RE: 700hp Shelby GT500 unveiled at Detroit

RE: 700hp Shelby GT500 unveiled at Detroit

Monday 5th August 2019

Shelby GT500 gets 760hp! | Update

Ford's most potent road car can do 0-100-0mph in 10.6 seconds



Update - 05.08.2019

Ford has claimed that the Shelby Mustang GT500 uses “the most power and torque-dense supercharged V8 in the world”, despite the fact its peak output is 37hp short of the Red Eye Dodge Challenger’s. The GT500’s 5.2-litre V8 has just-confirmed 760hp and 625lb ft maximum outputs, but it’s the consistency of grunt offered across the rev range that has Ford throwing punches at its muscle car rival. And since this is a GT500, power’s only half the story; a freshly-recorded 0-100-0mph time of 10.6 seconds emphasises that this Mustang has its sights set on all-round class honours.

Naturally, the engine under the bonnet of Shelby’s monster is the most potent to go into a roadgoing Ford. It comes mated to a Tremec seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox that can shift up in just 80 milliseconds (hence the lack of manual option so far), with bigger friction plates, more efficient uses of transmission fluid and bespoke mapping to ensure the ‘charged V8’s punch can be exploited to a consistently higher degree, more often. This responsiveness ought to be heightened by the GT500 ‘Stang’s use of a carbon drive shaft and limited-slip differential as standard.


Of equal importance to the Shelby’s supercar-aping 0-100-0 time will be its use of enormous brakes. The front discs are of 419mm diameters, making them the biggest fitted to an American coupe yet, with six-piston Brembo calipers doing the grabbing. They’re held behind a set of carbon fibre wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber, giving the GT500 an exotic make up that vastly contrasts the normal car’s back-to-basics setup. Of course, it’s exactly what Shelby needed to do to give Ford an answer to Dodge’s ultra-extreme Challenger line-up. Anyway, who doesn’t love a good old fashioned muscle car head-to-head?

There’s no more technical info to add to our earlier report (find lots more in the older story below), but the confirmation of power suggests we’ve not long to wait before prices and production numbers will be announced. All we can do now is cross absolutely everything in hope that Ford decides to provide us Brits with a right-hand drive version.




Original story - 14.01.2019


For more than 50 years now, 'GT500' has denoted the baddest of the badass Mustangs. In the late 1960s it meant a Ford pony car with a 428 cubic-inch V8; in more recent years it meant a Mustang with as much power as a Ferrari Enzo; and now GT500 means, in Ford's own words, "the most advanced performance Mustang to date."

Naturally, it packs a mighty powertrain. The 5.2-litre V8 found in the GT350 is now supercharged with a  2.65-litre roots-type 'charger, promising more than 700hp - don't forget a Corvette ZR1 is at 755hp - and a quarter-mile time of less than 11 seconds. Helping the GT500 achieve that is the first dual-clutch gearbox seen in a Mustang (or indeed the muscle car segment), a seven-speed Tremec unit which absorbs the lessons learnt from the Ford GT and can deliver shifts in less than 100 milliseconds. Which is probably about the same time it'll take to get a campaign going for the manual option.


Its gigantic output will be transferred to the tarmac via a carbon driveshaft and bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres (stickier Cup 2s will also be available). Given the wheels will be anything up to 11.5-inches wide you can imagine how large the supporting tyres are going to be.

Indeed the GT500 seems only to boast enormous numbers. The front brake discs are 420mm in diameter (or 20 per cent larger than a GT350's), with six-piston Brembo calipers. That outrageous bonnet vent, required to get air out, is 31 inches by 28 (787mm by 711), and the rain tray can be removed for better air extraction and downforce on dry days. Six heat exchangers are also in there to increase cooling pack air flow by 50 per cent.


Tweaks from GT350 to GT500 include next gen MagneRide dampers, new suspension geometry, revised electric power steering and lighter springs. All told Ford is promising "the highest-ever lateral acceleration from a Mustang for greater track performance and driver control." No doubt the more aggressive aero will contribute to that track performance, too, though no specific claims have yet been made about what the spoiler, skirts and splitter dream team are contributing.

For those buyers underwhelmed by a regular GT500 - easy to imagine, right? - Ford will offer two handling packages with this new flagship. The first is called the, er, Handling Package, and features adjustable strut top mounts and a spoiler with Gurney flap. Building on that for the truly committed is a Carbon Fibre Track Package with carbon wheels (wider at the rear than standard, at 11.5-inch), the Cup 2s, a rear wing from the GT4 race car, the rear seats binned and whatever "splitter wickers" are. But they come with an integrated dive plane. Don't be surprised to see the majority of GT500s optioned with the CFTP, especially given these press shots all seem to feature a car so optioned. And look absolutely awesome.


The interior will be familiar to regular Mustang owners, albeit with some GT500 embellishments also on offer: exposed carbon trim and Recaro seats are on the options list. The drive modes as seen in other Mustangs - normal, weather, sport, drag and track - are standard, along with the line lock and launch control Track Apps.

That's it for now, Ford having not yet confirmed a launch date, price or even final power output for the 2020 Mustang GT500. Suffice it to say many (on both sides of the pond) will be extremely excited though, given the promise shown throughout the life of the sixth-generation model. Only now with more than 700 horsepower. God bless America!


 















Author
Discussion

Paddy78

Original Poster:

208 posts

145 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Looks good, but no manual option will put a lot of Europeans off. Although, I doubt it will be sold over here and definitely not RHD one would assume. I guess the plus for UK owners is a raft of cool stuff in the Ford Performance upgrade catalogue.

epom

11,396 posts

160 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Should they not call it the GT700 ?

oilit

2,618 posts

177 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
wonder how much that will be?

GroundEffect

13,818 posts

155 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
epom said:
Should they not call it the GT700 ?
The original GT500 wasn't named for its horsepower....

HumanSteamroller

114 posts

76 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Paddy78 said:
Looks good, but no manual option will put a lot of Europeans off. Although, I doubt it will be sold over here and definitely not RHD one would assume. I guess the plus for UK owners is a raft of cool stuff in the Ford Performance upgrade catalogue.
Do you really think so? I think with that much power on tap, people won't give too much of a hoot about manual vs automatic. It's the way the tide is turning, after all.

That aside, nice car.

lee_erm

1,091 posts

192 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
I wonder who is making the transmission.

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
HumanSteamroller said:
Paddy78 said:
Looks good, but no manual option will put a lot of Europeans off. Although, I doubt it will be sold over here and definitely not RHD one would assume. I guess the plus for UK owners is a raft of cool stuff in the Ford Performance upgrade catalogue.
Do you really think so? I think with that much power on tap, people won't give too much of a hoot about manual vs automatic. It's the way the tide is turning, after all.

That aside, nice car.
I think it's the US where it'll suffer - they buy their fast cars in a far, far higher proportion of manuals vs autos than we do.

HumanSteamroller

114 posts

76 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
HumanSteamroller said:
Paddy78 said:
Looks good, but no manual option will put a lot of Europeans off. Although, I doubt it will be sold over here and definitely not RHD one would assume. I guess the plus for UK owners is a raft of cool stuff in the Ford Performance upgrade catalogue.
Do you really think so? I think with that much power on tap, people won't give too much of a hoot about manual vs automatic. It's the way the tide is turning, after all.

That aside, nice car.
I think it's the US where it'll suffer - they buy their fast cars in a far, far higher proportion of manuals vs autos than we do.
That's really interesting, didn't know that!

GroundEffect

13,818 posts

155 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
lee_erm said:
I wonder who is making the transmission.
Tremec.

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
it's a dual-clutch automatic for a number of reasons

for example:

the GT500 customer is more premium-minded and less interested in a manual transmission; see elsewhere online for GT500 specifications such as the magnetorheological / adjustable suspension having a driver-selectable grand touring mode which is more compliant than on the GT350

this particular automatic also allows for comprehensive and highly-detailed tuning of the entire powertrain, both to maximise performance and to limit stress on components; emissions are similarly best managed

as mentioned earlier by others, the massive output of this supercharged engine tends to favour the characteristics of an automatic, even a manually-shiftable automatic, over a traditional manual transmission; it's worth to remember: torque is instant and almost unimaginable -- a rumoured 650 lb-ft of torque and very likely most of it available off-idle


h0b0

7,557 posts

195 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
HumanSteamroller said:
Krikkit said:
HumanSteamroller said:
Paddy78 said:
Looks good, but no manual option will put a lot of Europeans off. Although, I doubt it will be sold over here and definitely not RHD one would assume. I guess the plus for UK owners is a raft of cool stuff in the Ford Performance upgrade catalogue.
Do you really think so? I think with that much power on tap, people won't give too much of a hoot about manual vs automatic. It's the way the tide is turning, after all.

That aside, nice car.
I think it's the US where it'll suffer - they buy their fast cars in a far, far higher proportion of manuals vs autos than we do.
That's really interesting, didn't know that!
That’s why the M5 was available in manual in the US and not the UK.

But, if this is a car for the drag strip as previous Mustangs were, it should be auto. If it is for the track it could be manual.

cib24

1,115 posts

152 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
I think it's the US where it'll suffer - they buy their fast cars in a far, far higher proportion of manuals vs autos than we do.
That is odd to say since 99% of cars in the US are automatics, even the muscle cars with uber horsepower.

epom

11,396 posts

160 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
GroundEffect said:
epom said:
Should they not call it the GT700 ?
The original GT500 wasn't named for its horsepower....
Oh I know that, just a suggestion.

CaptainSensib1e

1,432 posts

220 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Interesting they've styled it based on the original S550 rather than 'facelifted' version. Think I'd still for for the vanilla GT350R though, if I had the money and you could buy them in this country!

chilled901

395 posts

176 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Paddy78 said:
Looks good, but no manual option not being a diesel BMW/ Audi econobox will put a lot of Europeans off. Although, I doubt it will be sold over here and definitely not RHD one would assume. I guess the plus for UK owners is a raft of cool stuff in the Ford Performance upgrade catalogue.
Corrected that for you.

ZX10R NIN

27,490 posts

124 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
Oh lord as someone who's saving his pennies to import a GT350R, this GT500 looks like a beast but I'm going to be more than happy with the Manual 350R , I do like the styling of the 500 though.

BigChiefmuffinAgain

1,054 posts

97 months

Monday 14th January 2019
quotequote all
I think it's just great that the American volume brands put out cars with 700+ bhp.

Could you imagine Peugeot or VW doing this?

unpc

2,831 posts

212 months

Tuesday 15th January 2019
quotequote all
This and a Raptor as my 2 car dream garage.

aeropilot

34,295 posts

226 months

Tuesday 15th January 2019
quotequote all
OP said:
For more than 50 years now, 'GT500' has denoted the baddest of the badass Mustangs. In the late 1960s it meant a Ford pony car with a 428 cubic-inch V8
That should be for TWO years in 1967 and 1968.......until Ford made the BOSS 429. The big bad BOSS 429 has always been at the top of the Mustang tree.

However, this new GT500 looks a hoot and clap to Ford for the continued lunacy biggrin





Dr Interceptor

7,743 posts

195 months

Tuesday 15th January 2019
quotequote all
CaptainSensib1e said:
Interesting they've styled it based on the original S550 rather than 'facelifted' version. Think I'd still for for the vanilla GT350R though, if I had the money and you could buy them in this country!
A facelift that looks like a pre-facelift... My dream biggrin

Just wish they'd fitted a normal set of dials too biggrinbiggrin