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Originally Posted by Stingray
Alright this will come straight from the horse's mouth who has objective and subjective ownership experience with these powerplants. To start, I am VERY familiar with the LT1 as I owned two C7 Z51 Stingrays for over a year and currently have a Z06 with the LT4... I also now have a '15 GT350 Track pak. I track my Vettes extensively... very fast laps too if I may say. I have also experienced the GT350 on 9 laps at Sebring back in Oct. courtesy of a Ford Performance invite. No fanboy'ism here. I like what both manufacturers offer and they outdo each other at every iteration. Nothing new there.
On that note, I will take a GT350 anytime anyday even over a Z51 Stingray let alone a 6th gen SS (obviously both have LT1's). Why? Besides the FPC power & sound, this car is so balanced and can handle so well it's deceiving. It really shouldn't for its weight... but it feels like 500 lbs lighter than it actually is. It's just dialed in just right, spot on every apex. The steering turn in and the manner it can lay down the power is amazing. Don't get me started on the brakes... the brakes are so good it can compete with CCB's. These massive rotors and calipers are just as good or arguably better than my Z06's. That alone speaks volumes and is a key component for a total recipe to produce smooth-in and fast-out of turns, lap after lap.
All this sums up to a great performance track-bred car... it actually feels like a sports car when you drive it... pony car analogies are bygones now with this all new Shelby. Some can disagree or be in denial forever but until you actually own one and drive one on & off the track, then I'd say some of these posts are really no more than conjecture and should be taken with a grain of salt. The GT350's forte isn't meant to be interpreted as a simple ruler, never was from the getgo... it's not meant to be a 1/4 mile slingshot from point a to point b. It's for the twisties.. it's for the high speed track.. it's for spirited driving, not stoplight hopping.
This is not a bash against the 6th gen SS as we can also now see that with GM's all-star parts & components ingredients, they were able to produce a well-performing and highly acclaimed car. Car of the year per M/T's pedigree (although unfortunately that testing was done before the GT350 was released for the media) just like Motor Authority was only able to match up SS vs. GT350 because a special edition 6th gen isn't out yet... if it was then the media & auto magrags will match it vis-a-vis. Duh. But for Yahoo's "Epic" car of the year and R&T's "Performance" car of the year, I'll surely concur with that accolade over & over. No Voodoo novelty here neither... this car can perform at a very high level at the track and can challenge many cars twice its price.
Top 4 finalists: 6th gen SS, RC-F, CTS-V, GT350
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I was at the Sebring event as well, who came with you on your drive? Lots of cool guys, I had a great time.
As a current Mustang owner (full drag set up '11 GT now) and a former '12 Boss 302 and '07 and '13 GT500 owner. Also as a current Corvette owner (full autoX set up Lingerfelter 402ci '02 Z06), I too can inject my opinion. The GT350 is quite the machine especially in R format. Plus it sounds fantastic and pulls very well. The issue I had with it was it's low to medium rpm performance. If you are just tracking it, and staying up in the rev band, you're good. But, if you plan on doing a lot of street driving the low end power is lacking. The other thing I noticed, which again, doesn't really effect track lapping, but could be a annoyance otherwise, is that it doesn't come out of the hole well. I drove my friends new SS, it had no miles on it, and wasn't my car, which obviously limited me. But I was beyond impressed how well the car performed, even on junky run flats. The 1LE form of this car will easily run with, and very well out perform the GT350 TP. Then, I can only imagine what a even more powerful, track focused ZL1/Z28 will do to a GT350 R. I plan on buying a SS, or if they make it, 1LE, and will do full suspension and coilovers and will see what it does...it may make me sell the Z...will see. Curious, have you driven a new SS?