Name all the other 500+hp four seat cars you can buy for less than $50k......the GT500 is the only one out there. It's an amazing Grand Tourer for the money (MSRP or slightly higher, not $10,000+ over).
To buy a new E63 AMG or BMW M5 (which are GT cars as well) you are looking at over $80,000 for either....and there is no way you are getting the same HP from them that a GT500 could, without spending a lot more money. Plus both of those cars weigh much more than a GT500, so they're already at a disadvantage.
Even compared to the Z06 or Viper (which are true sports cars, not GT cars).......it's $20,000+ less at sticker. You can do a lot with that much cash left over. Basically you can make it a 9 second car (without even cracking open the engine) and upgrade the brakes, while still having $10,000 left over. That's pretty cool.
Why are the Mercedes and BMW more expensive? because they will hand the KR its ass on the track easily. Drag strip? the Kr will probably win by about .3 seconds. not that much for lighter and 40 more horsepower. And on top of that the quality of a mustang versus that of the other two is far far far surpassed. but that is the extra dollars.
the gt500 is being purchased at over $60K so why dont you name me 1 car with 500 HP tha can be had for under 55K? you cant. the KR will be atleast another 15K on top of that. By the time KR hits the market, it will be a $75K car. Who cares about MSRP, its what the cars being sold at that count. MSRP has nothing to do with it. yeah, so the other cars are more expensive, but the other cars are worht the money. give me a break.
I guess my whole point is that FORD had the opportunity to make a very outstanding car with a sticker of 48-50K and they blew it. the KR is better, but the gt500 should have been what the KR is going to be, and the KR a ZO6 eater. That would in turn truly make it "KING of the Road'. FORD's engineering and development went to waste on 540 hp. it should have been 600.
I guarantee every magazine will test it and say "great car, fast, good looks. BUT it should be faster and is missing the mark" They will al be pleased with the car over all but in a dog fight against competing cars, it will lose and sorely disappoint. And FORD could easily win if they had some guts.
And i hate all this, "well yeah you could buy a civic for $17K, drop 25 grand into the motor and have it be way faster than a gt500 and handle better and still have 20 grand leftover to buy some weed and ****. Who cares?
I could drop 10 grand into my GT and have it be a ten second car and it would rape anything on the street and still have 25K leftover from the price of a regular 12 second gt500.
"Oh, i could buy a gt500 for $60K then hav it be a 9 second car for 10 grand and then it would be the bomb ****zle over the other cars." How long is a 9 second car gonna last on the street? reliability? you cant drive a 9 second car on the street everyday. And how many people are skilled enough to handle a 9 second car? Not that rich bi*** down the street, i can promise you that. It is dangerous for untrained people to drive 500, 600, horsepower cars.
Think about this, with slicks, bolt ons and a couple suspension upgrades, you can have a mid 12 sec GT for less than $30K granted you buy a base gt at invoice, which can be done and have $30K+ in your pocket. Throw in a nitrous system for another 800 bucks and your are running low low 11's for 31K dollars and have a brand new car. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it?
The point is FORD blew the chance to wow the car market, totally ****ed up.
