Ford Inadvertently Confirms the GT500's 200 MPH Top Speed, Supercharged V8, and Carbon Ceramic Brakes

Michael Accardi
by Michael Accardi

Two weeks ago, an image of a supercharger embossed with the iconic Shelby snake made its way onto the internet, followed by another claiming to depict the biggest set of rotors ever affixed to a factory Mustang.

The GT500 rumor mill went ballistic.

Now, we have official — albeit inadvertent — acknowledgment from Ford that a new Shelby GT500 is incoming, courtesy of the company’s OEM service portal, which revealed wiring diagrams and a slew of service procedures which incidentally confirm several details about the upcoming Über Mustang.

The engine shown in the wiring diagrams looks identical to the leaked image of the supercharged 5.2-liter V8, right down to coiled cobra living on the blower, and it also gives us a small taste of what to expect from the GT500 when it does eventually emerge from the depths of Dearborn.

(Editor’s note: From time to time, we will bring you content from our sister sites if we feel that they’re in the interest of TTAC readership, and this story, from Vertical Scope’s own Michael Accardi, fits the bill. — Tim H.)

Like the flat-plane Voodoo engine in the GT350, it would appear the blown 5.2-liter will remain port-injected as there doesn’t seem to be a provision for a high-pressure fuel pump to run direct injection, as seen on Ford’s revised-for-2018 Coyote 5.0-liter V8. Rumor has it the GT500’s supercharger will be a new upside-down Roots-style unit that could displace something in the neighborhood of 2.6 liters, if that’s the case, we could see a force-fed 5.2 kicking out north of 750 horsepower.

Around the back, there also looks to be a flexplate in place of a flywheel, indicating the GT500 will likely be the next recipient of the new 10R90 10-speed automatic Ford co-developed with General Motors, which has already been put to high-speed use in the 2017 Camaro ZL1.

Regardless of final output, the GT500 is going to be obscenely fast, how fast, well at least 200 mph fast if the speedometer verification procedure is any indication. Plus there’s going to be a set of gargantuan carbon-ceramic brakes, which we assume will be standard kit based on the car’s ceramic-brake-wear warning system.

Other details confirmed include the use of damper control, likely in the form of Magnetic Ride Control like the GT350, additionally, the GT500’s powertrain selector will allegedly omit Track and Snow/Wet mode in favor of bespoke Drag Strip setting and Launch Control functions.

Basically, Ford’s building a big bruiser of a Hellcat hunter that should also be capable of cornering when it gets to the bendy bits.

The information portal also clued us into a few of the GT500’s more esoterically nerdy details, like the addition of a new Head-Up Display system, which according to a Network Message Chart, will probably be used primarily as a shift light, along with a new oil-temperature gauge. Thanks to a tachometer troubleshooting procedure, we also know the GT500 will idle at 900 revolutions per minute, compared to the GT’s 800 rpm.

Lastly, Ford’s updated VIN decoder indicates the Mustang will continue to only offer three engine choices. Sadly, the addition of the supercharged GT500 to the repertoire will cost us the flat-plane crank and mellifluous mechanical melody made by the GT350’s naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V8.

It’s unclear when Ford is planning to unveil its next-generation Shelby Mustang, but based on the amount of information readily available and Ford’s planned off-site event at company HQ just prior to the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we could be see the GT500 unveiled in only a few short weeks.

[Images: Ford Service Portal]

Michael Accardi
Michael Accardi

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  • Garrett Garrett on Dec 30, 2017

    The proper spelling is “über”, not “ubër”. That is all.

  • JustPassinThru JustPassinThru on Jan 04, 2018

    Okay. This will open a can of worms...I'll put my asbestos smoking-jacket on. What NEED does anyone have for a 200-mph street car/ As a rule, I'm opposed to Nanny-State-ism. I believe the customer is king; and government is supposed to be the people's SERVANT, not their MASTER. But what would this kind of potential offer buyers, beyond tempting them to outrun police...which may or may not be justified; but the odds are tremendous that innocent travelers die in the process. That, or equally stupid speed displays - where someone might inadvertantly stumble into, coming out of a side street, or which might kill the participants, as a dog or deer or moose wanders onto the pavement. A few years ago I had a liter-bike...a Honda CB1100. By, I was told, EC regulations, the engine was speed-governed to 112 mph. At great expense and some compromise to engine performance, modded chips or a flash on the spark ECU (I forget which) could bypass that. Why, in the name of life and limb, would someone want to? If I"m going to rob a bank; and need a getaway car...and I'm looking at a $9000 Honda motorcycle or a $45,000 Ford street-racer...maybe I better re-evaluate my priorities. This kind of speed potential just tempts the stupids and the Watch-This-Hold-My-Beer crowd, into doing something lethally stupid.

    • Boxerman Boxerman on Jan 08, 2018

      Or you could go to the track. there are now a plethora of trackday options most every weekend. The future of performace cars is cars that are fun at sane street speeds(ie alomost non of the current hypercars) and also really good/durable on track(ie alomst none of the current hypercars), while being somewhat affordable, see mustang Gt350, chev corvette, porche caymans Gt3's etc, some camaros, miata. Literaly 10's of thousands of these cars get bought and go to the track every year.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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