Ford has uncovered a hardcore Shelby GT500 version of its Mustang at the Detroit motor show.
It’ll be the most powerful street-legal Ford yet produced when it reaches production in 2020. Ford Performance is keeping official output figures close to its chest and is only willing to declare that the hand-built and supercharged 5.2l V8 engine will kick out ‘more than 522kW’ of power.
Ford says this Shelby will sprint from standstill to 100km/h in an estimated 3.5 seconds and it blazes the 400m mark in fewer than 11 seconds. There is no indication of how fast it will go flat-out but it should be at a sniffing distance of the 280km/h mark. In cobbling together this new bruiser Ford has borrowed some tech from the Ford GT supercar as well as some know-how gained from building its racing Mustang GT4 car.
The GT500 will debut a Tremec-sourced seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, a first for the Mustang range, which allows launch control and line-lock, the latter feature enabling the locking up of the front wheels while freeing up the rears for a proper and smoky rubber-braai.
Ford also says the car boasts the largest front brake discs of any other American sports coupe, with a diameter of 420mm. Additional mechanical marvels found in the Shelby include turning of the 2.65l roots-type supercharger upside down, within the V of the aluminium-alloy block engine equipped with high-flow cylinder heads and larger forged connecting rods. This trick helps cool intake air while simultaneously lowering the engine’s centre of gravity.
