Road & Track and Ford say Mustang GT PP2 isn't a track car
 

The August R&T devotes 6 pages to the Mustang GT PP2, and pretty much says it doesn't belong on the track, which Ford admits. Excerpts from the story in bold; other comments are mine:

"For a road-focused performance car, this Mustang is a riot on track. Briefly." It overheats on the track, since it doesn't have diff or tranny coolers, which Ford said it did intentionally - because it doesn't want the PP2 to have "full track capability." :crazy:

"It looks at home among Ferraris, Porsches, and Formula 3 cars on pit lane at Monticello Motor Club in upstate New York, where we came to test it–like the thing could lap all day. It can't. During a session on Monticello's North Course, the Mustang was keen to communicate that it needed a break, flashing an axle-temp warning after a handful of laps."

R&T thinks the PP2 is a better backroad/around-town car than the 1LE. I haven't driven a PP2 yet, but I think I'd disagree after having owned a GT350 and a 1LE. "If you want a full-on track car, get a Shelby GT350R or a Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE. If you want a car to live on the road, the PP2 is your choice. … While people will still think it's a 1LE competitor, and it'll perform well against a 1LE in a single lap, it's just not the right car for an extended lapping session. The aim of this passion project was to hone the ultimate street Mustang from a car they had already spent time developing."

The base price of a PP2 is $44,685, the styling is pretty subtle and R&T loves the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s. Interestingly, the PP2 doesn't get a horsepower boost beyond this year's 460, even though the Bullitt will get 15 hp more. So, if you like Fords and want something for blasting around the backroads at 8/10ths or crashing when you leave Cars and Coffee (sorry), the PP2 may be a fine choice.

But if you're going to hit the track or demand the best performance for the street, I guess Ford still needs a little more PP in its Mustangs. :facepalm:

Interesting. I'll have to get that issue. THANKS for the information!

I think the 1LE is where it's at for me anyway.

I owned a Mustang once.... Once. -Danny Vermin

Thx for the heads up on the R&T issue.

Indeed Ford has apparently said it to some other reviewers incl some blogs ive conversed with. Their answer was "get a Shelby for track".

Regardless, it is a shame. It is also a shame to sell a strictly DD car with Cup2s on it. Pointless and very expensive for consumers.

Perhaps a new Boss is coming out soon and they dont want any internal conpetition. Or they wanted to protect the GT350. Who knows how marketing works at Ford, but to purposely castrate a good platform is one heck of a move.

Exactly as expected.

Anybody know if Ford honors warranty for track use?

Just leaving lots of space for aftermarket.. which mustang OWNS! Or roll in bucket more money with Ford Performance parts. What does GM Performance have... air box - weooo wooooo

Ok. We already know this.

I observed the rear axle over temp. I participated in the Track Night in America at Pitt Race on Tuesday and there was a Mustang GT with the PP2 there. In Magnetic grey, looked very nice with the 19" wheels and 305/30 SC2 Michelins. Went over to talk to the gentleman after session 2, came to find out the car was not his, but loaned to him by Ford for the week to in his words, evaluate. He had removed the plate. He showed me the window sticker after I started asking questions about the wheel size. $51k. I saw the plate in his tote and it said "manufacturer". We talked some more and I formally introduced myself, and he did also. Paul Fix. Google his name + race car driver. He is a Trans Am driver, drives a Mustang, started and owns Classic Tube and Fix Motorsports. He was running in my group and he mentioned the Mustang had an axle temp warning. In session 3, we were lined up close to each other leaving the grid. A current gen GT was first out, then Mr Fix, a hopped up Lexus then myself. We both worked thru these cars and the tail end traffic. At times, when we both had clear track, I could close the gap. We were pretty close as far as speed goes, with both of us working thru traffic at different points. Two cars we both got around were GT350s:biggrin:. With about 3 minutes left in the 20 minute session he bailed and was giving everyone the point by, definitely off the pace. I did not get a chance to get back over to him to chat. I have a modded Gen 5 1LE. Ambient in sessions 1 & 2 was 91* with session 3 at 86*. I have the Harry's Lap timer vid, I might put the entire session on youtube in a few days.

Its sad that Ford kneecapped the PP2 by not giving it a proper cooling system. The SS 1LE deserved the competition.

Since Ford is flat out admitting the PP2 isn't a track car its obvious they put the R compound Cup 2 tires on there just to inflate their performance numbers for comparison testing. Budget sports car owners aren't generally the type to be able to afford $1500+ in tires a couple times a year. It will be interesting to see how close it gets to the SS 1LE on the skidpad and in braking. 1.12 Gs and 93 ft 60-0 are going to be hard to beat even with the cheater tires.

Does PP2 get the tremec or problematic chinese built manual ? Upside, is you can go parts bin shopping for parts from the GT350.

Not sure which parts would apply here: different motor, different suspension...and at $51G real life price id stretch the budget and get a 350R killer: ZL1. Needs zero parts that car AND comes with full track warranty :)

For those guys wanting to track their cars, the PP2 will do a few things: 1) Drive up sales of SS 1LE's, 2) Drive up sales of trans & diff coolers for them like it did on the early GT350's that did not get optioned with them (some non-R's), 3) Suddenly give you more open track in your run session after a few laps, and / or 4) Best of all, I'll now have to get registered on a bunch of Mustang forums in order to try to buy 305/30/19 MPSC2's that will become available for cheap when they put a toned down tire on it to enjoy all the non-track time it was designed for.

I am car guy, not a Ford basher. However, I was floored to find this out when my issue of ROAD & TRACK came and I got to page 62. Like comments above, you put MPSC2's on a car that's "we didn't want to go that full track capability". Sounds more like Ford not wanting to get too close to the capability or beyond the regular GT350 with has MPSS's vs. MPSC2's. As of 2017, the Track Pack with the coolers became standard on the GT350 after the backlash with all the 2016 owners that got cars without that option and were overheating a "track car".

Good one :)

The only issue for anyone tracking the GT is that Ford will likely not warranty it. Thats a big one in my book when buying a new car for track use especially at that level of expense.

Btw Ford has upgraded gt350 to Cup2s plus better brakes and aero. This is for 2019my. Unsure if this will further drive its lofty price even higher but wouldnt be surprised if it did...