masterofthepuppets99

My mom wants to buy a s197 gt automatic, so we test drove one today and i noticed that it seemed to grip the road alot better than my 2001 gt. it did lean alot more in corners though, which i lol'ed at! but i have a couple of questions: it seemed to grip the road better than my car, why? my tires are about 40% tread falken ziex ze512 and i have a pro-kit. would getting new tires solve my problem or does the s197 have a better designed chassis? the last question i have is the engine: on startup i heard an upper valvetrain noise. it sounds just like a 2v engine except louder. these modulars make all kinds of clankety tickety sounds( at least all the 2v's that i have heard do). not a problem. but it just seemed more pronounced than my 2v. are 3v's just noisy or does this engine have a problem?

isjoining

the S197 chassis is quite a bit stiffer compared to the sn95. That would probably help with handling.

tdcalhoun89

my dad's s197 engine is quiet "clanky" wise, doesn't make any of those noises, it runs pretty smooth compared to my lightly bolt-oned 2v, as for handling, they should both handle about the same... I'm pretty sure the new edge does handle better though (read this from several websites and been told by a ford sales man... but he didn't really know wtf he was talking about, just b.s.ing trying to act like he knew something about the cars on his lot)

I would recommend driving several cars that are the same bodystyle/engine/chassis before making a decision to purchase one. Goodluck!

mrtstang

I'm not familiar with the valve train noise that you're describing, but the S197 is a completely redesigned chassis, and will handle better overall. Both my dad and brother have 06 gt's, and i've had plenty of seat time in them. Even with better tires, you'll still have the stock suspension. It won't be enough to even things out in general.

masterofthepuppets99

thats exactly what we are going to do. i just convinced her to get a v8, since she had been shopping for a v6...ftl...but i had never heard a 3v before and wasnt sure if that was normal. after all my 2v is noisy as hell but not that bad.