ORIGINAL: elburrito99
I pondered this exact question for several months last year while I was searching for a Shelby. I ultimately chose a Saleen S281 SC. It is not my daily driver, but I do drive it 2-3x a week. Despite the similarities in price and power, the Saleen and Shelby are very different cars with very different ownership experiences. I based my decision to buy the Saleen on the following factors:
[blockquote]
1)Power -- 475hp (with the Saleen upgrade) is plenty of power for me. Minor upgrades should get you to 500+hp fairly easily. The Saleen can hit 60 in a little over 4 seconds and can easily smoke tires in first and second gear. Can you get 700hp out of the Shelby's iron block? Possibly. Would you want to drive that kind of power regularly on streets and in traffic? Not likely.
2) Handling -- I think the Saleen wins hands down. MM&FF magazine had the 435hp Saleen beating a C6 Vette'slap timeon a track. I've yet to see the Shelby do that. Even with an upgraded suspension, the Shelby has to deal with having so much weight sitting ahead of its front tires.
3) Speed -- The Saleen is a few hundred pounds lighter with about the same hp. Enough said.
4) Reliability -- Although the Shelby is untested,my guess is it will be more reliable than the Saleen because Ford is making 20k+ of them and they're not that different in many respects from stock Mustangs. I was not too bothered by this, since the Saleen has a full warranty (the '07 Saleen now has the longer 5-year Ford warranty for non-modified parts),and I don't need to rely on my Saleen to be a daily driver.
Be forewarned -- for either car, warranty repairs will take longer than stock Mustangs since dealers won't keep most of the upgraded/modified parts in stock.
5) Comfort -- I prefer the Saleen, with its upgraded interior and improved ride.
6) Exclusivity/uniqueness -- The Saleen is much more rare. I believe Saleen made 79 supercharged convertibles in '05. Ford is producing 10,000 Shelbys for '07 and '08 (I believe about 1/3 being convertibles). I have heard Ford will extend production into a 3rd year as well.
7) Design -- Literally every week or so a stranger will ask me what it is that I'm driving. Enough said.
8) Long-term value -- This is ultimately a crapshoot. But with about 10x as many Shelbys being made each year as supercharged Saleens, there will be far less supply of Saleens down the road. That generally equates to higher resale value years from now.
9) Intangibles --The sound of the Saleenis unbelievable (and much more agressive than the Shelby). And I love the way it looks and feels. I also love the stance of the car and how the wheelsfill up almost ever millimeter ofthe wheel wells (also much different than the Shelby). Saleen put a lot of thought and effort into the design of this car, and it shows.[/blockquote]

Ultimately, it is a very personal decision, so you have to go with your gut. I would strongly recommend actually sitting in both cars and test driving them (from what I understand, Saleen requires its dealers to allow customers to test drive their Saleens).

ORIGINAL: dvf1973

just want to restate that i like them all...i am looking at a saleen extreme right now, ans well as a trac pack and a few others...they aoll have great form and function,,, as far as me provong this or that,, i can throw that right back.. at the end of the day they are all really cool nice cars... from what i can tell theres a huge margin hee alot more saleen owners than roush owners on this forum, so id assume that can be looked at 2 ays, 1 way would be that saleens are more poular so thats why more people have them on here so yeah go with that, or that there just happens to be more saleen owners on here per chance and therefore the commentary is heavily swayed...if i could park a saleen a shelby and a roush in my driveway you can bet id love them all equally...for what each has to offer in its style, ability, options, comfort, etc...as far as comfort my truck out weighs the mustang 10 to 1..and cost half as much... i would just wait a bit and get a elaenor roneale... that thing is the *******

ORIGINAL: AmyVCTexas
I have no cred to vote but wanted to make an observation: from what I've read, more Roushes are produced than Saleens, yes? But there are clearly more Saleen owners on this forum.... perhaps Saleen owners are more enthusiastic about their cars? Maybe for a reason??
Just a thought.

ORIGINAL: AmyVCTexas
.... perhaps Saleen owners are more enthusiastic about their cars? Maybe for a reason??

Just a thought.

ORIGINAL: dvf1973
i dont know it really doesnt seem like theres many roush guys on here, theres a bunch over at fn sweet though...