I was on both the Oct. 13th morning and afternoon sessions hence I got to do the track events twice...
I have put over 500 miles so far on my GT350TP in both urban & highway driving and even below 3k rpm it has good pull. Many times I don't even past 4k or 5k rpm prior to shifting and I have no issues with power/torque bands from a standstill or entering/merging into traffic for example at low-midrange rpm's. One day drives won't define the experience at all... in any case, I can vouch that the GT350 can be a perfectly fine daily driver. No need to go high rpm's. In fact it still sounds really good at low-mid rpm's.
I haven't driven the SS yet but like I said I had a Stingray with the same LT1 engine and obviously I know the capabilities of that motor especially on a C7's lighter weight and very low center of gravity chassis replete with Magride and ediff as well. For sure I can see the 6th gen SS will be a great all-around car... it's already receiving lots of praises credited to the GM parts bin of topnotch goodies. So like I experienced with the C7, I'm also confident the 6th gen performs quite well.
The key aspect is the lighter alpha chassis... that's a fine foundation to start with. Best of luck with your future build.
I tracked an R and a Track Pack... and I own a TP. Even the Ford Performance engineers as well as two lead HPDE instructors from Chin (one who is a chief instructor), all stated that one of the main benefits of the R is the Cup 2's on lighter wheels. The Cup2's are absolutely fantastic on the track... I run my Z06 on Cup2's and there is a big remarkable difference in grip and much less understeer when compared to the MPSS. They claimed the TP with lighter alloys on Cup2s' will do wonders and turn it close to an R (i guess like a lower case r). Doing so, it won't be far behind the R, IMO... like a GT350-r
If you're strictly comparing and narrowing down to a standard GT350 (hence no Magride as the biggest difference) against the new SS with all the performance goodies, then I will agree that it may be quite close, neck to neck. We'll see if ever any reviews/tests are done...
One thing that still stands out to me though is the braking performance of the GT350 because those stock brakes are so good. Better than a C7 Z51's and maybe even a notch better than the C7 Z06's. Ask anyone who has tracked a GT350 and the common denominator will be how linear it stops and fade free lap after lap... scubbing from high speed you suddenly realize you're braking way too soon. That's how good the brakes are. Remarkable.
I agree Motor Authority's comparison was a dud... but IMO look at it half-glass full. It still revealed how good these cars are... different characters, different target audience even if you think about it. The SS will be produced in much greater numbers while the Shelby GT350 has a smaller target niche per se.
Speaking of a base GT350, here's one to compare... for sale at Machaik's Southway Ford in San Antonio:
http://www.windowsticker.forddirect....6P8JZ7G5520183