I come from a subaru STI, so go easy. I'm disappointed with the 08 STI (it sucks), and am considering jumping ship to a mustang. Test drove the saleen 281 sc convertible today, and have questions.
1. The transmission sucked -- very short throw (good), but not all that smooth and in particular going from 3rd to 4th required real effort. I assume the Saleen uses an standard GT transmission -- is the gt500 shelby any better?
2. the saleen convertible had a lot of body motion at speed around corners -- way more than I'm used to from the STI. Is this going to be worse in the shelby? The weight in the shelby is worse, and people speak well of the saleen suspension.
3. If I put a lot of highway miles (20k / year) on these cars, will they last to 100k without bleeding money?
The Saleen suspension on the S281SC is not the top notch Saleen stuff but its close. There are still improvements to be made. The GT500 suspension came from the 1976 Ford LTD Crown Victoria. But for about 2grand, you can make it do what it needs to be doing. The Shelby has a tranny beefy enough to hold a bunch of HP. The shifts in mine are very easy to make. I can't speak of longevity but the Shelby does have a forged rotating assembly as opposed to the Saleens normal GT stuff. You would get more value out of the SHelby IMO. The motors potential alone is enough to sway my vote.
I come from a subaru STI, so go easy. I'm disappointed with the 08 STI (it sucks), and am considering jumping ship to a mustang. Test drove the saleen 281 sc convertible today, and have questions.
1. The transmission sucked -- very short throw (good), but not all that smooth and in particular going from 3rd to 4th required real effort. I assume the Saleen uses an standard GT transmission -- is the gt500 shelby any better?
Theres a special deal going around where you can change any mustang's transmission to a GT500 one for $3500 think about that. I'll look up the details for you if you want.
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2. the saleen convertible had a lot of body motion at speed around corners -- way more than I'm used to from the STI. Is this going to be worse in the shelby? The weight in the shelby is worse, and people speak well of the saleen suspension.
yes worse. You're going to want an aftermarket suspention, and a set of steeda body braces, they won't do much but will help, the mustang is designed surprisingly well. It's just that it is tuned to be a CRUISER and not a racecar, and so is the saleen from what ive heard. THERE IS YOUR PROBLEM. I would recommend either the Roush suspention (which has been TESTED at 1.00g, higher than your STI) or d-spec sport suspention.
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3. If I put a lot of highway miles (20k / year) on these cars, will they last to 100k without bleeding money?
thanks for any info. sd
The gt500 will. The saleen is better suited for 70k miles of trouble free motoring. I would recommend going with the GT500 and full roush suspention, test drive a roush mustang and you'll know if you'll like it. Where are you located?
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gt500 and saleen questions - 
