Hennessey Mustang GT350R – long-term review

Left… yawn… left…” Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard the lazy cliches about US muscle cars’ cornering abilities. But if there’s one US car to disprove this Luddite theory, it’s the GT350 R. Honed for the track it generates 0.89g in the Yankee-loved figure-of-eight test and loves a bit of bent tarmac. But, annoyingly, the Mustang has recently played into the lazy cliche.

 With those steamroller front tyres, the Hennessey inherently likes to wander and sniff out cambers on UK roads. It’s like an overactive dog on a lead, but instead of reining it in and shouting “Heel!”, you tug on the wheel and shout: “Please stop before we crash!” But even while cruising on the UK’s best attempt at a smooth, flat motorway, I couldn’t help but notice my forearm aching as I’d have to constantly tug the wheel to keep the thing in line.

Suspecting that alignment was wonky, it went to ATS Newbury. It was. The nearside was out by 1.8 degrees and offside by 2.7. Net result? It was turning right. Constantly. A Google search for the correct set-up, and £45 later, it was arrow-straight again. 

It could have been knocked out a variety of ways; most notably having to off-road in Utah for the TV show or while being strapped down and jiggled about while being sent from the US. But, annoyingly, this skewed alignment has caused the inside tyre to wear on the inside shoulder. Luckily, even though they don’t look it (the hilariously aggressive US-spec Cup 2 ZP tyres are pretty much slicks out the box) we’ve been assured they’re legal. Yippee.