Norse1974

Ive been comparing the 5.0GT to the Boss 302 & to be honest I cant justify the price differance.. I mean I know its a collectable car & yadda,yadda,yadda but really the performance differance is not that drastic between 5.0 & a Boss. There's people running 12.0xs with just tires on a 5.0 & the Boss video shows an 11.7xs with tires.?.?. Anyone else seeing what Im saying here?

allinon72

The Boss is meant for the track not the dragstrip.

parchisi

Yup, compare skidpad, slolom, track (twisty kind) numbers, and you'll see why the Boss is superior. But if you're just a straight line guy, the Boss doesn't really make much sense over the stock GT aside from the name and exclusivity. Although the Boss does have beefed up internals and new intake and tweaked cams which does improve its straight line performance...just maybe not $10k worth of improvement.

Derf00

Go get the May 2011 issue of Motortrend with a yellow boss and a red camaro ZL1on the cover and learn about it.

the Boss puts a 2010 GT500 and a Audi R-8 to shame at a track (not just straigh line performance).

if you can find a Boss at MSRP (which is highly unlikely) it's well worth the cost over a fully loaded S197 GT ($40 ish K)

444 hp vs 412 doesn't sound like a big deal but the Boss's power curve is significantly flatter than regular GT which means its power is available at almost any RPM.

REDBOSS1

Also with the beefed up internals, you could put an SC on it and run high boost numbers with zero worrie.

pdonket

Just wanted to throw in that I wouldn't say the Boss put the R-8 to shame on the track, it hardly bested it and in a number of turns it didn't beat the R-8. Now would I say based on the price difference, that the Boss earns itself an awesome reputation for being an R8 at all? Definitely.

The second part I don't know if that's a very fair comparison. To be honest, both of those buyers would be looking for very different things in their cars. Someone who buys a fully loaded GT wants performance but also wants luxuries inside of the car. He wants the nice stereo, a glass roof, upgraded leather seats, navigation system etc. The buyer of a Boss 302 is paying for literally nothing but go-fast parts.

Personally I don't see the Boss 302 as worth the extra cash, and that's because I'd take a comfortable, more luxury build interior along with a still badass engine platform, over something that's completely meant for the track. This one is a to-each-his-own kind of thing, but for me, I'm no track junkie, I love the subtleties of a sports car in every day driving, but not so harsh that I don't want to drive it for long periods of time.

Derf00

I'm not going to argue on perception of the Boss putting the R-8 to shame. My perception is based on the fact that an R8 starts at $115K for the base model 4.2 and has a significant amount more of engineering, time, and effort spent on designing it. That's more than double the Boss 302 Laguna Seca version which wasn't even tested and I'm sure would walk even further away from the R8.

It's like a comparison between teh Nissan GTR and the Lexsus LFA...hmmm 80K vs 260K, GTR kicks LFA butt at a third of the cost. Anyways, getting off topic

pascal

Are you guys really giving Motor Trend that much credibility?
For a rag that hates domestic cars from day one, I couldn't care less about what they have to say.

I agree with Derf00 on dollar for dollar accomplishment between Euro and domestic cars...
European cars are overpriced for sure, especially now that Ford has been successful in road racing since 05 with the new platform.

parchisi

I agree with ya'all. For someone who likes the twisties, the Boss bang for the buck is phenomenal. But for Norse's apparent uses (based on his post at least) I'd say go with the regular 5.0 and put that extras cash towards a Ford Racing Whipple, some drag slicks, and wheels.

The Boss' engine is indeed more stout than the regular 5.0, but I think the engine is proving to be more capable that originally percieved. The powdered con rods were supposedly going to be the weak link, limiting boost potential, but it turns out they are doing a pretty good job. They can handle high horsepower, just not a crappy tune. Detonation will kill them. If you want more than the 600+hp that most of the superchargers seem to be offering, then yeah, its gonna cost you a lot more to play THAT game.

ShaneM

There is nothing about the boss 302 that is uncomfortable. IF you want leather, nav, and sync just say that. Nothing wrong with that but lacking those things certainly doesn't make a boss uncomfortable. Also you need to keep in mind the track key software isn't here yet. Who knows what the car will be like once that is. The car is made for the track for sure it will drag all you want too. You can build almost anything up to beat a boss anywhere with enough money.

Add up the cost of all the mods that the boss has and then look at putting similar mods on a gt and see what the costs add up to. Suspension, recaros, sticky rubber, torsen diff, forged internals, ported heads, hd valve train and more. I bet with labor you spend more than the boss. And you can buy them for sticker if you look and don't mind traveling.