Flew down to Atlanta to pick up the car Saturday a.m., spent Saturday and Sunday crusing back up to Cleveland.
First Impressions:
The car is very entertaining to drive; maintained speed with traffic at 80mph through most of Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Something about the roads in Ohio set off the suspension a little bit in Ohio (frequency of frost heaves?). By the way, the mountains were beautiful, but I think it's more scenic east of I75 when you really get into the Smoky Mountains.
The power was a little underwhelming at first - only 25hp more than a stock Mustang GT, but it is very useable when passing (traction control is defeated by Shelby, so off the line power is a little weak).
Handling is terrific, exhaust is entertaining - 'music' really comes on when you are at speed and jump on it. Seats are great; almost 12 hours of driving with little fatique. The chin spoiler is a weak spot in the add on body work. It's very low and held on by plastic snaps which apparently grind off eventually and parts start falling off.
We got hit by a pretty good thunderstorm in Tennessee, road manners in the wet were very good, but the non-functional hood scoop acts as a pretty good cistern to collect rain water.
Mileage was surprisingly good at an average of 24.3mpg, and the Sirius radio (while looking a little tacky and hard to see the display) was great.
The car does generate a lot of attention. It doesn't seem as if many people were aware of the Hertz/Shelby connection.
All in all, a fun car! Is it worth the premium to pay for the relative rarity of the Hertz car versus the Shelby CS? (or for that matter, more than a stock Mustang GT?). For me it was; I have a little bit of history that I can still drive and enjoy.
By the way, mine is No.452 if anybody ever rented it, would like to hear any stories, (unless you wrecked it
)
Dan
New Shelby to get in my stable!
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