The 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 is slated to use magnetic ride MagneRide suspension, and that’s a good thing. The new Shelby GT350 will be the first Ford vehicle to utilize the MagneRide suspension. This will allow for a multitude of adjustments in milliseconds. The company is aiming the GT350 to be the most “track-ready” Mustang of all time.
“The MagneRide computer system takes into account so many variables – from the obvious ones such as steering angle, pitch and yaw, to some measurements that are a bit more obscure,” says Brent Clark, vehicle dynamics supervisor. “Even ambient temperature measurements are fed into the computer to ensure optimal performance.”
Ford engineers went to the drawing board when it came to the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350’s rear suspension. They had to redesign the lower control arm. Research pointed to a more stable rear end if the springs were wound in a different direction on each side.
“When you are engineering the most track-ready Mustang of all time, you can’t take any shortcuts,” says Eric Zinkosky, suspension and vehicle dynamics technical specialist. “This isn’t an off-the-shelf solution for us – we engineered every component to perform as well as possible, both on and off the track.”
This, combined with injection-molded carbon fiber composite grille opening reinforcement, will provide a rigid base to allow for a much more stout platform for the track. This includes brakes on the 2016 Mustang GT350 Shelby which are 394-milimeter front rotors and 380-mm rear rotors. Interestingly Ford says, “After testing numerous brake setups, Ford Performance engineers discovered iron rotors provide improved performance and durability compared to carbon ceramic.” They go on to say, “Combined with six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers, these brakes experience virtually no fade in torture testing.”
Ford is clearly taking the track performance of the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 to another level. It can be argued that Ford is borrowing from the General Motors playbook. Then again, Ferrari is now using a form of the magnetic ride suspension as well. It will be interesting to see how good the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 truly is.
Speaking of Ford performance, check out this TFLcar first drive of the 2015 Mustang GT.
