Just finished reading some of the June 07 issue of Car & Driver. The eds were certainly not holding their words about the Mustang Shelby GT.
Here are some excerpts:
"The live axle, is responsible for the worst handling of the group."
"the fronst suspension is lousy enough that one tester compared the whole package to a 20 year old pick up"
"the vibrations were severe enough that the hood clips worked themselves loose"
"overboosted, numb steering"
"The brakes didn't inspire confidence"
"the Hurst shifter is so high effort that it's difficult to make two to three and four to five upshifts"
"The speedometer was criticized for a crowded, small font"
"The cheap feeling interior, a questionable value on a standard Mustang, is not improved as part of the price of the Shelby upgrade."
Ouch!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, April 28, 2007 4:33 PM
05 M6 YJ GTO 1 of 447 12.767@109.93
heh...
C&D doesn't like anything much that comes out of the USA... they run a Corvette, the last year supra and an M3 together... Vette stomps or wins almost every category qualitative and quantitative, and they say there's no question that the M3 dominated the test. At that point, I lost all confidence in objective automotive "journalism."
The Shelby Mustang is a throwback vehicle in many respects. It's not pampered, padded, sterilized and civilized. C&D just doessn't get it. The Shelby Mustang is
SUPPOSED to be rough around the edges. It is
SUPPOSED to be brutal. It's not designed to drive Miss Daisy Down to the Piggly Wiggly every Sunday.
Currently #4 in Ecotec Forced Induction horsepower ratings. 505.8 WHP 414WTQ!!!
Currently 3rd quickest Ecotec on the .org - 10.949 @ 131.50 MPH!!!
For the price of it, why should it be rough around the edges and have this crappy or review's??
Well a Mustang Shelby GT is nothing more than a Mustang GT with a GT/CS front & rear fascia, FRPP Cold Air Intake, and FRPP handling pack. Performance wise, there wasn't anything done on the Shelby GTs that one couldn't do on a standard GT for a lesser price. It's just the "prestige" of owning a Shelby and hoping that the particular car would be worth something as a collectible in the future. In my opinion not worth the MSRP $35,000 that I heard it's going for (and it wouldn't surprise me if there's mark-up to the lower to mid $40,000 area.
I agree the new Shelby GT is somewhat of throwback to the old muscle cars from past generation but I think for a car that probably has a MSRP $10,000 higher than the price of a standard Mustang GT, I think these reviewers were expecting something go along with the price hike. More refinement, more improvement...especially for a model slated slightly above a standard Mustang GT. It would be like paying $10,000 more to own a Cavalier LS Sport over a Cavalier LS.
So in short it doesn't surprise me that Car & Driver has harsh words for the Shelby GT. I'm pretty sure they expected more instead of heavy reliance (in my opinion) on the Shelby name plate for it sell.
