The 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 features a stiffer body and plenty more horsepower.
It may be a brand icon, but it’s easy to dismiss the Ford Mustang as the sort of muscle car your neighbor kid is likely to drive when he can’t afford a serious piece of performance machinery.
Anyone who makes that mistake is likely to be left idling when the stoplight turns green if the kid in the next lane is driving the Ford Shelby GT500. The 2010 edition was the fastest street-legal Mustang spin-off ever, but the man in the black hat is back in town, and working with Carroll Shelby, Ford has come up with an all-new version of the snake charmer that is expected to do an even better job smoking tires.
The 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 features a new 5.4-liter all-aluminum V-8 that is “heavily derived” from the Mustang GT’s new five-oh V-8. And, it turns out, the automaker really means it when it says, “all-aluminum.” Gone are the traditional iron cylinder liners. In their place, the maker has used a novel technique to bathe the cylinder walls with a plasma-coated liner that significantly reduces friction, improves cooling, and should boost durability.
Other powertrain changes for 2010 include a larger intercooler, which improves efficiency by 40%, and a revised supercharger.
The new powertrain in the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 is a full 102 pounds lighter than the engine in the ’10. It also makes about 10 more ponies, boosting the figure to a full 500 horsepower. Torque stays put at 510 pound-feet, but it comes on sooner, 80% by 1750 RPMs, and holds almost all the way up to redline. Power is delivered to the tires through a 6-speed short-throw manual gearbox, a holdover from the 2010 GT500.
Any resemblance to the Ford GT is purely intentional.
In recent months, we’ve noticed a surprising trend in the performance side of the market. Sure, makers will always quote power and performance figures. In this case, Ford says the 2011 Shelby GT500 will turn in 0 to 60 times in the low 4 second range, and on a 2.3-mile test track, it claims the latest model cuts about 3 seconds off lap times.
But Ford also makes a point of impressing with its fuel economy numbers. No, you won’t match the 30 mpg Highway rating of the 2011 Mustang V-6, but there’s nothing to be ashamed about when you’re pumping out 550 hp and still getting 15 mpg on the street and 23 on the highway, both figures up by 1 mpg over the 2010 GT500.
There was a time when a muscle car like the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 was intended to do one thing well, but straight-line performance is just the starting point. The maker claims the new car has notably higher structural rigidity – about 30% more for the ’11 GT500 convertible, which starts out about where the 2010 coupe was.
“One of the biggest changes for this Shelby was that the convertible acts and feels like a coupe,” explained Jamal Hameedi, chief nameplate engineer for Ford’s SVT performance division.
The maker has also loaded on a lot more sound deadening material, reducing road noise by about 20%, it says, though it’s also tuned and increased the exhaust note – which is, after all, what this type of driver wants to hear.
The brakes have been improved to deliver 7% more stopping power, according to Hameedi, another big difference between classic muscle cars and a modern performance machine like the ’11 GT500.
The new 5.4-liter V8 for the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 features a new plasma cylinder lining and makes 550 horsepower.
The suspension has been lowered 11 millimeters, up front, 8 mm, in back, to improve handling. Meanwhile, Ford has worked with Goodyear to develop a unique tire – the Eagle F1 SuperCar G:2 – that the automaker insists is positively transformative in terms of ride-and-handling – something we’ll have to wait and see when we get the chance to put the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 on a track, later this year.
No reason you can’t be comfortable in the new GT500, the 2011 edition featuring an array of equipment carried over from the more conventional Mustang models, such as MyKey, Sync and HID headlamps, the latter now a standard part of the package.
Look for the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 to roll into showrooms this spring…and don’t forget to bring your black hat.