There are those moments you truly feel alive. Like when you are hiding behind a tree with bullets whizzing past your head and some of them cracking into the tree. Or, the first time you come off the starting line with an engine between your legs at 9,000 RPM, waiting for the tree to turn green.
I test drove a 2022 Shelby GT500 Mustang last week. It was the first time in a long time I was more focused on the tachometer than the speedometer. The last car I drove like that was a purpose built 10 second 350 with the tach mounted on the hood and no speedometer.
I drove up to meet my son to celebrate not only his, but my grandsonās birthdays. Upon arrival on Thursday night, he said he had a surprise for me on Friday. His long time buddy showed up with a modified Camaro ZL1 (exhaust, cam, etc) . I rode with his buddy to test drive the GT500. My son drove my car with my wife. When we arrived at the dealership they told us we would have to have a salesman ride with us. I let my son that did drift racing in Japan take the 1st ride to feel out the salesman. Prior to my son taking the wheel, my sonās friend and I sat in the running GT500 over-riding all the safety stuff to get it into full track mode ā his friend knew a lot more about it than me! When they got back I knew my son had taken the salesman for a memorable ride!
My son told the salesman if he thought he had just an exciting ride, then he was really going to enjoy riding with Dad. Based on what we arrived in, plus my sonās driving, the salesman looked at me and said āletās do it!ā
My son had taken it relatively easy coming out of the parking lot ā I did not. The GT500 is a Dual-Clutch-Transmission (DCT), which basically means it is an automatic with paddle shifters as far as I am concerned. I didnāt want to punch it too hard and go sideways turning onto the road, but the darn thing shifted into 2nd gear long before I was ready - I thought it would wait for me to paddle shift, but it didnāt. I did not waste the next opportunity I got to straight line accelerate. I made sure the road ahead was clear and paddle shifted it down into 1st gear. With the accelerator at the firewall, redline came quick and then I redlined 2nd and close to redline in 3rd. I really didnāt want to let off, but I did. It had felt so good I didnāt want to be disappointed with 4th gear. At that point I looked over at the salesman and said āI wonder if that car with the blue lights wants us to let them byā He checked his side mirror and I said āGot ācha!ā He said āDamn, you locked me into this seat belt!ā He was grinning like a possum.
From a technical perspective, I get the DCT, but I still prefer a lower HP if it has a manual transmission with a real clutch. So, for right now, my search will continue for a either a Camaro or Mustang with a clutch. I think a single plane driveshaft, 8,500 RPM GT350 deserves a serious test drive. I know it is only 525 HP (or so) vs. the 760 HP of the GT500. What can I say, I am an old guy looking for that last quick car before I die.
Gary H
I picked this up a few weeks back and am sorting out a few performance items before it officially goes on the road. It is no muscle car, but with a quickie tune for OEM condition it is ~280 HP and TQ. I havenāt driven it much yet, but Car & Driver said, āDrivers here appreciated the Legacyās big power - 0 to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds and a 14.1-second quarter-mile - concealed in a modest but sleek exterior, which made flying below police suspicion that much easier.ā Not bad for a 20 year old car I bought from an elderly couple w/28k miles on it.
Unless you know what you are looking for even the Shelbyās look pretty much like a generic Mustang.
