Los Angeles, California - The Shelby GT350 Mustang is back.
Carroll Shelby's original GT350 Mustang, introduced in 1965, established the new Pony Car's performance credentials, because the Leesburg, Texas chicken farmer was that oddity among American drivers - one who believed that not all racing was done in straight lines, a quarter mile at a time.
Shelby had raced some of the world's great circuits and his Cobras had won sports-car races at most of them. Which is why he put more effort into improving the Mustang's running gear than the proven big-inch V8 that would drive the GT.
Fast-forward to the present, at the all new Shelby GT350 Mustang reveal ahead of the 2014 Los Angeles motor show, and Ford engineers have built on Shelby's principles to create an all-day track car - not a dragster - that's also street legal.
But they've also given it the most powerful naturally aspirated Ford production engine yet, because it was decided early in the development of the GT350 that a high-revving naturally aspirated V8 would best suit a track-focused Mustang.
It's essentially an all-new engine, a 5.2-litre V8 with the first flat-plane crankshaft in a Ford production mill. Unlike a traditional V8, where the connecting rods are attached to the crankshaft at 90-degree intervals, it has its crankpins evenly spaced at 180-degree intervals; that’s also why V8 Ferraris and McLarens make much sharper, angrier noises than the usual American big-inch rumble, so we look forward to hearing this one’s voice.
The flat-plane layout allows a firing order that alternates between cylinder banks, reducing the overlap of exhaust pressure pulses and improving breathing, along with tweaked porting and valvegear.
The result is more than 370kW and 540Nm, with a broad torque curve that lets you make the best use of the lightweight six-speed manual gearbox and standard-issue, specially tuned Torsen limited-slip differential.
NOW WE GET SERIOUS
The GT350 rides lower on its suspension than its the GT model, with increased front track and stiffer spring rates and bushings. An injection-moulded carbon fibre composite grille and an optional lightweight tower brace helps keep the front wheels on the straight and narrow.
Reducing unsprung weight mass is key to improving suspension response; the GT350 has two-piece cross-drilled iron brake discs on aluminium carriers. At the front are 394mm rotors clamped by six-piston Brembo callipers, while four-piston callipers clamp 380mm discs at the rear.
The GT350 rolls on 19” alloy rims - 265mm wide in front, 280mm at the rear, wrapped in specially developed Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres with sidewall construction, tread face and compound unique to this car.
It's also the first Ford with Magneride adaptive dampers that adjusting the damping on each wheel individually every 10 milliseconds.
DRESSED FOR SUCCESS
All the bodywork from the windshield forward is new; the aluminium bonnet has been lowered and sloped, wrapped tightly around the engine to give the car a smaller aerodynamic signature, and an air outlet on the bonnet acts as a heat extractor and reduces bonnet lift at high speeds.
The aluminium front fenders have been re-shaped to allow for the wider front track, with front fender vents and vented inner fenders to draw out turbulent air in the wheel wells and direct it down the sides of the car.
The forward-angled grille has individual openings to draw air through the radiator, high-pressure engine air intake, cooling ducts for the front brakes and, optional with the Track Pack, an engine oil cooler and a transmission cooler.
The front valance below the grille has been reshaped into an aggressive front splitter, with a ducted belly pan behind it to deliver significant downforce.
A functional rear diffuser does double duty, increasing downforce and providing cooling air to the optional differential oil-cooler, while a small lip spoiler across the trailing edge of the bootlid increases downforce without adding too much drag.
FOCUS ON FUNCTION
Like everything else about the GT350, the interior is all about driving, starting with specially designed Recaro sport seats that combine lateral support with comfortable centre squabs, and a flat-bottomed steering wheel to make it easier to move apst the raised side bolsters.
Revised gauges reflect the higher-than standard revs the 5.2-litre V8 reaches, and the higher road speeds the GT350 is capable of, while chromed and bright finishes are reduced or deleted to prevent distracting glare.
It even has a Euro-style five-position drive mode control that tailors the ABS, stability control, traction control, steering effort, throttle mapping, MagneRide tuning and exhaust settings, to suit your preference under given circumstances.
But this is still, in the final analysis, an American car for American drivers, so there's also an extra-cost optional Tech Pack that includes power-adjustable leather-trimmed seats, a premium Shaker audio system, 200mm MyFord touch screen and dual-zone auto aircon.
Sadly, the Shelby GT350 Mustang will be produced in left-hand drive only, exclusively for the North American market, so will not be released in South Africa.