My son and I took my 2016 GT350 Track Pack and my 2014 Boss 302S to the Northwoods Shelby event at Road America a week ago. On the way up, we were wondering which car would be fastest. I thought it would be a close call, and that turned out to be true. We switched back and forth between the cars. My best laps were in the 2:33's in both cars and his best laps were mostly in the 2:30's, but he did get the 302S under 2:30 in his last session. I ran a 2:31 in Time Trials in the 302S in May, but couldn't get down to that at this event.

Both cars started with a new set of Hoosier R7's. 295/30-19's square on the 302S on stock 302S rear wheels (with a half inch spacer on the front hubs). 315/30-19 and 295/30-19 on the GT350, on stock wheels.

Both engines and drive trains are completely stock. The 302S puts down 407 SAE Hp on the Dynojet, and the GT350 puts down 456, both running on 98 octane race gas. Rev limiter on the 302S is 7800 RPM, while the GT350 is of course 8250. The 302S is about 300 Lb lighter.

The 302S's were built by Watson racing with a Tremec transmission, rather than the Getrag of the street Bosses, and the 2014 model 302S's got bigger brakes than the street Bosses or the 2012-2013 302S's. The brakes would not be legal for American Iron, but I just use the car for Time Trials.

Both have 3.73 axles with Torsen differentials, but due to differences in transmission ratios, the 302S can run Road America in only 3rd and 4th, while the 350 requires 3rd, 4th and 5th.

The links below show in-car video using Harry's lap timer for the 350 and the 302S. The videos, particularly on the 302S are shaky at high speed. Also, the GPS in my iPhone 5 sometimes shows some obviously incorrect speed readings, like showing the 350 slowing to 60 mph after exiting the carousel at 85 mph and accelerating toward the kink. However, the lap times that Harry's produces are extremely close to what the AIM system in the 302S shows. I believe the AIM has a better GPS that outputs readings multiple times per second, rather than the one per second of the iPhone 5. The AIM shows the 302S reaching a few mph higher speeds on the straights, and I think its because the AIM's GPS is more responsive. I think the iPhone GPS if filtered, causing some delay in reading actual speed. The G meter on my iPhone was obviously not calibrated, because it always sits on one side of center.

At Road America, you really use the brakes hard to slow from 135-145 mph at the end of the high speed sections. We don't like the over-activeness of the ABS on the 350 (in Track Mode plus Autotrac turned off). It was running GLOC R18/R12 pads recommended by KNS Brakes, but maybe the ABS calibration doesn't work well for those pads. The 302S will brake just as hard as the 350, but does in a more controllable manner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbdsfEvEvR4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUR36fwgXOo

You truly have tough choice deciding which car is best..I wish I had your dilemma

Nice write up. Which car is easier to drive at the limits?

We both think the 302S is easier to push to the limit, at least at road America, which is a combination of high speed sections with tight turns at the end of those sections. The reason is the ABS action in the 350. If you hit the brakes a little too hard braking late at the end of the high speed sections, the 350 could get a little squirrely. At a non-horsepower track, that would probably not be a problem.

I talked to Nick a few times before his crash, and he said that he did not see the same ABS issue with his 350R, even though running the same pads as me. But maybe the R calibration is different??? And, he was running 315's on the front, which would give his car more front traction.

I did notice that after just the first session, the holes in the rotors were filling up with brake material, and also noticed that the rotors were grooved pretty badly at the end of the event. Nick said he has experienced the same thing, and said he would be switching to Girodisc floating slotted rotors. The 302S has Brembo floating slotted rotors and they are still in decent shape, after nearly 2 years of use, missing a couple of events last year due to a blown engine.

Going around turns, they were similar. In the Carousel, a large radius 180 degree turn, I'd say the cars were the same in terms of feeling how fast you could go without sliding outward on the radius.

In the 350 video, you see the windshield wiper come on for one cycle, which is because I hit the wiper lever as I was bringing my right hand back to the steering wheel after a shift. This happened several times during the event. Annoying, but never caused a problem.

I also find that with a full containment seat in both cars, the 350 is harder to get into, even though it doesn't have door bars like the 302S. In the 350, even with the seat all the way back and the steering wheel all the way up and forward, the room between the sides of the seat that hold your legs and the steering wheel is tight. I always remove the steering wheel to get in and out in the 302S.

I also found that in doing a 5-4 downshift in the 350, that my arm positioning seems a little clumsy. Don't know how that feels in the 302S, because I don't need 5th when driving hard, because it will go 150 in 4th.

I did install an Autoblip in the 350 and I like it, at least when I remember to turn it on. Once, I tried to turn it on when we were on the first lap, but couldn't seem to get it to turn on. My son prefers to go without it, as he is much better at manually blipping the throttle on a downshift.

The 350 is certainly a good track car, but the 302S feels like a real race car, because that's what it is.

Nice driving. Interesting to see the difference between the 2 cars.

You should look getting an external GPS for Harris.
http://www.gps-laptimer.de/compatibility/ios

That's the one I used and been very happy
https://www.amazon.com/Dual-GPS-1020-XGPS160-SkyPro-Receiver/dp/B00E65TNYE?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&tag=harslap-20

Excellent write up!! How many events have you guys run in your 350 vs the 302S? Also, you mention you ran factory 302S wheels - do you mean the 18-in BBS wheels?

Post up some photos if you have any - would love to see your set up at RA with both cars - single, large trailer or two?? Between my brother and our dad, we have three cars and are looking at possible solutions to get multiple cars to the tracks we frequent...

LS587 said:

We both think the 302S is easier to push to the limit, at least at road America, which is a combination of high speed sections with tight turns at the end of those sections. The reason is the ABS action in the 350. If you hit the brakes a little too hard braking late at the end of the high speed sections, the 350 could get a little squirrely. At a non-horsepower track, that would probably not be a problem.

I talked to Nick a few times before his crash, and he said that he did not see the same ABS issue with his 350R, even though running the same pads as me. But maybe the R calibration is different??? And, he was running 315's on the front, which would give his car more front traction.

I did notice that after just the first session, the holes in the rotors were filling up with brake material, and also noticed that the rotors were grooved pretty badly at the end of the event. Nick said he has experienced the same thing, and said he would be switching to Girodisc floating slotted rotors. The 302S has Brembo floating slotted rotors and they are still in decent shape, after nearly 2 years of use, missing a couple of events last year due to a blown engine.

Going around turns, they were similar. In the Carousel, a large radius 180 degree turn, I'd say the cars were the same in terms of feeling how fast you could go without sliding outward on the radius.

In the 350 video, you see the windshield wiper come on for one cycle, which is because I hit the wiper lever as I was bringing my right hand back to the steering wheel after a shift. This happened several times during the event. Annoying, but never caused a problem.

I also find that with a full containment seat in both cars, the 350 is harder to get into, even though it doesn't have door bars like the 302S. In the 350, even with the seat all the way back and the steering wheel all the way up and forward, the room between the sides of the seat that hold your legs and the steering wheel is tight. I always remove the steering wheel to get in and out in the 302S.

I also found that in doing a 5-4 downshift in the 350, that my arm positioning seems a little clumsy. Don't know how that feels in the 302S, because I don't need 5th when driving hard, because it will go 150 in 4th.

I did install an Autoblip in the 350 and I like it, at least when I remember to turn it on. Once, I tried to turn it on when we were on the first lap, but couldn't seem to get it to turn on. My son prefers to go without it, as he is much better at manually blipping the throttle on a downshift.

The 350 is certainly a good track car, but the 302S feels like a real race car, because that's what it is.

Click to expand...

Wish I would have made it out to run with you guys. That is an excellent write-up, and very similar to what we experienced at Track Attack running the GT350 the first day and the Boss 302FRS race cars the second day.

I vividly remember the day that motor let go right in front of me while chasing your son in the 302S at the same RA event a year ago. In fact I was retelling that story to someone else just today. I was completely enveloped in white smoke, thankfully just past the kink. So glad you got it back running strong so quickly.

Do you plan to go with 315s square on the GT350 next time out?

Answering questions from the above two replies.

RA was the first high speed event for the 350. Ran NASA TT at NCM in March, but that was on street tires in cold and wet weather. Have about 10 events on the 302S, mostly NASA.

The 302S wheels are the Ford Performance 19 inch wheels. Same as the Laguna Seca wheels, but painted black.

I and my 2 sons started running Mustang and Shelby club events back in 99. Started with a 66 Mustang shared with older son. Then got a well setup 95 Cobra, and later an 01 Cobra, so we didn't need to share cars. Started out hauling 1 car, tools and race tires in an enclosed trailer and driving 2 cars. Then, added an open trailer to haul 2 cars. Even tried pulling the open trailer with a rollback car carrier, so all 3 could be hauled. In 2012, I set out to find a good used lift gate stacker trailer that could haul 3 cars, plus a used class 8 truck based RV to pull the trailer. Found what I wanted in 2 different states. It's a great setup, but had to get used to driving an 85 foot long rig.

Regarding tires on the 350, I bought 2 sets of the N4SM R spec wheels. Had 315 and 295 tires mounted on one set, but didn't need to use them. I'll remove the 295's from the front wheels an mount 315's for next time I use the 350. Can use the 295's on the 302S. I'll continue to use the 302S for NASA TT, and reserve the 350 for other events. Probably use it once or twice more this year.

Swiss Boss said:

Nice driving. Interesting to see the difference between the 2 cars.

You should look getting an external GPS for Harris.
http://www.gps-laptimer.de/compatibility/ios

That's the one I used and been very happy
https://www.amazon.com/Dual-GPS-1020-XGPS160-SkyPro-Receiver/dp/B00E65TNYE?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&tag=harslap-20

Click to expand...

Curious as to where you keep or mount the GPS antenna in the car?

AMPowerJ said:

Curious as to where you keep or mount the GPS antenna in the car?

Click to expand...

Use double stick EZ Pass velcro and put it right on the windshield behind the rear view mirror. Works perfect and holds a charge for a full day at least.