Ford Confirms Shelby GT500 Will Yield 760 Horsepower
When Ford unveiled the 2020 Shelby GT500 in January, the automaker claimed it would be the most powerful vehicle it had ever created outside of motorsport applications. With a suggested 0-to-60 time within the 3-second range, we presumed that the Blue Oval would be targeting Dodge’s Hellcat in terms of power and don’t appear to have been far off.
On Wednesday, Ford confirmed that the meanest Mustang’s supercharged V8 will play host to 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque. The manufacturer is proclaiming it to be the most energy dense supercharged production V8 in the world.
Following some gentle head scratching and cursory mathematics, we found the company’s claim difficult to dispute. Dodge’s Demon may still be the horsepower king, but its motor is a full liter bigger than the supercharged 5.2-liter mill Ford will be placing inside the Shelby.
However, the GT500’s true performance chops are likely to be dictated more by how effective engineers have been at translating power to the pavement than the maximum hp of its cross-plane V8. While exceptionally fast, the 717-hp, 6.2-liter Hellcat is known for being a bit of a handful under heavy acceleration. As Ford’s performance benchmark, competing with it likely means that overwhelming the Shelby’s rear tires will also be a throttle blip away. Finding ways to alleviate that phenomenon will help yield swifter quarter-mile times and, potentially, put some egg on the face of Fiat Chrysler.
We’ll have to wait to see if that will be the case, though. The 2020 Shelby GT500 doesn’t go on sale until the fall, with Ford parsing out details as the launch date gradually approaches.
[Images: Ford Motor Co.]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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That's it? Seriously?
Does no one else see what they did to the front corners of this poor car?