GT500 Road Test

Worth a watch...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y4nMEYIJt38

Patrick

Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.

I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.

They ought to let me design a Mustang.

No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
M3.



On 21 Oct 2006 20:22:19 -0700, wrote:

>Worth a watch...
>
>http://youtube.com/watch?v=y4nMEYIJt38
>
>Patrick

"Mort Guffman" > wrote in message
...
> Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.
>
> I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.
>
> They ought to let me design a Mustang.
>
> No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
> M3.
>
>

agreed,

stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque, stealth

scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80 mph,
then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water.
spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing.
decals are for toy models and teenagers.

still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Worth a watch...
>
> http://youtube.com/watch?v=y4nMEYIJt38
>
> Patrick

Sigh....

I can't get enough of that car.

I'll never have that car.

dwight

"Anabaena Microcystis" > wrote in news:453afac4$0
:

>
> "Mort Guffman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.
>>
>> I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.
>>
>> They ought to let me design a Mustang.
>>
>> No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
>> M3.
>>
>>
>
> agreed,
>
> stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque,
stealth
>
> scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80
mph,
> then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water.
> spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing.
> decals are for toy models and teenagers.
>
> still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.

It looks great and the 1/4 mile is pretty decent, but don't give me that
crap about Shelby having any input. The only thing he did was cash the
checks from Ford for letting them use his name.

At any rate, the car weighs too much and it's nose heavy. The nose-dive
during hard braking is just ridiculous. Didn't look all that hot in the
corners, either. All that having been said, let's see how it compares
to other cars in the mid-$40s. Bring on the comparos.

Joe
Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies
Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

Joe wrote:
> "Anabaena Microcystis" > wrote in news:453afac4$0
> :
>
>> "Mort Guffman" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.
>>>
>>> I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.
>>>
>>> They ought to let me design a Mustang.
>>>
>>> No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
>>> M3.
>>>
>>>
>> agreed,
>>
>> stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque,
> stealth
>> scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80
> mph,
>> then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water.
>> spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing.
>> decals are for toy models and teenagers.
>>
>> still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.
>
> It looks great and the 1/4 mile is pretty decent, but don't give me that
> crap about Shelby having any input. The only thing he did was cash the
> checks from Ford for letting them use his name.
>
> At any rate, the car weighs too much and it's nose heavy. The nose-dive
> during hard braking is just ridiculous. Didn't look all that hot in the
> corners, either. All that having been said, let's see how it compares
> to other cars in the mid-$40s. Bring on the comparos.

I'm starting to have second thoughts about getting one after seeing the
test drive articles. I think the car is just too heavy, period. I
think I will just go with a garden variety GT vert, which I can get with
an auto tranny, throw on a KB blower, 14" brakes, a good tranny buildup
and maybe a few forged goodies for the engine. This will give me,
basically, a GT500 auto for $10k-$15k less and several hundred pound
lighter.

Overall, Ford did a good job with the GT500 but they just didn't go the
last few steps, IMO. Things like weight, leaving out the twin screw
blower, no auto tranny option and way too high pricing are just pushing
me away from it. Plus, I can't justify over $50k for a Mustang
convertible of any variety and with the vert's MSRP at nearly $48k it
will likely stay above $50k for the production run.

"Michael Johnson, PE" > wrote in
:

> Joe wrote:
>> "Anabaena Microcystis" > wrote in news:453afac4$0
>> :
>>
>>> "Mort Guffman" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.
>>>>
>>>> I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.
>>>>
>>>> They ought to let me design a Mustang.
>>>>
>>>> No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
>>>> M3.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> agreed,
>>>
>>> stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque,
>> stealth
>>> scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80
>> mph,
>>> then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water.
>>> spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing.
>>> decals are for toy models and teenagers.
>>>
>>> still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.
>>
>> It looks great and the 1/4 mile is pretty decent, but don't give me
>> that crap about Shelby having any input. The only thing he did was
>> cash the checks from Ford for letting them use his name.
>>
>> At any rate, the car weighs too much and it's nose heavy. The
>> nose-dive during hard braking is just ridiculous. Didn't look all
>> that hot in the corners, either. All that having been said, let's
>> see how it compares to other cars in the mid-$40s. Bring on the
>> comparos.
>
> I'm starting to have second thoughts about getting one after seeing
> the test drive articles. I think the car is just too heavy, period.
> I think I will just go with a garden variety GT vert, which I can get
> with an auto tranny, throw on a KB blower, 14" brakes, a good tranny
> buildup and maybe a few forged goodies for the engine. This will give
> me, basically, a GT500 auto for $10k-$15k less and several hundred
> pound lighter.
>
> Overall, Ford did a good job with the GT500 but they just didn't go
> the last few steps, IMO. Things like weight, leaving out the twin
> screw blower, no auto tranny option and way too high pricing are just
> pushing me away from it. Plus, I can't justify over $50k for a
> Mustang convertible of any variety and with the vert's MSRP at nearly
> $48k it will likely stay above $50k for the production run.

Agreed on all counts. I think if the convertible sold for under $40k
you couldn't beat it. But $48k is just too expensive for what you get.

Michael, why limit your choice to a Mustang? If you're looking in the
$40-45k range, there are a lot of nice rides.

Joe wrote:
> "Michael Johnson, PE" > wrote in
> :
>
>> Joe wrote:
>>> "Anabaena Microcystis" > wrote in news:453afac4$0
>>> :
>>>
>>>> "Mort Guffman" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.
>>>>>
>>>>> I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.
>>>>>
>>>>> They ought to let me design a Mustang.
>>>>>
>>>>> No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
>>>>> M3.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> agreed,
>>>>
>>>> stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque,
>>> stealth
>>>> scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80
>>> mph,
>>>> then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water.
>>>> spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing.
>>>> decals are for toy models and teenagers.
>>>>
>>>> still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.
>>> It looks great and the 1/4 mile is pretty decent, but don't give me
>>> that crap about Shelby having any input. The only thing he did was
>>> cash the checks from Ford for letting them use his name.
>>>
>>> At any rate, the car weighs too much and it's nose heavy. The
>>> nose-dive during hard braking is just ridiculous. Didn't look all
>>> that hot in the corners, either. All that having been said, let's
>>> see how it compares to other cars in the mid-$40s. Bring on the
>>> comparos.
>> I'm starting to have second thoughts about getting one after seeing
>> the test drive articles. I think the car is just too heavy, period.
>> I think I will just go with a garden variety GT vert, which I can get
>> with an auto tranny, throw on a KB blower, 14" brakes, a good tranny
>> buildup and maybe a few forged goodies for the engine. This will give
>> me, basically, a GT500 auto for $10k-$15k less and several hundred
>> pound lighter.
>>
>> Overall, Ford did a good job with the GT500 but they just didn't go
>> the last few steps, IMO. Things like weight, leaving out the twin
>> screw blower, no auto tranny option and way too high pricing are just
>> pushing me away from it. Plus, I can't justify over $50k for a
>> Mustang convertible of any variety and with the vert's MSRP at nearly
>> $48k it will likely stay above $50k for the production run.
>
> Agreed on all counts. I think if the convertible sold for under $40k
> you couldn't beat it. But $48k is just too expensive for what you get.
>
> Michael, why limit your choice to a Mustang? If you're looking in the
> $40-45k range, there are a lot of nice rides.

Plus the Challenger and Camaro should be making an appearance before too
long. I really think it will be a Mustang GT though. It is a car I can
get at a decent price and after market support is fantastic so modding
it would be easy and economical. It will be next year before anything
happens on my end (thanks to a slow housing market) so I might change my
mind three more times by then.

In article >, Michael Johnson, PE wrote:

>> Michael, why limit your choice to a Mustang? If you're looking in the
>> $40-45k range, there are a lot of nice rides.

> Plus the Challenger and Camaro should be making an appearance before too
> long. I really think it will be a Mustang GT though. It is a car I can
> get at a decent price and after market support is fantastic so modding
> it would be easy and economical. It will be next year before anything
> happens on my end (thanks to a slow housing market) so I might change my
> mind three more times by then.


My thoughts on the subject as I consider another car are this..

1) I was going to modify my '97 GT... ended up not being able to have the
downtime so the mods are few. So I want to get something that's a lot
closer to where I would mod to.

2) I want RWD with an MT with a clutch pedal and only two door that
doesn't look like a rice boy car with a V8 or I6.

So....

There's the GT500.... apparently difficult to get, probably still
overpriced by stealerships... Still with many of the compromises a
mustang has. Lot's of power. On the plus side, lots of stuff available
for it.

The BMW 335i... a good deal less power than the GT500 but doesn't have
the compromises that come from the base car like the GT500. Mods and
parts are likely to be expensive because it's a BMW.

Base corvette.... I probably won't fit well in it comfortably the way I
like to sit, hard to find and well it's a base model, which will
probably mean I'll end up feeling it needs modding or reget not getting a
better version, and well, it's a chevy.

"Joe" > wrote in message
...
> "Anabaena Microcystis" > wrote in news:453afac4$0
> :
>
> >
> > "Mort Guffman" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> Sigh... I want one of those. Gotta delete the stripes though.
> >>
> >> I like the Hertz car but I don't care for the goofy hood scoop.
> >>
> >> They ought to let me design a Mustang.
> >>
> >> No scoops, spoiler, or decals. I'd give it a clean look, like a BMW
> >> M3.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > agreed,
> >
> > stealth, very fast, reliable, very fast, lots of low end torque,
> stealth
> >
> > scoop does a little if it works- cooler air and about 1/2 lb at 80
> mph,
> > then you have a rain problem, suck in all that water.
> > spoiler, spoils the look and does nothing.
> > decals are for toy models and teenagers.
> >
> > still if someone gave me a GT500 guess I would just have to take it.
>
> It looks great and the 1/4 mile is pretty decent, but don't give me that
> crap about Shelby having any input. The only thing he did was cash the
> checks from Ford for letting them use his name.
>
> At any rate, the car weighs too much and it's nose heavy. The nose-dive
> during hard braking is just ridiculous. Didn't look all that hot in the
> corners, either. All that having been said, let's see how it compares
> to other cars in the mid-$40s. Bring on the comparos.
>

That last statement however is the *real* kicker here as the GT500 is not a
car in the mid-40's itself, at least not for the forseeable future. I was in
2 different Ford shops over the past week buying an '06 Expedition for the
wife in hopes of improving my return on some oil stocks I have
:-).....Anyway, I saw a total of 4 GT 500's and 3 Roush Stage 3's during my
visits. The first location had 1 GT500 vert with a sticker of $48,500 and a
"Market Adjustment" of $25K ....They had it on Ebay at the time and ended up
not hitting the reserve with a final bid of $61,705. (Item 200036841657)

The location place where we bought our vehicle had 3 more (one coupe and 2
verts) each with a $15K "Market Adjustment" to the sticker price. They were
selling the Stage 3's at the Roush sticker which ran around $51k.

Looking at Ebay's completed auction, most of the ones that actually sold
have been going for ~$60K

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have one, but at $60-$75K, I think IMHO one
could modify a stock GT to outperform the beast and still have plenty o'
cash left over for other toys..

KW


> Joe
> Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies
> Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC