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Shelby GT350R May Debut at Detroit Auto Show in January

According to recent reports, the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 will be more costly than the 2014 Ford Mustang Boss 302. But the Blue Oval won’t stop at this, apparently. A hardcore GT350R is said to follow at the North American International Auto Show.
2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 1 photo
Photo: Ford
Put side by side to its closest competitor, the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, the Shelby-ified GT350 packs a lot more gadgets and features inside, while the Z/28 makes do without an air conditioning system as standard. According to insider information sourced by Road & Track, the GT350R will be more focused.

The aforementioned automotive publication is informing what’s naturally expected from such an evolutionary machine - “better aero, better brakes, and better rubber,” as well as to the deletion of “the back seat... with additional bracing likely.”

Weight saving is the name of the game here

It’s still a mystery how much the Shelby GT350 will weigh, but the base GT fastback mated to the six-speed stick shift sports a 3,705-pound (1,680 kilograms) base curb weight. The 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 track warrior tips the scale at 3,820 pounds (1,732 kg), while the 2015 Camaro 2SS boasts with a weight of 3,935 pounds (1,784 kilograms) as standard.

We advise our readers to take the upcoming Detroit Auto Show revealing of the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R with a grain of salt for all the obvious reasons. The R is certainly going to happen, but let’s wait and see if a small diet, carbon brakes, better aero and an aggressive suspension setup will prove to be enough to obliterate the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 on a track like Laguna Seca.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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