Industry news

Meet The New 700bhp Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

There seems to be an everlasting line of new Ford Mustangs over the past few years. But this is the most potent of them all, brandishing the Shelby name in honour of the legend, and a projected 700bhp which Ford says will put other supercars to shame.

Peak behind the open-mouth grill, apparently inspired by fighter jets, and you’ll find a 5.2-litre supercharged V8. It’s all aluminium, hand-built, has forged conrods and is connected to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox which, while not the same gearbox as its big bro’ Ford GT, still allows for 100milisecond shifts.

No manual for the purists, but this isn’t made for the purists. It’s made for sub 11-second quarter miles and sprints to 60 in the mid 3s. Larger brake rotors means it can stop, too. And of course, it has a line-lock function which will brake the front wheels so you can roast your rears before a race.

I think you’ll find the Michelin rubber on the end of the carbonfibre crank is perfectly up to the job. As are the ‘baked in’ next-gen magnetic dampers. While I have no idea what that entails, Ford promises the highest ever lateral acceleration for the pony car. So who cares how they do it?

This car however is no one sided trick pony (pun only slightly intended). It’s decked out to perform on the track as well as it performs at the drags with an adjustable wing and GT4 racecar-spec aerodynamic foolery.  Tick the box next to the carbonfibre pack and all will be covered in the glossy weaves of, you guessed it, carbonfibre.

If that’s not enough to show off with, you can remove the rain catcher under the vents on the bonnet to reveal the snake-branded supercharger and to improve cooling. But if you’re somewhere wet, say… Britain… then no fear, the enlarged intakes at the front alone have increased cooling by 50% over the previous GT350. It is perfectly up to a day of track onslaught.

If you’re more precious about your vertebrae then you can spec electrically-adjustable seats and even a 12-speaker B&O hi-fi if the supercharger whine isn’t enough for you. But if I were you, I’d ache it out and revel in the fact that this car is one of the quickest on the road.

“A takedown artist,” Ford calls it. They’re right.

Discuss it all on our new forum. Click below to join the chat!

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

Related Articles

Back to top button