2016 Shelby GT350: Top-performance Ford Mustang makes a roaring debut

Shelby Mustang models have always offered something special; and the 2016 Shelby Mustang GT350 is no exception. The Shelby GT350 will make its official bow later this week at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show

|
John Minchillo/AP/File
The 2015 Ford Mustang. The 2016 Shelby Mustang GT350 offers the highest performance of the Mustang line, with most of the creature comforts offered in other Mustang models.

The completely redesigned sixth-generation 2015 Ford Mustang just started reaching dealerships this past month. Yet Ford Motor Co. [NYSE: F] hasn’t wasted any time in maximizing the performance package of this pony car—with a completely new 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.

But if you want to put an exact number to what’s under the hood, hold your horses. Ford hasn’t yet released some of the important numbers, like acceleration times, the top speed, or even the horsepower or torque figures. Although it will say that the GT350 makes more than 500 horsepower and more than 400 pound-feet of torque.

There’s a traditional naturally aspirated V-8 under the hood, but the design of this engine is anything but traditional. Ford borrowed some engineering influence from racing, with this ‘flat-plane crankshaft’ design offering freer breathing and higher revving than normal V-8 designs.

Shelby Mustang models have always offered something special; and this GT350 is no exception. While all Mustang models go to a new independent rear suspension that positively affects ride and handling for the entire lineup, the GT350 gets Ford’s first application of MagneRide suspension technology. Using special hydraulic fluid with suspensed iron particles, the system can change the stiffness of damping by applying an electric current—modifying behavior to each wheel independently every 10 milliseconds.

With a Torsen limited-slip differential, the active-damping system, and brake and wheel upgrades, the GT350 promises performance that should fully back up what’s under the hood.

An advanced carbon fiver composite grille opening and available tower-to-tower brace help keep the body stiffer during extreme performance driving, while the hoodline has been lowered and resculpted, with new aerodynamic elements to help reduce drag and help provide additional cooling. A Track Pack will add an engine oil cooler and transmission cooler.

Inside, the Shelby GT350 is clearly a Mustang, but special Recaro sport seats are perhaps the most noticeable upgrade—as well as a revamped gauge cluster. And inside, the chrome and bright finishes have been reduced or eliminated to cut glare.

That said, you can get many of the creature comforts offered in other Mustang models. Upgraded Shaker Audio, automatic climate control, and an eight-inch version of MyFord Touch are all included with the Tech Pack.

The Shelby GT350 will make its official bow later this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Head to our show coverage over at Motor Authority for more on the GT350, and all the news from the show.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 2016 Shelby GT350: Top-performance Ford Mustang makes a roaring debut
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2014/1117/2016-Shelby-GT350-Top-performance-Ford-Mustang-makes-a-roaring-debut
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe