Carroll Shelby had a simple dream; turn the Ford Mustang into a competitive road racer that sets the bar for how a sports car should handle. The result was the original Shelby GT350, which has been reborn for the sixth-generation Mustang as a 21st century road racer that raises the bar for handling and performance, including a Mustang-first MagneRide suspension system.

“When we started working on this car, we wanted to build the best possible Mustang for the places we most love to drive – challenging back roads with a variety of corners and elevation changes, and at the track on weekends,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. “Every change we made to this car was driven by the functional requirements of a powerful, responsive powerplant – nimble, precise handling and massive stopping power.”

Stiffer and lighter aluminum front knuckles, hubs, and bearings form the cornerstone of this new, better-handling Mustang. Thicker anti-roll and sway bars improve body control, while continuously variable MagneRide dampers adjust almost instantaneously, providing “…a degree of suspension performance never seen in a production Mustang” Ford’s words, not ours.

Where the Shelby GT500 was an all-out straight-line muscle machine, Ford has gone in a different direction with the Shelby GT350. Though it still boasts plenty of horsepower, it’s clear that this new Shelby is intended more for corners than drag strips. Hence the two-piece cross-drilled iron rotors with aluminum hats, the largest rotors Ford has ever put on a production Mustang, coming in at a tremendous 394-millimeter for the front rotors and 380-millimeter for the rear rotors.

Ford increased the torsional stiffness of the GT350 by 28% over the previous model, ensuring that the suspension geometry stays true even under the most aggressive driving. The standard Shelby GT350 gets stiffened aluminum-alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, while the GT350R gets carbon fiber wheel, a first for a major automaker.

The new Shelby GT350 is keeping Carroll’s dream alive, and keeping the Mustang at the front of the road racing pack.