From the Jalopnik review of the GT500 at Road Atlanta:
http://jalopnik.com/5911657/first-dr...d-shelby-gt500
During Ford's market research, they determined that approximately 93% of GT500 buyers do nothing but cruise around town in these cars. The remaining 7% will take it to the drag strip. "much less" than 7% do any other type of racing, such as taking it to an auto cross track. This is about 1-3% of buyers.
What I want to know is:
Did Chevy's market research indicate the same #'s or did they determine that their prospective buyers would take this car to track racing events other than drag racing far more than the 1-3% the GT500 team determined? 3%(generous) of the ~5000 they sell every year is 150 cars.
I think the answer is that 90%+ of buyers for both cars will do the same thing: just drive them to work and around town on nice days.
With that said, Ford is letting you choose your performance level rather than forcing a buyer to have something they'll never use. In this case, "coolers".
Ford will sell you a $3495 shock/spring/wheel package. They will also sell you a $2995 "cooler" track package. Neither package will help you on the drag strip, where the market researched proved is the only place real life buyers do any type of competitive racing. These prices are also absurdly overpriced and will make the 50 year old overweight career middle manager buyer think twice before checking every box on the order form.
"Do I really need a differential cooler? I'll never race this thing, just forget about it."
With all this said, I believe the ZL1 should have went the same route and made the fancy suspension and coolers optional, allowing for a lower real world price. I think the take rate for these options would be low as well.
I also think the base $54,995 GT500 will beat a base $56,295 2012 ZL1 at the drag strip and on a road course. The 2 options you think are mandatory on the GT500 will only widen the performance gap between the 2 cars.