It's a Whole New World | 2020 Shelby GT500 | Meanest Snake Yet | How Fast Is It?
Many more pics on the following pages.
It's been a long time coming. For over 5 years the SVTP Community has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new Shelby GT500 Mustang. We've been speculating what the car might be, and finally we know. On paper, the car looks to be an absolute Monster. She is going to arrive this spring and will be packing a 2650 Eaton TVS Supercharged Cross-Plane-Crank 5.2L V8 cranking out well over 700HP. Ford has told us the engine will come equipped stronger forged connecting rods than those found in the GT350 Mustang; which we've seen churn out ridiculous numbers on a stock bottom-end.
However, the biggest change the SVT faithful will have to become accustomed to is the loss of rowing their own gears. The GT500's 7-Speed Tremec Dual-Clutch Transmission is state of the art piece than is capable of shifting faster than you'll ever be able to. I can't say I'm all that happy about losing the clutch pedal, but I can't deny the performance advantage of the DCT. Simply put, it makes the car much faster than a shift. I'm talking shifts in as little as 100 milliseconds. You know you have a rough life when your biggest gripe about a feature of a car is something that makes it measurably better.
But just how good is it? For has told us that it runs mid-3 second 0-60 times and sub-11 seconds in the quarter. That is blisteringly fast for a factory Pony Car. However, I happened to poke around a big and managed to coax some actual concrete numbers from some Ford Insiders. How does sub-3.5 second 0-60MPH times sound? From what I've been told, test drivers have been able to run faster than 3.5 seconds but traction becomes an issue. With all the fancy electronic driver aids most owners will be ticking off times around 3.5 seconds.
The real news is in the Quarter-Mile times. I've been told Ford Performance Engineers have run 10.80s with traps over 133MPH. While those time are insanely impressive for a car that it perfectly happy running around VIR and out cornering every Mustang that came before it (try that in your Dodge Demon), I'm told that the guys at Ford Performance are still tweeking things. I don't have a final HP number to share, tuning is still taking place, but it looks like it's going to be in the 750HP range. The last report I got was that the current test cars are producing numbers in the 740s.
As for the chassis and suspension dynamics, I'm going to defer to SVTP's resident S550 GT500 sleuth @Tob for his take on things:
Chassis
The big question is weight and until Ford leads us out of the dark it remains an unknown. Suffice it to say, Ford had their work cut out for them. Doesn't look as though DSSV's will make an appearance but rather the latest and greatest MagneRide technology does instead. Further refined beyond that of the GT350 and no doubt calibrated to meet most every demand within the spectrum of modes available that dictate how the driver wishes them to perform. The result of which is the "highest-ever lateral acceleration from a Mustang." Can't argue with that.
Suspension geometry has once again been revised. The front knuckles are now referred to as being "high trail" units for better steering response. The steering rack has been improved in kind to match. Lighter weight coil springs (both front and rear) replace previous designs. Michelin tires are Ford spec, in either Pilot Sport 4S or Pilot Sport Cup2's.
Brakes are once again being sourced from Brembo. The GT500 will use a six piston caliper (even larger than that of the GT350) with the largest of any domestic sports coupe, two-piece, 16.5" diameter rotors up front (no longer cross drilled) and 14.5" rotors out back. Think about it - these rotors are larger than wheels of only a few short years ago. And with an additional 30% increase in thermal mass up front, wheel choice becomes more important than ever. Flow formed 20" diameter wheels are standard with nothing less than 20" carbon fiber wheels being available on the optional "Carbon Fiber Track Pack."
After a near 6 year absence Ford will once again be using a carbon fiber driveshaft behind the blown 5.2L CPC beast. A CF shaft ensures a smooth operating driveline as well as increased potential when it comes to handle typical drag-style shock loading as well as spinning to insane rpms when the car is topped out in high gear. Hallelujah!
Adjustable strut top mounts will be available on the "Handling Package" (one would assume the CF Track Package as well) that will most likely ease track side camber adjustment. Clearly, Ford has been listening but more importantly they took action and have implemented instead of punting.
Managing the Air
You need to have your eyes examined if you can't see the massively ventilated hood and louvers the GT500 will now come with. But this car has far more in store when it comes to controlling how air will move in, through, up, over, and around. The upper and lower front grille opening has "50 percent more cooling pack airflow" than that of the GT350. The fenders on the GT500 are wider than previous and provide an aesthetic match to the rear.
The standard rear spoiler is new and the rear diffuser takes advantage of an updated composite material. Vehicle aero was developed and optimized in Ford's wind tunnel in North Carolina. There they refined the 31"x28" hood louver such that removing the aluminum "rain tray" will increase air extraction and downforce. No downforce data has been provided yet on the optional GT4 inspired rear wing but expect numbers we haven't seen previously on a production pony car from Ford.
The Ford patented splitters make their debut as well. An interesting deviation from the typical canard-style hardware we have seen for years now on cars that are looking to stay glued to the track at speed.
There's so much more. Finally, after all this time we have what looks to be something to study, argue, and study some more. Going to be a long winter and spring but just knowing that the car will happen at all is a relief given how volatile the industry has become.
Thanks Ford for pleasantly surprising. This car looks to be a really good one.
The big question is weight and until Ford leads us out of the dark it remains an unknown. Suffice it to say, Ford had their work cut out for them. Doesn't look as though DSSV's will make an appearance but rather the latest and greatest MagneRide technology does instead. Further refined beyond that of the GT350 and no doubt calibrated to meet most every demand within the spectrum of modes available that dictate how the driver wishes them to perform. The result of which is the "highest-ever lateral acceleration from a Mustang." Can't argue with that.
Suspension geometry has once again been revised. The front knuckles are now referred to as being "high trail" units for better steering response. The steering rack has been improved in kind to match. Lighter weight coil springs (both front and rear) replace previous designs. Michelin tires are Ford spec, in either Pilot Sport 4S or Pilot Sport Cup2's.
Brakes are once again being sourced from Brembo. The GT500 will use a six piston caliper (even larger than that of the GT350) with the largest of any domestic sports coupe, two-piece, 16.5" diameter rotors up front (no longer cross drilled) and 14.5" rotors out back. Think about it - these rotors are larger than wheels of only a few short years ago. And with an additional 30% increase in thermal mass up front, wheel choice becomes more important than ever. Flow formed 20" diameter wheels are standard with nothing less than 20" carbon fiber wheels being available on the optional "Carbon Fiber Track Pack."
After a near 6 year absence Ford will once again be using a carbon fiber driveshaft behind the blown 5.2L CPC beast. A CF shaft ensures a smooth operating driveline as well as increased potential when it comes to handle typical drag-style shock loading as well as spinning to insane rpms when the car is topped out in high gear. Hallelujah!
Adjustable strut top mounts will be available on the "Handling Package" (one would assume the CF Track Package as well) that will most likely ease track side camber adjustment. Clearly, Ford has been listening but more importantly they took action and have implemented instead of punting.
Managing the Air
You need to have your eyes examined if you can't see the massively ventilated hood and louvers the GT500 will now come with. But this car has far more in store when it comes to controlling how air will move in, through, up, over, and around. The upper and lower front grille opening has "50 percent more cooling pack airflow" than that of the GT350. The fenders on the GT500 are wider than previous and provide an aesthetic match to the rear.
The standard rear spoiler is new and the rear diffuser takes advantage of an updated composite material. Vehicle aero was developed and optimized in Ford's wind tunnel in North Carolina. There they refined the 31"x28" hood louver such that removing the aluminum "rain tray" will increase air extraction and downforce. No downforce data has been provided yet on the optional GT4 inspired rear wing but expect numbers we haven't seen previously on a production pony car from Ford.
The Ford patented splitters make their debut as well. An interesting deviation from the typical canard-style hardware we have seen for years now on cars that are looking to stay glued to the track at speed.
There's so much more. Finally, after all this time we have what looks to be something to study, argue, and study some more. Going to be a long winter and spring but just knowing that the car will happen at all is a relief given how volatile the industry has become.
Thanks Ford for pleasantly surprising. This car looks to be a really good one.
All I can say is Wow, this car looks to be something special. It's breaking norms and raising the bar on what buyers can expect from a factory Mustang. I have absolutely no doubt that the aftermarket will have these cars running 9's with not much more than a pulley and tune. I know for a fact that companies like HP-Tuners and Whipple Superchargers are already gearing up for these cars to hit the streets. I'm calling it now, Lethal Performance will have a 2020 GT500 cranking out over 1,000 HP with a 3.0L Whipple blower on a stock engine and Rebecca Starkey will be out running 8's in one before you'll know what hit you. This Shelby GT500 from Ford Performance is a whole new world, and I hope you're ready to explore.
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