It matters to me because it's damaging to the "new" image of the Mustang brand. As with the last Boss 302 and with this upcoming GT350, Ford is trying to evolve the brand. Unfortunately, there is still that disproportionately vocal minority of people/shops out there that only want to drive in a straight line for a few seconds at a time. For crying out loud, the Mustang is 50 years old! There comes a point when it's simply time to grow up. Everyone. These shops focus on dragging because it's fast and easy money. Let's be honest here. It's a whole lot easier to get a car to cut 2 seconds off an ET than it is to cut 2 seconds off a road course time. The latter takes some careful thought and engineering. The former just takes more power without blowing up the engine and a suspension comparable to riding a cooked alfredo noodle down a water slide.
I mean, which would be more useful on a day-to-day basis? A car that is more nimble and swift on its feet or a car that will roll over like a Yorkie at the first sight of a curve? In all actuality, everyone can benefit from a car that can handle well. Very few can benefit from a car setup for dragging. Just going for a drive in the country you're apt to encounter every kind of turn and undulation you would hit on a road course. Not much chance you're going to encounter a rubberized intersection with glassy smooth road ahead waiting for the light to turn green.
Holding on to that drag mentality just gives the Mustang a bad image. Personally, I'm tired of hearing/reading from the uninformed that the Mustang can't turn. That hasn't been true for years, but thanks to the folks who ruin a good handling car for the sake of blasting down a straight line, that is the image that soldiers on in peoples' minds about the Mustang. It's why people insist on calling a pony car a muscle car. The Mustang was never intended to be a muscle car. Its beginning was to be a cheap alternative to the European sports cars. Hell, even Carroll Shelby used Mustangs to beat Corvettes on the race track, and he did a la GT350/GT350R. It's so cringe-worthy seeing a Boss sitting on a drag suspension that I don't even watch videos that people post of one going down a damned dragstrip. Why couldn't that person/builder just have used a regular GT, instead? Yeah, yeah. Their money, their choice. Blah blah blah.
So yes, it matters to me on a personal level that people ruin Mustangs that were meant to handle. Does that mean everyone has to agree with me? Nope. But I wish they would!I guess I can at least take solace in that they aren't going to make a convertible version of the GT350 (nor did they the Boss 302.) Don't even get me started on that! LOL
Well said. I too cringe when I see a Boss 302 that has been set up as a drag car. However, to each their own. That's just not what I would choose to do with a Boss 302 if I had one, but it's their money to spend how they want. I had started down the drag route with my GT500, but have recently come to the realization that I would rather maintain some decent street manners so I can enjoy it more often. I'm sure there are a few that will attempt to do the same with the GT350, but with this engine and the Tremec 3160, I think they'll hit a few road blocks when they do the usual "slap on some forced induction and some slicks."
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