Build Thread Mustang5L5's Build Thread -

Mustang5L5 said:

Ok, where do i begin with the GT500.

This was a base model, and not the Carbon Fiber Track Pack model. From what i was told, it was bone stock with OEM equipment pads and tires. It was wearing the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S equipped from Ford. More on this later.

I've sat in a few S550's, but this is my first time driving the new chassis. I just love the cockpit of these cars. It wraps around you and does make you feel like you are getting into a fighter jet. My old Sn95 felt like i was getting into a regular passenger car. This felt like a race car, and i realize this cockpit layout carries over to the base and GT as well.

We ran in track mode (obviously) and got to hear the difference in quiet vs track exhaust. Let me just say the exhaust note in track is LOUD. No idea how that is street legal, but i imagine it's not and meant for off-road use. Of all the cars there at the event, it was the loudest by far at WOT speeding down the straight. However, in the car it didn't seem that loud.

We had the AC blasting. It was 90 degrees. We had enough HP that we could spare a few to keep us from sweating to death. The car didn't care that it was on.

I've often heard that the Fox cars seem raw and loud, and the new cars are numb. I didn't get that sense at all with the GT500. Just starting it up and idling it out of the pit felt like driving a fox body with off-road Hpipe and some sort of cam chopping away. Just a little tap of the gas pedal gave you a raw exhaust note and you coudl feel the car rumble. It idled down the road at 10MPH with attitude.

First couple laps i took it easy. First time on this track, and first time driving this car i was trying to get a sense of how it drove and paying attention to my braking and tuning cones. It was a lot going on, so i wasn't driving 100% which is understandable. I probably drove the car 75% to it's ability at times.

It's fast. Rediculously fast. Your body gets pushed back into the seat and you just hang on. The entire time you are accelerating towards triple digit speeds, you can feel the rear tires dancing and hopping behind you. The traction and stability control is amazing on this car. If you drive this car on the street, it will break traction over road ruts or any break in the surface at WOT, even at 80MPH. I think at one point the car shifted gears at 75MPH and i felt the tires break loose and then grab. Car kept going straight, fast. This car would scare the living crap out of me on a street. I still want it.

The DCT was pretty sweet. They would let you use the paddle shifters if you wanted, but i had a lot going on so i left it do it itself. I dont think i could shift the way it did. Upshifts were fast and at redline, and when you were hard on the brakes it would downshift automatically and rev-match on it's own. If you were in a corner and lightly rolling on the gas, it was always in the perfect gear right at the perfect RPM waiting for you to roll onto the gas. It was more like driving a stick vs an automatic, except you didn't have to do any shifting or clutching. Just picture driving your stick car, and having a computer handle all the clutch/shift for you. The rotary shifter takes some getting used to, but i don't miss the stick in this.

The tires. I thought they were race-tires because of how well they gripped. I've driven 400-500HP Mustangs with what i thought were decent tires and had them break loose just getting on it in 2nd. The Michelin's were impressive. They just gripped. Roll on it from 40MPH, they held. Downshift from 50MPH, they held. I might have to look at these tires in the future. I expected this car to have track specific tires on it, not OEM equipped street tires.

By the time i started to get a hang of the car and how to apply power in the corners. I will admit, i didn't want to go into this right out the gate and start mashing the gas in a corner, but i think the car would take it. But, not my car, so i took it easy and saved the fast stuff for going straight.

The brakes. I gotta say i wasn't impressed. They were the stock 15.5" brembos and pads, but i didn't feel wowed by their stopping power. Maybe i just had higher expectations i guess. Don't get me wrong, they still stopped the car fast repeatedly, but it required some solid leg effort to do so. Perhaps this is just how it's supposed to be. Or maybe it's the fact that the car has lived it's (short) life being tracked day after day. I did a few 80-40MPH stops and it just felt...typical.

This car was brand spanking new. Had under 5000 miles and still had plastic on the floor and some of the interior panels. No idea what they do with these cars later in their life.

I want one. Badly. I just don't want to pay for one.

I plan on doing this again. Due to the cost, i think i'll wait ti next summer, and maybe pair it with another car (corvette maybe) and a ride-along in the charger SRT-4's. I think having more familiarity with the course will help me drive close to the edge. I think i just got hooked on HPDE. I can't do it with the fox though. I might have to buy a beat up SN or S197 chassis, gut it, and start to get into this. It was fun.

I want one.

Click to expand...