My i3 lease was up and I needed another car with back seats to daily drive and take the kids around in. The i3 was a good car, but I got tired of the limited range and only owning slow cars. I wanted something that looked good, was fun to drive on the street, and could double as a backup track car in case my S2K wasn't ready to run. I also set a budget of around $60k. The M2 and GT350 both seemed to fit that bill perfectly. I had my mind set on the M2. I love BMW and although I prefer NA cars, The M2 looks fantastic, has useable power on the street, and I love the size of the car (I had a 135i before the E92 M3 and the M3 always felt huge in comparison). But I kept hearing good things about the GT350 and the high revving V8 really piqued my interest.
One day I decided to just test drive a GT350 and get it out of my system so I can buy the M2 with no regrets. So I checked inventory of a few local dealerships and the closest one happened to have 2 GT350's on their lot. So I sent them a message via their website asking if they were willing to let a GT350 go for MSRP. I told them if that wasn't possible, I wasn't going to bother and go check it out. They told me to just come on by so I figured I might as well go check it out. I told the salesman that I was a track guy who is interested in the GT350, but has never driven a Mustang nor owned an American car before. I told him this was the first American car that really interested me and it would be awesome to at least take a quick ride in it to see what it's about.
He talked it over with his manager and I guess being a track guy helps because they ended up moving a few cars so I could take one out for a spin. We took it down the road a bit to some low speed windy roads and I was immediately impressed with magneride. How can a car this big and heavy have zero body roll?
The shifter felt great. Not GT4 or S2K good, but 3rd best that I have used so far? Pedal positions were good as I was able to heel/toe instantly with no issues. The clutch feel was very awkward though. The resistance would change halfway through the stroke. Later I learned that they use 2 springs which could be swapped out for a single spring (which I did).
Once the car was warmed up I asked if I could rev it out and he said go for it. So at the next stop sign I eased onto the throttle and then got on the gas once the car was rolling. Holy Crap. I wasn't sure what was more impressive. The power that rolled in after 4k rpms or the noise that came from the exhaust. It was completely intoxicating and I quickly shifted gears only to realize I shifted about 1500 rpms too early. I did another pull to about 6500 rpms and had enough for one drive. It was enough of a taste to fall in love with the car and I knew I wasn't buying this car since it wasn't the color I wanted. I like to be respectful of cars that someone else will end up buying. So I drove the car back to the dealer peacefully and told the sales guy that I was going to go home and talk to my wife about it. I told him if he's willing to do MSRP, I'll probably come back in the evening and buy the white one.
So I'm a proud owner of a freaking Mustang. I never thought I'd be one of those in my lifetime. I think I have about 1700 miles on the car right now, have taken it on track 2x and absolutely love this thing. It definitely needs minor work for track duty though. The car understeers like crazy on entry. I need to get camber plates at the very least to get this car to turn in better. Pilot Super Sports still suck on track and the wheels that come with the GT350 are insanely heavy. I need to get a set of track wheels/tires. Everything else is fantastic on track. I'm using stock pads and fluid and there wasn't a hint of brake fade after a 30 minute session with two 115+mph to ~50mph braking zones.
With that said, I didn't buy this as a track car. My S2K is still a much better track car and running it is far cheaper. But driving this car is a blast in almost any occasion. Even when stuck in traffic, it's fun to just listen to the exhaust note bounce off of the cars around you. I'm extremely happy with my purchase and highly recommend trying to get a test drive if you have yet to drive one. Sure Chevy has 1LE variant Camaro's that are as fast or faster on and off the track for the same price or cheaper, but I guarantee they don't provide the same sense of occasion and excitement when driving them hard. The GT350 just oozes passion and excitement and feels so special when you drive it. Kind of reminds me the first time I drove an E92 M3 in 2011. I can't believe Ford made the proper successor to the E92 M3.
