I was all over that idea.  If he wanted the black one I would happily take the orange one.  But in the end he decided to stick with orange.  I gave the dealer another chance saying, "If the black one just had the GT350 stripes I'd want it."  But they either didn't take the hint or weren't interested in adding them because he said, "Well you can do that yourself later."  I looked up the cost of adding a stripe to the car and it was around $900.  So awesome car but no sale.  I called other dealerships, the best I could find was one dealer willing to take a deposit to order a 2017 GT350 when available.

2014 GT500

The GT500 was also black but does have matte black stripes which looks pretty mean.  It's also fast as hell with that 662 hp 5.8L.  This particular car only had 4000 miles (6000 km) so is basically new.  It has the track package but not the performance package.  Personally I'd rather have the extra cooling than the adjustable dampeners so I was fine with that. Carson Exports was willing to take my '07 as trade-in which would bring the car's price down to $63,000, not bad for a car selling for $68-69k here in Canada.  The biggest bummer was that the car was clear in Nova Scotia.  So I wasn't going to take it for a test drive or anything.  I had driven one locally last fall and really like it so I had an idea of how the car drove.  What really made my decision to get the GT500 was Carson Exports.  Such a great bunch of guys!  Really easy to talk to and very down to earth.  They even offered to ship the car and pick up my trade for free!  To be honest I was pretty wishy-washy at first on whether to get it or not and they were super patient with me.  No pressure.

In the end I had to just be realistic about it.  Both these cars are super expensive for my modest income.  Cars are my passion so I'm willing to have this expense on my budget.  But due to the extreme expense this is likely to be my last "fun car" purchase ever so I wanted it to be a good one.  The GT350 is a track car, it's slower 0-60 and slower 1/4 mile than the GT500.  The GT500 is a street brute and the GT350 is a driver's car.  But the question I had to honestly answer was would I really use the track capabilities of the GT350 or would I most likely just drive to work on sunny days and cruise around on the weekends?  The real answer was that the GT350 would be wasted on me.  Currently I haven't gone to a track day since I got to Canada and the few times I might go the GT500 would be loads of fun.  So I went with the GT500.

And another thing I had to admit is that if I owned a GT350 there would always be a little voice in the back of my mind reminding me that somewhere out there is a GT350R that is a lot better. ;)

So my GT500 should arrive in a few weeks.  It's going straight into storage until all this Canadian snow and salt is off the roads and gone.  Here are a few more dealer shots.

2015: My Damn Disappointing Year in Auto Enthusiasm

The 2015 “car season” in Canada is just about over.  Unless there are a few miracle warm October days in the works I’d say the my summer car is staying in the garage.  Overall this has been a pretty fucked up year for my car enthusiasm on so many levels.  From car accidents, car damage and dissatisfaction or maybe we could call it  restlessness to keep what is currently in my stable.

It all started with the damn Dodge Hellcat.  I really wanted this car and was so high on getting one.  The Challenger is beautiful but let’s face it, the car is a heavy pig.  However with 707 hp it really doesn’t matter.  I ran into some problems with getting one however.  One was that I’m a “nowhere man."  I am not a resident of Canada and I don’t live in the States so as far as banks are concerned it’s a reject on either side of the border.  You need to reside in the place you get a loan from. The other is that the cars were limited production and you just couldn’t find a dealer that could order one.  And the final nail in the Hellcat coffin was that my girlfriend was against it.  She is not a car enthusiast and does not understand my horsepower addictions.  Which is the same issue most men encounter I assume.

If you look back on my past posts or you actually read this blog then you know I was also after a damn Pantera.  I found that to my girlfriend it makes more sense to “invest” in a car that will appreciate in price rather than depreciate.  Also to me it made sense to buy a car that I could continue to improve upon and keep forever rather than chasing after the newest hot car that hits the market.  I picked the Pantera because it is unique, isn’t coming out with any new cooler models, and it can be made to be super-fast.  When I started looking I found that the cars for sale seem to be in one of two categories which are restored, in great shape and very expensive or if you find an affordable one it is a complete and total piece of crap basket case.  Then there was also the question whether or not I could actually fit my 6’2” tall self in the car.  So the Pantera was out.  The good ones all seemed too good for my budget.

In May while driving my Hummer back from the States some damn trucker lost a rubber wheel block off his trailer.  It bounced up and smashed my windshield.  Even though the driver stopped and gave me his insurance info he later denied everything and his insurance (Lancer Insurance) refused to pay for any damages.  My insurance agreed to pursue the case however they said it could raise my rates and we’d have to pay our $500 deductible.  A quote to repair all the damage was over $2000 but we found a place that would replace just the windshield for $300 so we went with that and left the insurance out of the picture.

Of course the biggest event of the summer was getting into an accident with my damn Mustang which took it out of commission for months.  The final verdict was that the other guy was to blame so I didn’t have to pay any of the $8000+ bill.  Most of the damage was to the suspension as he struck the front passenger wheel and bent it. It of course also then dragged the front of his car down the side all the way to the bumper.  So a lot of panels and paint was needed to repair it.  I really thought the car would be called a loss by insurance because it’s only worth about $9000 but no, they fixed it.  When I got it back it tracked fine down the road and you really can’t tell anything happened at all.  They did a great job. But it really deflated my love for the car which wasn’t very high to begin with.  That 4.6L is just a crap engine compared to what is out there currently and 300hp is a joke.  I spoke to a local Mustang performance shop about my car.  Would it be worth adding power adds to or would it just blow up?  They suggested coming in and getting the cylinders tested to see if it could handle more power.  But even if it could the 4.6 is not recommended to be pushed over 450hp which is still a low number.  Imagine dumping a huge pile of money into an engine with tunes, supercharger, etc. and just getting a horsepower number barely above a stock current generation Mustang GT 5.0.  What a huge waste of money.

I saw the new 2016 Mustang GT350 as a beacon of possibilities.  It could solve so many issues.  I could get rid of my current car, it has 520+hp, and it’s going to be a classic so it’s in theory a car that would increase in value and be something I could keep for a long time.  However I am faced with the same issues I faced with the Hellcat which was getting a loan and finding a dealer.  However things seemed to be coming together though.  I found a SVT dealer about 45 minutes from me that has a few tickets left to order a Mustang GT350.  It wasn’t the GT350R but I think I could live with that.  Then suddenly I got my Canadian residency approved so I could get a loan.  Everything was looking good!  But then my girlfriend put the brakes on it all.  She does not understand why I need a new Mustang when mine runs fine.  I say, “Because I want a better track car.” She does not understand why I would want to go to the track and risk crashing my car and getting hurt.  Unfortunately saying, “Because it’s fun and exciting" is not a valid reason in her eyes.  So now I see I have a serious problem here for any automotive joy in my future.

And now just to rub it all in my face Ford is coming out with a Focus RS that has more horsepower than my Mustang GT. *sigh*

For me the clock is ticking.  My Mustang is worth at best $8000 trade in, it's worth less than my Hummer, and is worth even less every year I wait.  The clock is ticking on availability of the cars I want, they aren't just sitting out there waiting for me to be ready.  I found a dealer with GT350 orders available and all I can do is watch.  The clock is also ticking on me.  I'm not spring chicken at 46 and I've already been dead once.  How many years of fast driving do I really have left?

I’m overwhelmed with frustration over this entire year.  So I’m putting the damn Mustang away for the damn Canadian winter and going to try and forget the whole damn thing.  Dammit.

Ford Releases the GT350 Configurators

As I've said in the past I'm not sold on the look of the new Mustang.  However there is something about the GT350 that works despite the design.  It looks more aggressive than the base GT and in fact is.  So if you want to go tweak your dreams Ford added the GT350 the the Mustang config tool.  I've added my favorite below.  What is yours?

Go Make Yours

Car Obsession Reaching Critical Levels

My car obsession has started to reach a critical point again.  Back in 2005 it happened.  I had been without a performance car for years and following my near death health emergency I decided I needed a fun car now.  So I bought the newly restyled 2005 Mustang GT, then a couple years later I upgraded to a higher trim level 2007.  Since then my obsession has been relatively dormant.  I did some minor modifications to my Mustang but mostly have just been sitting back, enjoying it, doing a little autocross, and racking up the miles.  Newer Mustangs were relatively the same as mine and even with the addition of the 5.0 I felt slapping a supercharger on mine someday would keep me up to speed.

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

Then everything went to hell or to Hellcat I should say.  That damn Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat seemed to rekindled the auto world and my obsession.  It has 707 horsepower for Christ sake and under $60,000!  Suddenly it felt like general horsepower ratings in cars took a huge jump.  My 300 hp Mustang is now getting eclipsed by Camaros, next generation Mustangs, and even new model Honda Civics.  I am definitely feeling the crunch on the street too.  Casual stoplight challenges are getting tough and recently a Subaru Impreza STI not only beat me but toyed with me.  So embarrassing.  My obsession is starting to change into a panic of confusion over what to do.  What am I going to do to literally keep ahead of the competition??

At first I went with the obvious “knee jerk” reaction which was, “I’m going to buy a Hellcat.”  I called a dealer, I lined up spot for when they got the okay to order one and was ready to take the plunge. Then my girlfriend kind of slapped some sense into me and made me answer some real questions.  Could I really afford it?  Yes but I'd be back to a tight budget which kind of sucks the fun out of life.  Is a Challenger Hellcat really the car I'm looking for?  No it isn’t .  I want something that has power but controllable power.  The Hellcat has monster power that is all over the place and I don't think they have a way to control it.  It's a tire smoking machine.  Taking it to any track other than a drag strip would be a joke.  Driving it would all boil down to the driver’s ability to control his foot more than the car.  So I let it go and my obsession smoldered in the afterglow of almost having new horsepower.

Ford Mustang GT350R

Then Ford announced the Mustang GT350 and the GT350R.  I wasn't terribly crazy about the new styling but here was a Mustang build for the track so it has much better handling than my Mustang and a Hellcat.  I thought very nice but judging from the pricing direction Chevy took with the Camaro Z/28 the track focused GT350 should sell for around $75,000 which is way out of my price range.  But then they announced the price and it was $45,000-ish??!?!?  WOW! So amazing to get a track oriented car with 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque for that price.  My obsession rose and rose and I started getting a little crazy about getting one.  I called a dealer attempting to pin down a spot to order a GT350R before they sold out.  But then I remembered the words of my girlfriend and did a reality check.  Do I really want a car payment?  Well the payment wouldn't be as bad as the Hellcat and with my paid off Mustang for trade-in and $6000 down it should be around the payment I was making on my previous Mustang.  Next question.  Is this really the car I'm looking for?  What the hell am I looking for anyway?  So I started to think long and hard about it.

What I want in a car is really to be done looking for a car.  I want something that I can own forever and feel this is it, this is my car.  I want something I can endlessly tinker with and improve but is already a strong enough contender that I'm not going to be struggling at stoplights against the newest thing out of the showroom.  Something iconic and somewhat timeless that will always be looked upon with respect even by people with something faster.  Is the new 2016 Mustang GT350 that?  Yes I think it will be one of those cars, and with 520 hp naturally aspirated it has room of much more if I wish so yeah.  Is my current Mustang GT at that level?  No, not even remotely but could it be?  Could the real answer be to modify my existing car to the level of modern counterparts?  I really don't know because of the car’s age as well as money and workspace I have to do it in.  Or I should say lack of workspace.

 

My 2007 Mustang GT

So what would be the advantages of upgrading my Mustang?  Well for one it would be cheaper.  Certainly parts cost money but you aren't strapped into a loan to get one.  At worst case you pay a little interest on a credit card as you pay it off.  Also I really love the color and look of my Mustang.  Sure I see a zillion Mustangs daily but not too many are Grabber Orange.  The new 2016 has a weird metallic Triple Yellow and a Competition Orange but they just don’t have the same pop as my Mustang's orange color.  On the down side my 2007 Mustang GT is coming up to being 10 years old and it has about 102,000+ miles on it.  Some performance modifications don’t recommend adding them after 50,000 miles because of the chance it could damage an older tired engine.  But then some people say to hell with it, just add the parts and if it pops then it pops and you go buy a new engine.  Buy a new engine?? Suddenly the “cheaper route” isn't sounding so cheap.  They don't make my 4.6 L engine in a crate engine so that would mean converting it to the new 5.0 which American Muscle says requires a lot of hidden expenses. Also while praying the engine doesn't pop I would estimate to gradually get my Mustang close to the performance level I’m looking for is probably around $20,000.  So to dump all that money into a car and then the engine blows would be a huge loss.  Not to even mention the problem of having only a tiny one stall garage to work with.  I really don't have the space for a project so I'd have to possibly rent some space somewhere which would also cost monthly.

1972 DeTomaso Pantera GT5

A last and possibly more crazy option is to buy something older, iconic, and basically finished.  Buy a project that another guy is done with.  Stop chasing the newest thing and just stay with something that is incredible no matter how fast it is going.  My most recent obsessed example of this is to buy something like a DeTomaso Pantera.  They are an utterly gorgeous borderline supercar with a completely repairable Ford engine.  It's beautiful, it's fast, it's iconic, and it won't cost millions of dollars to keep running.  Best of all it's all I could ever want. It looks like a goddam Lamborghini which is more than I could ever dream of owning.  It can go to track days, car shows, cruises, and even if it gets beat in a race it will certainly be better looking than whatever it's racing against so even if you lose you win.  Even though it looks exotic it's really just an italian Ford so prices for these are still reasonable, costing about what I would pay for a Mustang GT350.  They are starting to get noticed by collectors however and won't stay low for very long.

So basically my goal is to lose the car obsession.  Well not lose it but more to focus it on a single car and stop looking for something better.  I want to lose that panicked feeling I have right now because I feel the auto world is advancing without me.

Grabber Orange GT350

Nope.  The 2016 Mustang GT350 will not be available in Grabber Orange paint but wouldn't it be nice?  Maybe I'm bias.