Thursday 28th March 2013

Shelby GT 1000: New York Motor Show

Bonkers Mustang takes lunacy to more levels; Focus tuning to open new doors

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It’s easy for us to be snooty about the thought of a live-axle equipped Mustang with 1,200hp and snigger that it’s all about show rather than go – but spend five minutes in the company of Shelby American president John T Luft and you’re soon won over. Actually, you’ll be there for more than five minutes, the Ford PR man’s promise that ‘they’ll talk your ear off about the car…’ no overstatement.

That's 1,200hp under there. Yes, really.

Luft is everything you’d hope for from the boss of Shelby: a larger-than-life, back-slapping and hugely enthusiastic chap who, within minutes of meeting, was inviting us to Vegas to come and have some fun in some of their cars. Which was nice of him and, of course, we intend to.

But what about that Mustang? “When Ford give us a strong product to work with we’re happy,” he says, “and when they gave us the GT500 we all had to stop for a minute and thing, gee, where do we go from here.” It helped that the late Shelby himself had declared that a 1,000hp Mustang was on his bucket list according to Luft, and he got to see – and ride in – just that before he passed away last year. And was suitably delighted. That was a 5.5-litre car with the magic four figures; expanding to a 5.8 opened up the extra power (like it needed it) and the GT1000 was born.

Does it actually get off the line, though, or does it just sit there incinerating its tyres? Luft assures us the supercharged power delivery is actually – relatively – tractable and, off-boost, the car is surprisingly docile. But when the needle moves on the boost gauge things start getting interesting. Lunacy, sure. But the kind you can sort-of appreciate.

Focus ST's a new chapter for Shelby

At the other end of the spectrum Shelby’s 252hp Focus shows how times are changing both at Shelby and at Ford. But a Shelby-tuned front-driven hatchback? There is previous, Shelby having turbocharged the Dodge Omni back in the mid 80s with the Omni GLH. GLH? Goes Like Hell, obviously. Which all of a sudden makes ‘GTI’ sound terribly pretentious.

Anyway, like Ford, Shelby is very excited about the American awakening for hot hatches and Luft is keen to point out the Focus is a true Shelby and about more than just power. “Sure, you can put more power in it easily,” he says. “But you’ll torque steer off the road if you don’t set it up right.” The graphics packages aren’t shy – the classic Shelby stripes are the better option – but it’s an interesting new direction for this historic partnership.

[Wunderchoc]

'GLH'? Definitely a lot less vulgar than the 'FQ' Mitsubishi Evo designations...

(F*cking Quick, for those who aren't acquainted with this urban myth)

[Denver09]

It's about time the Mustang was updated, no? It's been around quite a while now

[ian mcwilliams]

The Mustang is just total bonkers!

The Focus is interesting - I've driven the latest ST and boy does it torque steer so I wonder how Shelby have overcome that in their 252bhp version.

[ayseven]

The Americans make great cars for going from A to B, as long as there are no turns involved. Corvette excepted, which is the greatest supercar deal of all time.

[mikesalt]

I wonder if there are Americans seething with rage at the influence of European demands on the pricetags of their muscle cars? These used to be performance bargains, albeit very simple machines, but due to our influence and requirement for modern suspension systems and Germanic interior comfort expectations, the bargain potential is diminishing.

[Shoshi]

ayseven said:

The Americans make great cars for going from A to B, as long as there are no turns involved. Corvette excepted, which is the greatest supercar deal of all time.

And the CTSV, and the Boss 302, and the Viper, and the Camaro ZL1... I will agree with you that the Vette is a supercar bargain.

[DiscoColin]

One wonders what the range on a tank of fuel for this is. Will it even make it between filling stations?

[irocfan]

ayseven said:

The Americans make great cars for going from A to B, as long as there are no turns involved. Corvette excepted, which is the greatest supercar deal of all time.

have you ever even DRIVEN a modern(ish) Yank car?


anyway that aside this is aweome

[Shoshi]

DiscoColin said:

One wonders what the range on a tank of fuel for this is. Will it even make it between filling stations?

It probably gets better mileage than a any number of AMG or M series cars.

[boxerTen]

A quick back of the envelope calculation, and being generous with the weight over the rear wheels under hard acceleration, finds this thing will wheelspin all the way to 150mph .

[urquattroGus]

ian mcwilliams said:

The Mustang is just total bonkers!

The Focus is interesting - I've driven the latest ST and boy does it torque steer so I wonder how Shelby have overcome that in their 252bhp version.

Was this in jest? 252 is the stock power output.

Also, reducing the torque steer is not difficult, most of all put a quaife LSD in there and look at suspension setup and tyres.

The Ameriacans seem to love the new ST, John Henessy has tuned one and has it as his daily driver, also various video tests love it as a "new benchmark"

Finally they seem to be catching onto the type of car that we have been enjoying for a long time.

[The Jolly Todger]

Needs more cowbell.

[Captain Muppet]

PH said:

Actually, you’ll be there for more than five minutes, the Ford PR man’s promise that ‘they’ll talk your ear off about the car…’ no overstatement.

Some overstatement, surely?

[DiscoColin]

Shoshi said:

DiscoColin said:

One wonders what the range on a tank of fuel for this is. Will it even make it between filling stations?

It probably gets better mileage than a any number of AMG or M series cars.

I actually rather doubt that, but more to the point - I said range. The Mustang has only a 60l tank and into a 5.8l V8 with a supercharger tuned to 1200hp that isn't going to go far (the cooking version without the supercharger only gets 21.5mpg combined according to US figures {and that is after after converting to our gallons}). The big stuff from Germany typically carries a 75-92 litre fuel tank, so while they rightly have prodigious thirst, they carry a bit more fuel to compensate.

Edited by DiscoColin on Thursday 28th March 18:33

[anglophile]

DiscoColin said:

I actually rather doubt that, but more to the point - I said range. The Mustang has only a 60l tank and into a 5.8l V8 with a supercharger tuned to 1200hp that isn't going to go far (the cooking version without the supercharger only gets 21.5mpg combined according to US figures {and that is after after converting to our gallons}). The big stuff from Germany typically carries a 75-92 litre fuel tank, so while they rightly have prodigious thirst, they carry a bit more fuel to compensate.

Edited by DiscoColin on Thursday 28th March 18:33

An okay point, but from a practical point of view, just how much sustained speed and consumption do you folks in the U.K. face when out on a motorway? Here in the States, unless you are in Montana, Idaho, or parts of Texas, where the local gendarmes may write you a "ecological waste" citation, we don't have roads where that is going to be factor either.

[Friggerpants]

urquattroGus said:

Also, reducing the torque steer is not difficult, most of all put a quaife LSD in there and look at suspension setup and tyres.

No.

To reduce torque steer, equal drive shafts are required, or a complete new suspension system would be needed.

Think about it, a LSD locks up, if the diff locks up, the torque could snap to the other side, thus torque steering.

Edited by Friggerpants on Thursday 28th March 19:41

[Dr Z]

Shoshi said:

DiscoColin said:

One wonders what the range on a tank of fuel for this is. Will it even make it between filling stations?

It probably gets better mileage than a any number of AMG or M series cars.

I'd be more concerned about getting from a tyre fitting station to another!

[VIPERLESS]

Someone at ford needs to wake up and smell the coffee, the world is moving on from these guzzling monsters.POINTLESS CAR! POINTLESS ENGINEERING.Detroit, motor city is on its knees and plonkers from Ford are still living in the 50's investing time and money they don't have in no profit concepts. R.I.P USA car makers, your digging your own grave!

[boxerTen]

Friggerpants said:

To reduce torque steer, equal drive shafts are required, or a complete new suspension system would be needed.

Think about it, a LSD locks up, if the diff locks up, the torque could snap to the other side, thus torque steering.

Edited by Friggerpants on Thursday 28th March 19:41

I think what is needed is zero offset steering, that is each of the front wheels rotate about a vertical axis which passes through the centre of the tyre contact patch, not at an offset to it. Then when more or less torque is applied there is no tendency for the wheel to steer. Alfasuds used to have this so it can certainly be done.

[Lagerlout]

I have a 300 bhp Abarth 500, and equal length driveshafts are one of the key reaons it has practically nil torque steer.

I also have an S65 with 670 bhp and that car averages 19mpg and wil do 21mpg on the motorway. Not too bad. At Bruntingthorpe I've seen sub 5 mpg though..