aksaleen

Speaking of Saleen never making the cut against Shelby, try putting a Shelby Series 1 against an S7.

hayburner

A little off topic??Start a new thread.

conv_stang

i like them both. i didnt like the saleen till the dealer over heregot like 6 of them with 6 more supercharged ones on the way. they definitely look better in person. but i think comparing a saleen to the shelby is like comparing a mazda 6 to a bmw 3 series. both are sports sedans both on completely different levels. and saleen sells b/c not everyone has or can afford one. while the shelby will be faster for cheaper. there will be 7-10k of them each year to maybe 1000 saleens. just my 2 cents

Robert

Jesus or George Bush?

JessicaRabbitt

Actually, its not that off topic. Saleen produces the S7, not just the 281.

Dont be so short tempered Jack.

hayburner

Short tempered???....Moi?? No Ma'am ,I am indeed the happy dog.
I was just thinkin' the top of the page said," Is the S281 Saleen better than the Shelby?" and that we were in the 2005+ High Performance Mustang section.The question itself makes me smile.

Saleen produces the Saleen S7????? Wha...!!??!! No way! How do you know all this stuff anyway? Well, it's been a good day, I learned something.

An S7/Series I comparison (since it's ok to go a little off topic per Moderator Goddess) is like comparing a Maclaren F1 to a Ferrari Spider.These cars have different missions. One thing to note about the S7, though, is that Saleen will make you pay $700k to go 0-60 under 4 seconds. You have to pay alot to get a fast Saleen.Shelby has more bang for the buck...still not cheap,but the better value.

The S281 is selling only because it's available now and the GT 500 isn't. Steve
Saleen has got to be wondering what is he going to do next fall.Some advice??
Don't make too many of those kits.After August 2006 you won't be able to give them away.

Realdeal

Saleen also has a big part in the Ford GT production and you can see how well they handled that , with all the recalls and motor problems
Ford even had to farm out the retrofit of the control arm to Roush. Every 05 saleen ive seen on dealers lots has had some type of poor fitting body panel and body seams. Just ask yourself should a $40++ car have body panel fit problems compare it to other $40++ cars out there and you can see that it is not a $40+++ car. I could afford a Saleen but no thank you.Ill just mod what i have and laugh at the Saleens in my rearview mirror all day long. Can we say oooverpriced!

iceman241

Actually there building a Saleen that is going to make more hp then the shelby but be more.

TURBO 05

Saleen Mustangs have never been worth their price, you can always add a blower to a GT and be faster then a Saleen for $15k less, the Shelby on the other hand is a steal of a deal and well worth it

PeterPienaar

I think the previous-model Saleens are gorgeous, but I can see why some folks wouldn't like them.

But tell me, why didn't Saleen go out of business several years ago? In '03 the Cobra was $35k for 390hp (wink wink), and the Saleen was $45-50k for about normal GT horsepower (not sure how much exactly). For the current generation, the relation is about the same, or possibly even more in favour of the Saleen.

The point is, Saleen fills a niche of exclusivity and flashiness. Those two qualities alone go far, in the eyes of many buyers, toward justifying a relatively poor $-vs-hp ratio. Yes, the Cobra offers better performance for less money, but it's low-key and pretty accessible. Plenty of drivers are willing to pay in order to stand out, or in order to have the only car like it in the whole zip code.

Maybe y'all are right, Saleen will "price themselves out of reality," but if so, history says it won't be for the reasons y'all are giving.

Just my two cents.

hayburner

Thing is...Shelby and Saleen haven't really been head to head on Mustangs 'til now. Hence the hole in your logic. Saleen is gonna get whacked.

iceman241

Yeah saleen is going to get whacked since every magazine says the GT500 is going to be the quickest most powerful mustang and with a few mods will be capable of having 700hp and waxing the new z06.

holderca1

Here are the numbers for the 2004:
GT 260 hp $23,870
Cobra 390 hp $34,200
S281 290 hp $36,629
S281 S/C 375 hp $42,322

PeterPienaar

You're right, but the Shelby is still the SVT Cobra, just a slightly different name. All that does is kick the Cobra's price/performance ratio up closer to Saleen territory. I don't really see that making the difference.

The same was true of the '03-'04 Cobra and the corresponding MY Z06 vette. There's really no major difference in proportion: both SVT, Saleen and the Z06 have gone up in price and performance; the standings are still in the same order, and the ratios are pretty similar.

If those numbers are accurate, I stand corrected. Thanks for info. I'll still point out the Cobra was $35k for 400 and the Saleen was $42k for 375. Yet both found a good market.

iceman241

Ether way the shelby is going to be the top mustang when it comes out and no other mustang stock will be able to beat it in the price or the performance.

aksaleen

2004 Saleen S-281 E 455 HP, the 05 E will have 500HP and 480 torque
It's funny how everyone thinks they know so much about Saleens, An older fellow in a 96 stang asked me why my car was so quick six cylinder. I own a S-281 SC, so I simply shook my head then explained that Saleen has never used a V-6. :scratch:

sranger

Here is how I see it...

The Non-supercharged model

This model is no better performance than a stock GT. The 18" wheels simply trade off the extra 25hp. It looks nice, but so does the Shelby. This is an easy win for the Shelby ( and GT for that matter )

The Supercharged model

At 400hp things are getting closer. The Shelby still has a hp advantage and it has forged internals which the Saleen does not. Still a win for the Shelby ( And GT if you add your own SC for that matter )

The Supercharges Extreme model

At 500hp and forged internals, I give the knod to Saleen. The shelby MSRP is less expensive, but demand is likely to drive the cost up to the saleen 'E" model. Advantage Saleen...

Bottom line, except for the 'E' model, the Saleen simply is not worth the extra cost. You can easly have the same ( or better ) looks and preformance if you buy a GT and add a few mods. Even a full Supercharger kit and body parts would still be less then 40K.....

P.S. These are just my opinions and we know what they are worth

holderca1

There is more to it than just a supercharger.

AbusiveWombat

What's the displacement of theExtreme? if it's 4.6 then IMO, I'd have to still give the knod to
Shelby. The GT500's 5.4 will certainly be able to eclipse 500hp, if it doesn't already stock.

holderca1

It's an S281-E, so it's a 281 or 4.6.

They used to make a S351, but no longer do so.