5 DOT 0

My family and I drove 280 miles round trip to check out a black Boss LS at the San Jose auto show. I saw the silver LS in person at the Sacramento show last November but I didn't get to sit in it and I didn't make up my mind to buy one until after the show. Now that I have one on order I wanted to check out the interior. When I arrived the car was locked and I asked the product specialist to open the car for me to sit in. He stated it was sold and he couldn't open it. When I told him I had ordered one he directed me to the head guy who said he'd get the keys and meet me over there. The product specialist guy showed up a few minutes later and let my family and me sit in the car for about 10 minutes. Both guys were very friendly and helpful.

Here are my impressions of the car:

The Recaro Seats: I didn't pay attention to the cloth the first time I saw the car. But after sitting in them I like the cloth a lot. Photos of the cloth can look like it's smooth nylon. It's not. It reminds me of ballistic nylon if you know what that is. As someone else told me it's very appropriate for the car and should wear well. For the record I'm 6'2" and weigh 200 lbs and they are a nice fit for my size. I do think it's great that Ford offered an appropriate seat for the Boss.

The Dash: The aluminum plates on the dash are darker than on the current GT500. I think I like the GT500 a touch better but both look very cool. The same aluminum trim from the GT500 is in the Boss and adds a touch of class to the interior over the regular GT's chrome. Overall the interior looks exactly like you'd expect a modern Boss to look.

The Clutch: The clutch feel is a fair bit heavier than a GT. It's not overly heavy but it will take a little effort to depress it. There was a Corvette Z06 sitting a couple of cars away and it's clutch was like butter compared to the the Boss clutch. The shifter also had nice short throws.

The Exhaust: I have been somewhat critical of the exhaust turndowns, thinking if they were really focused on keeping the car light why did they include them? From everything I've read there is no performance increase from opening them up so their inclusion is somewhat gimmicky from my perspective. I have no doubt they will sound bad a$$ but again if there is no performance improvement including them doesn't fit with the overall goal. Anyway here's some photos of the exhaust that you might find interesting. I have not seen these shots anywhere else. As you can see the resonator (or whatever it is) hangs pretty low and is easily the lowest point of the car. I'm sure the first radical speed bump you go over will damage them. Let's hope production cars have tucked them up higher.

I saw another photo that looked like the exhaust tip was welded over the original GT tip. From these photos they are not.

BTW the black paint job on this car was really nice, like it was poured on. It reminded me of an Acura NSX paint job. Let's hope the production cars look this good.

Let me know if you have any questions.

phytrpilot

[quote=5 DOT 0;5995263]My family and I drove 280 miles round trip to check out a black Boss LS at the San Jose auto show. I saw the silver LS in person at the Sacramento show last November but I didn't get to sit in it and I didn't make up my mind to buy one until after the show. Now that I have one on order I wanted to check out the interior. When I arrived the car was locked and I asked the product specialist to open the car for me to sit in. He stated it was sold and he couldn't open it. When I told him I had ordered one he directed me to the head guy who said he'd get the keys and meet me over there. The product specialist guy showed up a few minutes later and let my family and me sit in the car for about 10 minutes. Both guys were very friendly and helpful.

Here are my impressions of the car:

The Recaro Seats: I didn't pay attention to the cloth the first time I saw the car. But after sitting in them I like the cloth a lot. Photos of the cloth can look like it's smooth nylon. It's not. It reminds me of ballistic nylon if you know what that is. As someone else told me it's very appropriate for the car and should wear well. For the record I'm 6'2" and weigh 200 lbs and they are a nice fit for my size. I do think it's great that Ford offered an appropriate seat for the Boss.

The Dash: The aluminum plates on the dash are darker than on the current GT500. I think I like the GT500 a touch better but both look very cool. The same aluminum trim from the GT500 is in the Boss and adds a touch of class to the interior over the regular GT's chrome. Overall the interior looks exactly like you'd expect a modern Boss to look.

The Clutch: The clutch feel is a fair bit heavier than a GT. It's not overly heavy but it will take a little effort to depress it. There was a Corvette Z06 sitting a couple of cars away and it's clutch was like butter compared to the the Boss clutch. The shifter also had nice short throws.

The Exhaust: I have been somewhat critical of the exhaust turndowns, thinking if they were really focused on keeping the car light why did they include them? From everything I've read there is no performance increase from opening them up so their inclusion is somewhat gimmicky from my perspective. I have no doubt they will sound bad a$$ but again if there is no performance improvement including them doesn't fit with the overall goal. Anyway here's some photos of the exhaust that you might find interesting. I have not seen these shots anywhere else. As you can see the resonator (or whatever it is) hangs pretty low and is easily the lowest point of the car. I'm sure the first radical speed bump you go over will damage them. Let's hope production cars have tucked them up higher.

I saw another photo that looked like the exhaust tip was welded over the original GT tip. From these photos they are not.

BTW the black paint job on this car was really nice, like it was poured on. It reminded me of an Acura NSX paint job. Let's hope the production cars look this good.

Let me know if you have any questions.



What is that yellow "gunk" melted on the exhaust pipe?

5 DOT 0

Yellow gunk of course. Some sort of repair I guess. I suggest you edit your post and delete the photos.

askjeffro

Great first hand impressions, thank you. I'm hoping Ford brings one to the Chicago Auto Show in February so I can evaluate first hand as well.

PTRocks

Looks like some "Caution" tape or maybe a tie down strap.

5 DOT 0

While it could be melted caution tape it's not a tie down. Basically gunk.

phytrpilot

Didn't mean to take page space. And had to fiddle around to get the pics out of my question. Call me PC tech challenged but still a Mustang guy.

cloud9

5 DOT 0 thanks for the writeup and pics. Can you point to the locaiton of the "attenuator discs" and the place where we can remove them in your pics? I assume it's the two bolts on the far right side of the 3rd pic?

5 DOT 0

I believe that's the spot. I wasn't taking this photo to show that but rather to show how low the resonator sits. I have better photos (not taken by me) that show the location of the attenuator discs. If you want I can email them to you.

cloud9

1FAFP90

Thanks for the impressions! I'm envious - I haven't seen one yet.

2012YellowBoss

I assumed they were here. This is a pic of a LS underside.

5 DOT 0

They are and the flange is barely visible in my third photo.

A note about the ride height. The front of the car looks fine but the back sticks up high enough to fit tractor wheels in there. Ford states they lowered the front 11 mm's and the rear 1 mm relative to a GT. I wish they had lowered the car 1" both front and back.

PTRocks

I suspect that they would have lowered the back more, but that would have meant a new Panhard bar to re-center the rear axle. Too much $$$.

Bones Applesauce

When you talk about the materials on the seat, was the entire seat covered with same fabric or were there any grippier Alcantara inserts?

cdynaco

But don't some of those minor tweaks have something to do with weight transfer under acceleration - rather than appearance?

5 DOT 0

Look for photos and you'll see the breakdown of what's where. I'm not sure the synthetic suede on the seats is Alcantara. That stuff is very expensive and I suspect they used something else. I think the Alcantara is only used on the steering wheel. My comment is about the other fabric on the seat.

5 DOT 0

No doubt Ford has their reasons. My comment is strictly on appearance. It looks like the Boss 302S has been lowered front and rear, not that they're the same of course.

askjeffro

I'm confidant the quad exhaust setup will sound unique and awesome, but doesn't that defeat the intent of trying to make the car lighter? I have a difficult time believing that the quad exhaust does anything for power, but I'm willing to be corrected.

5 DOT 0

That's why I've been "somewhat critical" of the quad setup.