2020 GT350R First Drive Review

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Few things in this world are better than the 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank V8 in the 2020 Ford Mustang GT350R. Yeah, that's right, literally. If you doubt it, you just haven't experienced revving it to the 8,250-rpm redline shifted through a six-speed manual. The noise, the response, the power … did we mention the noise? It's shockingly been around for nearly five years now, yet the buzz has yet to wear off. It probably never will. Of course, that V8 glory is found in the regular GT350 as well. The R variant stands taller with its lighter weight and greatly improved track capability and durability. Ford adds separate coolers for the engine oil, transmission fluid and differential fluid. The suspension is tuned to be slightly stiffer with heavy-duty springs. And then there are the wheels. All GT350Rs come with painted carbon fiber wheels as standard, a performance addition typically saved for supercars — don’t curb them. They save 60 pounds over the normal GT350 wheels and are not offered on the non-R. More weight savings come from the deletion of the backseat, and if you so desire, the A/C and radio as well. We recommend keeping those last two. Aero changes arrive in the form of an R-specific front splitter and large carbon fiber rear wing. Finally, Ford shod those carbon fiber wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (now also available on the regular GT350). They don’t like the rain, or anything really, besides a nice, warm stretch of tarmac.
For 2020, Ford picked at the GT350R with a fine-toothed comb, plucking parts off the not-for-sale-yet GT500 to make the lower numbered GT just a hair more enticing. Changes are as follows: The high-trail steering knuckle coming to the GT500 was used to aid tramlining (when a vehicle excessively follows the contours of the road), and the front suspension has been massaged to improve handling. Ford swapped the drilled rotors for solid ones — engineers say they get better pad life out of the solid rotors, and we noticed zero fade out on track. The electric steering, stability control and ABS have all been re-tuned. Then, Ford added a few convenience items like blind-spot warning and a B&O audio system to the Technology package to make the car slightly more livable on the street.
Let’s set aside the convenience features for now, because the GT350R would be tested this day at a racetrack. M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Mich., to be specific, and just like a kid in a McDonald’s play structure, leaving was the hardest part. It's a track that rewards an excellent handling car more so than one with a ton of horsepower. One might think a Mustang would fall into the latter category, but that’s where the GT350R works its magic. No factory Mustang built by Ford is as capable on a road course as this Shelby, and the refreshed version of it impresses all the more.

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/10/15/2020-ford-mustang-shelby-gt350-first-track-drive-review/

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A Street Machine With the Soul of a Race Car

For an instant, it was like déjà vu. Sitting behind the wheel of a Shelby GT350 awaiting laps around the compact M1 Concourse track, it felt like a few months ago. However, this was not the much-improved Shelby GT350. This car is the refreshed 2020 Shelby GT350R. The only real question was whether or not the R-model would retain a significant advantage over its base version?
Spoiler alert, the answer is undoubtedly, “Yes!” Just as there was a significant gap between the two versions when they debuted back in 2015, there is still a substantial separation between both cars.
Even at idle its resonator-free exhaust’s more aggressive personality is apparent. With the go-ahead to enter the track, acceleration brings the car alive. Running it through the gears with the more precise Tremec 3150 six-speed manual, the percussive rasp of the pipes, was something engineers fought to retain, as it is exemplary of the one of this car’s primary engineering targets.

“We forced the issue on fun-to-drive is the most important thing. On top of that, we came up with ‘soul.’ This car has to be true to that…” Jeff Grauer, Ford Performance Vehicle Integration Engineer, explained. “We said this car has to be one with the driver and it has to reward you as much as you reward the car. It has to give you that feedback that is just like, it wants to play, and it wants to go.”




Of course the sharp growl of the unfettered Active Valve Performance Exhaust is just the first clue this car is serious. Pressing the loud pedal to the floor not only turned up the volume on that symphony of horsepower, but the sinewy muscle of the 5.2L Voodoo engine evokes its superiority over its Coyote cousin with a muscular mid-range and power that keeps pulling until the factory shift light flashes.
This car is fast, but that is only part of the story. Where the base GT350 still has a bit of body roll and squat in the corners, the R-model shows off its track-tuned prowess. First the brakes are simply impressive. In our brief track time, we didn’t build up to speeds that challenged their prowess. Suffice it to say they are up to the task, thanks in part to new solid rotors enabled by improved technology.
“There’s no downside to getting rid of the drilled holes,” Grauer explained. “There’s a lot of upside as pads last longer, rotors lasts longer, and everything is more consistent.”
Entering the corner, the grip is what really impressed. The GT350R remains flat, the tires dig in, and you can apply the power sooner than you could in the base version. The car simply begs to be driven, and it seemed caged on the fun-size M1 course. This car is made for a high-speed track, and the prospect of really letting it eat on such a course was tantalizing.


Perhaps even more impressive is that these cars are still around and pushing the envelope. While it was certainly historical that Ford opted to keep the GT350 line in production alongside the forthcoming Shelby GT500 shows that performance is still selling, including performance variants with manual transmissions.
“…At least 2,500 dealers who have both of them. So the demand is still there and the demand that the GT500 doesn’t take away from those ones who want that third pedal,” Mustang Marketing Manager Jim Owens said. “…If you told me that we’d still be here, I would’ve been very surprised. We don’t normally do derivatives that long, but the car itself has demonstrated it to the consumers that the drive is still there.”
The desire is there from customers, as Owens says GT350s doesn’t sit on dealer lots long, but having this elite, naturally aspirated machine still developing after five years has other benefits that fulfilling a market demand. Keeping the car alive also allowed engineers to do what they do best; keep tweaking the components to eke out even greater performance.
“We as engineers, we’ve got something in our pocket. We always want to get in, but we usually have to wait for the next program,” Grauer explained. “It’s like, but we know this now. We’re always pushing to get to get stuff in and there are only so many opportunities to get them in.”
Another benefit of the parallel production of naturally aspirated and boosted Shelby variants is that the entire lineage can benefit from development in engineering and testing.
“We even like to say the GT500 is really what enabled this car with some of the brake controls technologies that started even with the GT and kind of bringing that in some of the approaches that we’ve taken on these other products. I think it’s been a great success in having a 350 and 500 together…” Derek Bier, Ford Performance Vehicle Integration Manager, explained.
Among the other shared improvements are high-trail steering knuckles in the front suspension, a new steering rack, and recalibrated electric power steering controls. The front geometry in particular not only helps the car run faster on the track, but it elicits better steering control on the street to tame the tendency of the previous R–model.
“Likewise, one of the things that everybody talked about in this car is the fact that it’s got really wide sticky tires and on the road it would wander,” Grauer said.” We learned on the 500 how to improve that. We brought that technology into this car and it helps on the track and it really helps in the street.”
The results speak for themselves. On a quick drive on Woodward Avenue, it was impressive just how tame and easy to drive this car truly was. Mere moments before it had been ripping up the track like a race car, and then it was mixing up with commuters without a hitch.
Other parts carried over from the GT500 are optional on the base GT350 and standard on the R — the adjustable upper strut mounts. These units allow owners to easily dial in more camber for the race track and restore settings for manageable tire wear on the street.
“…By getting my getting the top mounts, we were able to get more camber overall, so we were able to add more in the rear. Again, that’s going to give you better track performance,” Grauer explained. “It was something that you were able to get camber adjustments before, but you had to do it at the strut to knuckle rather than at the top of the strut. We can get more out of the top of the strut then we could the other way. Now the rear, we can dial in more, which we couldn’t do because we could only get so much out of the front.”
Along with the technology carried over from the GT500, the GT350R received its own unique calibration for the braking system to maximize the capabilities of the improved braking courtesy of the solid brake rotors.
“Five years into a program, technology keeps advancing, right? So now we’re able to have a better brake control module that is faster. It is smarter and does things better. This car will brake deeper, it’ll brake quicker, it’ll turn in better, and it’s smarter than the old ones,” Grauer said.
That shows you we are truly living in great times. There is essentially a performance Mustang variant for every possible taste. From an entry-level EcoBoost High Performance package to the supercar-challenging Shelby GT500 there is something for everyone, including four manual-trans models — Bullitt, PPL2, GT350, and GT350R, which is the unchallenged king of manual-trans Mustangs.
“You’ve got all these different models, but this is like that brownie end piece. That’s a piece that you’re always want to have. I think the 350R stands by itself. In price it may come up close to that of the GT500 base car. That’s a different car,” Bier added. “As we launched the other Mustangs and had more and more performance with them and didn’t come up onto a 350 and it is a unique product. It’s got different characteristics. It’s like the difference between a brownie and an apple pie. They’re different, but they’re both delicious.”
Pulling into the exit road on the M1 track definitely left a longing for another slice of that 8,200-rpm, naturally aspirated sugar high. If carving corners and shifting gears is your thing, treat your soul to another helping with the 2020 Shelby GT350R.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/firs...ift-stallions/

[Mustang4]

Nice to see it still gets a lot of well deserved praise.

[Hotford]

Love that Colour !

[Ghost Rider]

OMG...it's such a fun car to drive!!!!!!!

It's funny reading this...and I've read other articles similar...I don't know if it's a late MY thing or if they are just repeating a bunch of stuff from 2019...but my 'R' has a lot of the stuff mentioned above, such as the newly calibrated brakes with the solid rotors, adjustable strut mounts, B&O stereo system with subwoofer in trunk, re-calibrated suspension, re-calibrated stability control and ABS, blind spot monitoring (which I thought would be annoying but it's actually not!) I don't believe I have the knew steering knuckle though... but most of the stuff they mentioned (dunno)

but what I do know is...it's Awesome!! And I will confirm with the article, the Sport Cup 2's do not like the rain!! Got caught out having dinner at a restaurant on the other side of town...was beautiful out when I left, 2 hours later, there was a monsoon LOL, I put the car into 'Slippery' mode and drove as careful as I could.

oh yeah, and this:

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Your car is absolutely beautiful Dave. It makes me regret not picking one up.

[fast Ed]

Not too late to change that Laurence ...

https://www.parkwayford.ca/vehicles/...sale_class=new

https://www.parkwayford.ca/vehicles/...ale_class=used

[newbiestangowner]

Your car is absolutely beautiful Dave. It makes me regret not picking one up.

At least that’s a “regret” that can be fixed , it’s the ones that can’t which haunt you lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ghost Rider]

Your car is absolutely beautiful Dave. It makes me regret not picking one up.

Thanks!

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And now I can't unsee that blue one.

Not too late to change that Laurence ...

https://www.parkwayford.ca/vehicles/...sale_class=new

https://www.parkwayford.ca/vehicles/...ale_class=used