2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 review: King of the hill

The new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a different animal than its predecessor. If you would’ve questioned me to acquire the very last variation to a street course, I would have been leery. That auto was produced for straight-line top velocity runs above all. But rapid forward to nowadays and it is a different tale. The new GT500 is even now a drag-strip stunner, but adds a aiding of apex-hunting prowess to its bag of performance tips.

Supercharged brute

The huge part of what can make the GT500 a GT500 is its hulking five.2-liter supercharged V8. With the help of an Eaton supercharger pushing 12 psi into the cylinders, the hand-constructed motor churns out a hearty 760 horsepower and 623 pound-toes of torque. Channeling ability to the rear wheels is a Tremec-sourced seven-velocity twin-clutch transmission. Jointly 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 minimal top velocity of one hundred eighty mph.

To help the Shelby attain these spectacular straight-line results, the GT500 has an built-in line-lock operate for pro-degree burnouts (or for warming the rear tires), a reconfigurable start handle and a DCT that shifts gears in just 80 milliseconds. I know, you can find a huge contingent of manual gearbox purists out there cringing at the reality that a stick is just not out there, but you can find no denying the benefit a very well-tuned DCT provides to the table — rapid shifts suggests faster acceleration.

The DCT pays dividends on street courses, too. Close to the 2.2-mile, eleven-turn GingerMan Raceway in western Michigan, the Shelby’s gearbox is a rapid-shifting marvel, allowing me as a substitute aim on positioning the auto wherever it desires to be. The paddle shifters aren’t Ferrari-responsive to commands, but the Shelby is darn excellent, to the level wherever I will not seriously miss out on having a regular manual transmission.

The GT500 rockets out of corners with authority, with ability out there at each individual level in the rev-variety — even though the motor is specifically muscular concerning five,500 and 7,500 rpm. The noise that will come out of the energetic exhaust technique is phenomenal, to boot. Finding a excellent run out of Transform 10B onto GingerMan’s longest straightaway suggests surpassing one hundred forty mph is just not a trouble prior to digging into the brakes. In the desire of self-preservation, I strike 136 mph prior to lifting, providing myself generous area to make it properly all around the 90-diploma proper hander at Transform eleven onto the entrance straight.

New dealing with tips

It is worthy of noting that my Shelby check auto is optimally set up to torch a street course. It is outfitted with the optional $eighteen,500 Carbon Fiber Observe Package deal that ups aerodynamics with entrance splitter wickers and a GT4 rear wing. This GT500 also wears twenty-inch carbon fiber wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Activity Cup 2 tires and the adjustable strut top mounts have a Ford General performance-prompt track alignment. The other huge point to point out is that this auto is outfitted with a rear hoop, which ups structural rigidity.

With that out of the way, this 4,081-pound GT500 has me questioning logic at the stop of just about every of my 15-minute track classes. From the jump, the Shelby eagerly obeys anything I ask, with the Brembos confidently slowing in brake zones, turning in immediately when cranking the Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel and hunkering down with loads of grip as a result of sharp corners with managed entire body roll. Off the racing line a little? No trouble — the GT500 has more than enough entrance-stop grip to make mid-corner corrections to get back again on the correct trajectory. With the exception of the brake pedal having a touch for a longer time at the stop of runs, the hefty Mustang barely suffers any performance falloff lap right after lap, which is doubly spectacular on a incredibly hot and humid 88-diploma working day.

The Shelby’s steering is weighty and communicative, the Michelins perform magnificently over prolonged runs and the steadiness handle does its perform just about invisibly behind the scenes. The GT500 transfers fat side-to-side with aplomb, it is cozy at significant-speeds and composed less than braking. It is tricky to locate lots of dynamic faults with this auto on track — which can make me surprise just how much superior it could be if Ford engineers set a greater aim on lowering fat.

Tame on street

As hardcore as this Shelby seems and performs on a track, it has a softer side suited for common street driving. Call up the car’s Standard setting and you will soften the adaptive dampers, lighten steering and silent the exhaust. This can make freeway cruises cozy more than enough, the cabin keeping semi-silent and the Recaro seats offering guidance in all the proper places. The dampers offer more than enough give, smoothing out most impacts, but if you come across rutted streets the meaty tires will induce the GT500 to tramline.

The drivetrain returns an EPA-believed 12 miles for each gallon in the town and eighteen mpg on the freeway, which match the figures I noticed. Regretably, these quantities are minimal more than enough for the GT500 to be slapped with a $2,600 gasoline guzzler tax.

The GT500 packs plenty of street presence with an intense, hunkered stance many thanks to the huge entrance air intakes, vented hood, carbon wheels and huge wing. As with all Mustangs, cabin establish high quality is on par with competitors like Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, this means it is excellent, but not wonderful. My Shelby tester does have a little additional fashion with carbon fiber sprint trim that I wish prolonged to the middle console. As is, you can find a huge piece of plastic topping the console that isn’t going to glance undesirable but would unquestionably glance much cooler in carbon and much more significant paddle shifters as a substitute of the flimsy plastic types are on my wish listing, too.

Infotainment tech falls to Ford’s acquainted Sync three technique with an 8-inch touchscreen controlling a nine-speaker sound technique, satellite radio, Wi-Fi hotspot, Apple CarPlay and Android Vehicle. Those on the lookout for some much more goodies can spring for an optional Engineering Package deal for a 12-speaker B&O audio setup, navigation and blind-place checking with rear cross-site visitors inform. Other than BSM, other energetic basic safety systems aren’t offered on the best Shelby.

How I would spec it

Setting up my suitable Shelby GT500 is simple. Make mine Ford General performance Blue and I would only check out one choice box: the really expensive $eighteen,500 Carbon Fiber Observe Package deal. For me, even though, this one is worthy of it — I would do as lots of track days as I could. That provides the price tag tag of my properly spec’d auto to $92,595, which is a bit less expensive than my $93,385 check auto.

Undisputed Mustang king

The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 commences at $seventy four,095, including $1,195 for destination and the aforementioned gasoline guzzler tax. That is really a bit much more than Chevrolet’s possess hearth-respiratory supercharged Camaro ZL1, which commences at $sixty five,695 with destination and guzzler taxes. A few-pedal purists can get a 6-velocity manual in the Chevy, too, but it is outgunned by the Ford, the Chevy only making 650 hp.

Supplied the preference concerning the two, I would give the nod to the Shelby. It is an psychological auto that’s simple to appreciate. It is received intense seems, a riveting soundtrack, all the punch you will at any time will need and it can now bust and move all around a racetrack with the most effective of them. It is a total Mustang bundle that isn’t going to have to make any apologies.