There is no doubting how much of a hoot the 2016 Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang is going to be on the track, and Ford->ke31 is fueling the fire by claiming that the track-prepped version of the new Shelby->ke81 will be as fast around the track as an equally track-ready 2014 Porsche 911 GT3. Now before you start looking for videos of the Shelby dominating the GT3->ke617 at the Nürburgring,->ke999 the track Ford is boasting a speed advantage at is Grattan Raceway in Belding, MI.

More importantly, Motor Authority is also reporting that Ford claims the GT350R is a full second faster than the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 around the 13-turn, two-mile road course located in central Michigan. With a starting price that is expected to be about $10,000 less than the current Z/28 and around half the price of the 911 GT3, the GT350R’s performance is now even more impressive.

The 2016 Shelby GT350R gets a healthy dose of weight reduction, dropping about 130 pounds compared to the highest-performing 2015 Ford Mustang GT model. The low 3,650-pound curb weight is thanks to the removal of the air conditioning, radio and back seat, which all make the GT350R about as close to a race Mustang->ke428 as you can legally drive on the street. The highlight of this car will be its high-revving (8,250-rpm redline) flat-plane-crank, 5.2-liter V-8 that produces 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque.

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Why it matters

While claiming to match speeds with a 911 GT3 on a single local track in Michigan might seem like a cheesy PR ploy, it’s still a claim that neither the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 nor the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat can make.

2016 Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang

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