2013 Ford Shelby GT500 650HP/600ft.lbs BEAST!

[visiom88]

Can it turn around corners?

[usapatriot]

Can it turn around corners?

Maybe you should check the recent lap times of a Mustang Boss 302 and a BMW M3 at Laguna Seca and that car is way more evenly matched against an M3. This car goes up against the new BMW M5! You will be surprised. The Mustang is the most agile muscle car on the market currently. In fact, Ford markets it as a sports car.

[SemiExpert]

The Shelby GT500 seems to be nose heavy and acceleration times in previously versions have been unimpressive due to the car running out of traction before the engine runs out of guts. It turns out there is such as thing as too much power. This is a powerful car, but probably a lot less fun and less useful than a stock Mustang GT or Boss 302.

For the money, the Boss 302 is a lot more car. Lighter is better. Of course, I guess there are bragging rights when it comes to owning a car with over 600 horsepower. It's easy to brag when a car is stationary, but it's a lot harder when a guy with a couple hundred less horsepower has a quicker lap time.

For Shelby GT500 money, I'd sooner go for one C63 AMG coupe or two Mustang GTs.

[TailGunner]

Between this GT500 and the Camaro ZL1, I would have to with the Mustang solely because of difference in curb weight. A pony car shouldn't weigh as much as a SUV or minivan, 600 horsepower or not.

[usapatriot]

The Shelby GT500 seems to be nose heavy and acceleration times in previously versions have been unimpressive due to the car running out of traction before the engine runs out of guts. It turns out there is such as thing as too much power. This is a powerful car, but probably a lot less fun and less useful than a stock Mustang GT or Boss 302.

For the money, the Boss 302 is a lot more car. Lighter is better. Of course, I guess there are bragging rights when it comes to owning a car with over 600 horsepower. It's easy to brag when a car is stationary, but it's a lot harder when a guy with a couple hundred less horsepower has a quicker lap time.

For Shelby GT500 money, I'd sooner go for one C63 AMG coupe or two Mustang GTs.

For did a lot of engineering to fix the traction issues on the 2013 GT500. I think we should wait till we see test results before commenting on the matter.

[SemiExpert]

For did a lot of engineering to fix the traction issues on the 2013 GT500. I think we should wait till we see test results before commenting on the matter.

Well, it stands to reason that Ford eventually would fix the traction situation with the GT500. Basically, every Mustang Cobra has performed below expectations since the 2003-2004.

I would guess that an electronic launch control setup would have been the fix from the very beginning.

The big problem is that the GT500 is so very expensive. If you look back, the 2003-2004 was a relative bargain, but I suspect that it would simply be cheaper for enthusiasts to go the aftermarket route with a Mustang GT, or even to buy a stock Corvette, than to go with the GT500.

Looking back, the 2003-2004 Cobra was a such a success because it combined a supercharged 4.6 liter with an IRS - a good match between the chassis and powertrain. The problem with the GT500 was that Ford cheaped out with a live rear axle, but went with a heavy and bulky long stroke engine. Nose heavy. There's no reason for a longer stroke engine when you have forced induction, and I suspect that a shorter stroke engine would have a longer life at a given RPM and would probably rev quicker, not to mention being lighter.

Basically, the GT500 sells to a very old, very affluent demographic, so the stratospheric sticker price doesn't matter. Come to think about it, the imbalanced nature of car probably doesn't matter either. I doubt that sixty to seventy year old retirees are going to notice the short comings of the GT500.

[SemiExpert]

Maybe you should check the recent lap times of a Mustang Boss 302 and a BMW M3 at Laguna Seca and that car is way more evenly matched against an M3. This car goes up against the new BMW M5! You will be surprised. The Mustang is the most agile muscle car on the market currently. In fact, Ford markets it as a sports car.

The Boss 302 is a much better balanced car than the GT500. It goes to show that sometimes there's a sweet spot as far as horsepower, and that even for drag racing, the GT500 might be beyond the sweet spot.

It doesn't surprise me that a well tuned live rear axle does well on a track like Laguna Seca. On real world highways, or a frost heaved road coarse, an IRS would represent an advantage.

[usapatriot]

You're right, a $40,000 Mustang GT can out perform a $60,000+ M3. The $55,000 Mustang GT500 is meant to take on even faster cars. When was the least time you saw a car with 650HP/600TQ sell anywhere near this price? This is supercar power territory.

[SemiExpert]

You're right, a $40,000 Mustang GT can out perform a $60,000+ M3. The $55,000 Mustang GT500 is meant to take on even faster cars. When was the least time you saw a car with 650HP/600TQ sell anywhere near this price? This is supercar power territory.

Yes, those figures are impressive, but the GT500 has traditionally accomplished a lot less with those stellar horsepower ratings than the numbers would suggest. Take an Audi TT RS as an example. It's just another VW Golf based product, with an AWD system and turbocharged I5 - and 360hp is impressive, but not jaw dropping. It's actually weaker than a Mustang GT. Not exactly super car material. But you combine AWD and launch control and you've got a silly looking little car that might just accelerate more quickly than a car with nearly 300 more horsepower. I'm not saying that the TT RS is anything I'd want under any circumstances, but it shows raw horsepower doesn't mean as much as some people would impute. There are 800 horsepower prostocks with embarrassing quarter mile times out there.

My own personal suspicion is that the Boss 302 is probably more of a performance car than the nose heavy GT500. That's okay. I just hope Ford starts equipping the GT500 with a standard equipment wheelie bar before they increase the torque any more.

[Syndrome]

People need to get over horsepower, pay attention to the torque numbers. Horsepower is just a calculation off of torque and horsepower. Torque is the real world number that actually means how well it is at moving mass a distance.