GT350R: First few hundred miles and a short track day

I'm still in the break-in period and have put on just a few hundred miles only new 2018 GT350R (I've been out of town and left the car for a couple weeks to have the front end wrapped in paint-protection film and had the whole car treated with 5 layers of Ceramic Pro).

But, a friend invited me out to the track at Sonoma Raceway to just take it easy for a couple sessions and see what the car feels like. Given the low miles, I decided I could keep it under 5000 rpm and still have a little fun feeling the car out a bit.

My impressions are very favorable... it is an extremely tight, well-balanced, purposeful car that surprises you with its agility. The front tires bite extremely well on turn-in and the existence of understeer is not noticeable at fairly high speeds in tight corners. The steering is light but direct and makes the car feel lighter and tighter than its 3700-lb weight would suggest. Brakes are excellent, although I haven't gotten too hard of them just yet as I'm learning to trust the car. At the track, I'm accustomed to my Cayman S with highly modified track suspension and also my McLaren 12C, both which are mid-engined cars. So getting in the front-engine Shelby GT350R, I expected a bit more body roll as well as understeer. As I mentioned above, understeer was virtually non-existent, and as for body roll, there was some, but it was a Goldilocks "juuuust right" amount. What I felt in the tight corners and s-curves at Sonoma was a small amount of side-to-side weight change, but oddly enough I found that it was perfect for the car. It communicated when the car was set and ready to bite into the corner and told me much about when to roll on more power as I exited a turn. In short, I loved it. I did two sessions of about 10 laps each, so it was a quick introduction, but I already started feeling quite confident in the car, a testament to how well it performs, how consistent its feedback is, and how the car is designed to help the driver really understand what is happening underneath the beast.  In fact, my easy-going shake-down cruise had me running lap times with 3-4 seconds of my all-out best times in the Cayman S, which is saying a lot, and I'm sure I'll drop 10 seconds off those times once I get the car broken in and can run it closer to its capabilities.

More to come, but for now, I just leave you with a few images from day-1 at the Sonoma Raceway. If you're a fan of Ford Performance, you'l be happy to see quite a good representation in the paddock building video below!

On one set of runs during another event, I tried Bridgestone RE-71s on some wheels I borrowed for the day from a friend. Pretty good tire, even when compared to teh Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2.

My First Ford: Make it a 2018 Shelby GT350R

I'm a car guy from way back, and if you've read any of my prior blog posts, you'll know I have a penchant for import cars (except for my all-American Jeep Wrangler). So this car is a bit of a departure for me, but it speaks or itself.  This week, the newest occupant of Dave's Garage is a new 2018 Shelby GT350R.

I've been taking my Porsche Cayman S to the track for years, and have had track and road time in everything from a Skip Barber Formula car to a Porsche Carrera and from a McLaren MP4-12C to vintage cars like my Datsun 2000 Roadster. When the Shelby GT350R came out, I was intrigued, as it was reported that the company had benchmarked  the car against the track-ready king-of-the-hill: the almighty Porsche GT3.  I was skeptical about the Shelby claims, I'll admit, but the positive reports kept coming in and then a friend of mine got one. This was a guy who has had lots of amazing cars like AMG, McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari, and who hits the track with a Formula Mazda open-wheel race car as well as his GT350R.  When he told me "You gotta try this car, it's fantastic!", how could I say no? I test drove his car and I was hooked.

I ordered the car in March from a dealer that could get me an allocation for a new 2018, ordered as I pleased (Many thanks to Mike Storkan and the whole team at Bill Brandt Ford !!). My intent was to have the car in its basic, stripped mode, as the Shelby engineers intended, with no A/C, no NAV, no back-up camera. I noticed that the majority of used GT350Rs out there typically had the optional "electronics package" added. So I figured my car would be unusual now (and into the future) if I avoided that option. But alas, my timing was off. It turns out that my car was slotted for production in May, 2018. A new federal law as of May 1, 2018 requires that all cars delivered in the USA now have a back-up camera. The Ford people let me know I'd be required to take the electronics package option, as that was the only way to have the back-up camera included.  Oh well, I thought, at least I won't get so dang overheated driving the car to the track on summer days (have you ever been to Thunderhill Raceway on a 100 degree July day??). I'll admit, I do like the back-up camera.

My initial reaction to the car is that it is very solid, and feels smaller than it looks.  There are a number of really nice track-focused functions and apps on the car, and a few selectable gauges that I didn't expect but really appreciate, like cylinder-head temperature, transmission oil and rear-axle temperature. And the car makes those amazing noises you've heard about.  Wonderful bark from that flat-plane crank V8 as you run through the RPM range and lots of burble and pop on downshift blips and deceleration. The selectable suspension damper mode is simple and definitely makes a difference in ride feel, and the steering feel is digitally adjustable, along with other things I'll figure out as I get more time with the car.  For my first 100 miles, 

I am extremely impressed with the throttle response, suspension feedback, the turn-in feel, and the overall quality of the car. I think it may the absolute performance bargain champ available (admittedly, I have not driven the 2018 Corvette Z06, which has an MSRP of about $10,000 more than the Shelby). Also, I love the Recaro seats and was extremely pleased with the beautiful metallic paint in what Shelby/Ford calls "Orange Fury".  Well named, and I just wish it showed up as spectacular in photos as it does in the California sunshine.

Well, the car is home now, settled into the garage with the other "Skittles / M&M" colored cars. It certainly cuts an imposing figure, and once the break-in miles are done, I'll be sure to report back on how its track manners stack up to its look and initial feel.