Zac Quinn 
The S550 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 is going to go down as one of the all-time greatest muscle cars. With a uniquely flat-plane crankshaft, 5.2L “Voodoo” V8 engine, the S550 Mustang GT350 had an attitude that was unmatched by anything we saw from its crosstown rivals. But the origin story of what led to this GT350 getting 900 horsepower is also a story of why the GT350 is to be approached with caution.
This Barra-engined Shelby GT350 was created due to an unfortunate incident with the Voodoo 5.2 V8 engine. As TheDudeinBlue stated in his YouTube video, Adam LZ found himself in an unfortunate situation as the oil filter shook off from its mount while driving, and ended up catching the car on fire. The GT350 still bears the scars to back up the story, but the tragedy resulted in replacing one crazy Ford engine for another.
The Ford Barra engine range includes an inline-6 and SOHC V8, both found in the Ford Australia Falcon between 2002 and 2016. This particular engine – the straight six – makes 900 ponies and 900 lb-ft of torque thanks to a massive Garrett turbocharger. The engine is paired to a full sequential PPG transmission, which is one of the significant factors making this Shelby GT350 muscle car so crazy. The clutch is required at low RPMs, but at high RPMs, no clutch is needed; simply shift and go. However, as pointed out by the host, the sweet spot for shifting is around 6500 RPM, but when you’re trying to focus on the road, it’s hard to pay attention to that when you’re opening up the throttle.
While the transmission is simply something that you have to get used to with time, the front end is truly what makes driving the Barra Shelby GT350 sketchy. In order to fit the engine into the car, the front sway bar needed to be removed due to how low the oil can sits. As a result, the GT350 has become “floaty,” and shifting the car aggressively causes the front end to sway, which, as we can see in the video, doesn’t seem like a fun experience. However, the car is still being worked on, and these things could be fixed in the future.
