The new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a different animal than its predecessor. If you would’ve asked me to just take the very last edition to a highway training course, I’d have been leery. That vehicle was manufactured for straight-line top rated pace operates higher than all. But rapidly ahead to nowadays and it really is a different story. The new GT500 is however a drag-strip stunner, but adds a supporting of apex-looking prowess to its bag of performance tricks.
Supercharged brute
The big element of what tends to make the GT500 a GT500 is its hulking 5.two-liter supercharged V8. With the support of an Eaton supercharger pushing 12 psi into the cylinders, the hand-designed motor churns out a hearty 760 horsepower and 623 pound-feet of torque. Channeling electric power to the rear wheels is a Tremec-sourced 7-pace twin-clutch transmission. Together the drivetrain pairing receives the coupe to sixty mph in three.three seconds and permits it to go over the quarter mile in 10.7 seconds, on to an electronically limited top rated pace of one hundred eighty mph.
To support the Shelby obtain these extraordinary straight-line benefits, the GT500 has an built-in line-lock purpose for pro-level burnouts (or for warming the rear tires), a reconfigurable start regulate and a DCT that shifts gears in just 80 milliseconds. I know, there is certainly a big contingent of manual gearbox purists out there cringing at the reality that a adhere just isn’t accessible, but there is certainly no denying the advantage a nicely-tuned DCT provides to the desk — quick shifts signifies more quickly acceleration.
2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500: A star on a drag strip and highway training course
The DCT pays dividends on highway classes, much too. All-around the two.two-mile, 11-switch GingerMan Raceway in western Michigan, the Shelby’s gearbox is a quick-shifting marvel, allowing me in its place emphasis on inserting the vehicle in which it needs to be. The paddle shifters are not Ferrari-responsive to commands, but the Shelby is darn fantastic, to the position in which I really don’t actually miss having a traditional manual transmission.
The GT500 rockets out of corners with authority, with electric power accessible at each position in the rev-assortment — though the motor is specially muscular concerning 5,500 and 7,500 rpm. The noise that comes out of the energetic exhaust system is phenomenal, to boot. Receiving a fantastic operate out of Transform 10B onto GingerMan’s longest straightaway signifies surpassing 140 mph just isn’t a problem in advance of digging into the brakes. In the interest of self-preservation, I strike 136 mph in advance of lifting, giving myself generous area to make it safely close to the 90-degree ideal hander at Transform 11 onto the front straight.
New handling tricks
It really is well worth noting that my Shelby examination vehicle is optimally established up to torch a highway training course. It really is equipped with the optional $18,500 Carbon Fiber Keep track of Package that ups aerodynamics with front splitter wickers and a GT4 rear wing. This GT500 also wears 20-inch carbon fiber wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup two tires and the adjustable strut top rated mounts have a Ford Functionality-suggested track alignment. The other big factor to mention is that this vehicle is outfitted with a rear hoop, which ups structural rigidity.
Carbon fiber wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup two tires and splitter wickers arrive with the GT500’s optional Carbon Fiber Keep track of Package.
Jon Wong/Roadshow
With that out of the way, this 4,081-pound GT500 has me questioning logic at the stop of each and every of my fifteen-minute track classes. From the jump, the Shelby eagerly obeys everything I talk to, with the Brembos confidently slowing in brake zones, turning in promptly when cranking the Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel and hunkering down with heaps of grip by sharp corners with managed physique roll. Off the racing line a tiny? No problem — the GT500 has more than enough front-stop grip to make mid-corner corrections to get again on the appropriate trajectory. With the exception of the brake pedal acquiring a touch more time at the stop of operates, the hefty Mustang rarely suffers any performance falloff lap following lap, which is doubly extraordinary on a hot and humid 88-degree working day.
The Shelby’s steering is weighty and communicative, the Michelins execute magnificently over prolonged operates and the security regulate does its work virtually invisibly guiding the scenes. The GT500 transfers fat facet-to-facet with aplomb, it really is comfy at significant-speeds and composed less than braking. It really is complicated to locate several dynamic faults with this vehicle on track — which tends to make me speculate just how considerably improved it could be if Ford engineers set a larger emphasis on lessening fat.
On track, the Recaro’s excess facet bolstering arrive in serious helpful.
Jon Wong/Roadshow
Tame on avenue
As hardcore as this Shelby appears and performs on a track, it has a softer facet suited for normal avenue driving. Phone up the car’s Usual location and you will soften the adaptive dampers, lighten steering and peaceful the exhaust. This tends to make freeway cruises comfy more than enough, the cabin being semi-peaceful and the Recaro seats delivering aid in all the ideal locations. The dampers present more than enough give, smoothing out most impacts, but if you arrive throughout rutted streets the meaty tires will cause the GT500 to tramline.
The drivetrain returns an EPA-estimated 12 miles for each gallon in the metropolis and 18 mpg on the freeway, which match the figures I noticed. Sadly, these figures are lower more than enough for the GT500 to be slapped with a $two,600 fuel guzzler tax.
The GT500 packs a lot of highway existence with an intense, hunkered stance thanks to the big front air intakes, vented hood, carbon wheels and big wing. As with all Mustangs, cabin create high-quality is on par with opponents like Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, which means it really is fantastic, but not fantastic. My Shelby tester does have a tiny excess model with carbon fiber dash trim that I want prolonged to the middle console. As is, there is certainly a big piece of plastic topping the console that doesn’t seem terrible but would absolutely seem considerably cooler in carbon and more sizeable paddle shifters in its place of the flimsy plastic kinds are on my want list, much too.
Ford’s tried using-and-true Sync three system handles infotainment functions in the hottest Shelby Mustang.
Jon Wong/Roadshow
Infotainment tech falls to Ford’s acquainted Sync three system with an eight-inch touchscreen controlling a 9-speaker seem system, satellite radio, Wi-Fi hotspot, Apple CarPlay and Android Car. These wanting for some more goodies can spring for an optional Technological know-how Package for a 12-speaker B&O audio setup, navigation and blind-place checking with rear cross-visitors warn. In addition to BSM, other energetic protection programs are not presented on the hottest Shelby.
How I’d spec it
Building my ideal Shelby GT500 is effortless. Make mine Ford Functionality Blue and I would only check a single possibility box: the very high priced $18,500 Carbon Fiber Keep track of Package. For me, though, this a single is well worth it — I’d do as several track days as I could. That provides the selling price tag of my properly spec’d vehicle to $92,595, which is a little much less expensive than my $ninety three,385 examination vehicle.
Make my GT500 a Carbon Fiber Keep track of Package vehicle, be sure to.
Jon Wong/Roadshow
Undisputed Mustang king
The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 commences at $74,095, such as $one,195 for vacation spot and the aforementioned fuel guzzler tax. Which is rather a little bit more than Chevrolet’s have hearth-breathing supercharged Camaro ZL1, which begins at $sixty five,695 with vacation spot and guzzler taxes. 3-pedal purists can get a 6-pace manual in the Chevy, much too, but it is outgunned by the Ford, the Chevy only developing 650 hp.
Specified the preference concerning the two, I’d give the nod to the Shelby. It really is an emotional vehicle which is effortless to like. It really is received intense appears, a riveting soundtrack, all the punch you will ever require and it can now bust and move close to a racetrack with the best of them. It really is a entire Mustang deal that doesn’t have to make any apologies.