Sat in/kinda raced/watched 05 GT @ road course

[Joe 5.0]

Last week thursday Motor Trend and a bunch of production spec 05's were out at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan doing testing & photoshoots. I was lucky enough to talk to 2 of the guys driving a redfire 5 speed GT. I was behind him for a session (20mins) or racing and I could tell I started to catch him, but I never had the chance to try to pass (mine started getting hot). He let me sit in it for like 10 minutes and showed me all the bells & whistles.

I gotta say I'm really impressed with the interior. You sit really low in the seats, the shifter is tons better than the current one, and the leather quality was much better.

It sounded pretty similar to my dad's 00 GT, maybe just a tad louder. Parked next to my car it made mine look kinda subdued and boring. It has a much more muscular profile and just looks much better balanced.

The engine looks to me very similar to the LS1, with the huge individual runnersfor each cylinder. Much nicer than the current 2V, but no strut tower brace.

The tires suck ass, and it still will need some wideass tires and lowering spring to look perfect. He was wearing the letters off the sidewalls from the flex in the corners.

All in all I was very impressed. I'll probably end up trading mine in for one a year or two old one . I'll try to get a nice black 5 speed for under $20k. I'm just hoping for 280rwhp and mid 13's on stock tires.

 

[oilypushrod]

Sounds awesome!

 

[PONY XPRESS]

Very sweat. Did they give you any indication of their thoughts on how the 05' felt on the track?

 

[klous]

I take "5-speed" to mean Manual Transmission.

On the 2005 both the manual and the automatic are 5 speeds.

We need to adjust how we talk about these cars just a bit.

In the past we could say "5-speed" and everyone would know we meant the Manual because the automatic was 4 a speed.

 

[Joe 5.0]

It was the manual trans.

They said with better tires it would be alot faster. The guy that was driving owned a 95GT, and he said it handled much better, more neutral.

 

[PONY XPRESS]

That's good to hear. I would strongly recommend anyone doing serious track days to get a set of Goodyear or Hoosier DOT road racing slicks. Any street tire will just get destroyed.

 

[willy_sc5.0]

GT 05 driving impression

A guy from corral.net forums had the chance to drive the new mustang. Here are his impression:

Well, I was blessed to drive a 05 GT last night and here are some of my impressions I would like to share with everyone.

First, the shifter has to go. I could see a lot of people missing 2 to 3 shift and end up taking the car for a warranty repair. The shifter just feels notchy and didn't like to be shifted hard; it could be just this particular car since it did have 3000+ abused miles on the odometer. But I would say that the stock shifter from my 98 cobra shifted better than this one. Althought there is one positive thing about the shifter; you no longer have to reach to shift into 3rd or 5th. The shifter rest in your hand quite naturally when your elbow is resting on the center console.

Second, the ride is 10 times better than any pre 05 mustangs including the IRS equipped cobras. The car didn't lose it's composure once driving through michigan's pot holes(horrible ones that car and driver complains about); the ride was very smooth and controlled yet it was firm going into the turns. The car will understeer if driving at 9/10th but overall the feel is neutral. It handles much better than my 98 with the mach 1 shocks/spring. It looks like someone did their homework with the 3 link rear set up.

Third, the engine. From what I can tell, the car is making the advertise 300 hp. Althought I seriously doubt the 280 rwhp rumor; it's probably around 260-270 rwhp. The car accelerate awfully close to what 98 could do; I wouldn't be surprised if it runs between 13.6-14.0(magazine testing). It will be slower than the current mach 1 because you do have to make an extra shift into 4th in the 1/4 mile. The power delivery is very smooth, it revs to 6k quickly and feels like it should be reved higher; it is a bit weak under 3k. Launching the car at 3k resulted in the car bogging down which was never the case in my 98. By the way, the exhaust note from the 3v motor is perfect from my book.

Fourth, the interior is miles ahead of the older mustangs. All the buttons and switches are easy to reach and operate. The pedals are placed closer together for easy heel and toe shifting. Seats are comfortable and have plenty lateral grip. One thing that did bother me was how close you sit to the steering wheel. Apparently the new chassis has a deep footwell so the pedals are pretty far in which means you will need to move the seat closer to just reach the pedals. Since the steering wheel doesn't telescope, you end up sitting closer to it. Besides that there is much to complain. Oh, it's nice that the window lowers 1/4 inch when you open the door then seals itself back against the seal once you close the door.

Well, those are the impressions I got from driving the car for a little bit over 2 hrs last night. I will say that I wouldn't hesitate to trade in my 98 for a 05 GT in a heart beat; althought that might change once I get some seat time in a 06 cobra with 200 hp.
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