Detroit 2019: 2020 Ford Shelby GT500: Comments

[Drew Dowdell]

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In the fall of 2020, Ford will be releasing the Mustang Shelby GT500 with a supercharged 5.2 liter V8 producing more than 700 horsepower.  The handbuilt aluminum V8 features a lower center of gravity by inverting the intercooler into the valley of the engine V.  A structural oil pan reduces vibrations and has active baffles to keep oil where it needs to be.  

All of that power is routed to a 7-speed TREMEC dual-clutch transmission capable of shifting in under 100 milliseconds.  Drivetrain mass is further reduced by the use of a unique carbon fiber driveshaft. The chassis features active technology and revised suspension geometry. Special Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires help bring it all to the pavement. 

Read more about the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT from Ford's press release on Page 2.

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DETROIT, Jan. 14, 2019 – The all-new Shelby GT500 – the pinnacle of any pony car ever engineered by Ford Performance – delivers on its heritage with more than 700 horsepower for the quickest street-legal acceleration and most high-performance technology to date ever offered in a Ford Mustang.

“Carroll was always working on the next faster Shelby, I think he would love this Mustang more than any other,” said Jim Farley, Ford president, global markets. “A takedown artist, the new Shelby GT500 will surprise supercar owners with its Ford Performance racing tech, supercharged engine and visceral swagger.”

Arriving this fall to join its Shelby GT350 stablemate, Shelby GT500 is engineered to attack on all fronts. At the drag strip, it’s set to produce a projected 700-plus horsepower via its first-in-class dual-clutch transmission. At the track, performance improves even more thanks to its race-bred chassis, custom Michelin tires and the largest front brake rotors ever available on an American sports coupe. On the street, its menacing aerodynamic design and Ford Performance driver control technologies make every moment behind the wheel even more exhilarating.

 

Most powerful Ford production car ever
In the process of making the all-new Shelby GT500 the quickest street-legal Mustang ever, Ford Performance created an exclusive powertrain to deliver new levels of power and torque.

“With its supercar-level powertrain, the all-new Shelby GT500 takes the sixth-generation Mustang to a performance level once reserved only for exotics,” said Hermann Salenbauch, global director, Ford Performance vehicle programs. “As a Mustang, it has to be attainable and punch above its weight. To that end, we’ve set a new standard among American performance cars with our most powerful street-legal V8 engine to date, plus the quickest-shifting transmission ever in a Mustang for all-out precision and speed.”

Shelby GT500 starts with a supercharged 5.2-liter aluminum alloy engine built by hand. To keep the intake air cooler and deliver a lower center of gravity, the team inverted a 2.65-liter roots-type supercharger with air-to-liquid intercooler tucked neatly in the V8 engine valley.

Like Shelby GT350, the aluminum alloy block features weight-saving wire-arc cylinder liners and high-flow aluminum cylinder heads, plus larger forged connecting rods, improved lubrication and cooling passages. Beneath that, a structural oil pan adds strength, reduces vibration, and features a patented active baffle system to keep oil where it’s needed.

To channel power and torque to the unique carbon fiber driveshaft, Ford Performance leveraged learnings from the tuning of its Ford GT supercar’s dual-clutch transmission. The team selected a TREMEC^® 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, which is capable of shifts in under 100 milliseconds – markedly faster than any manual gearbox. This dual-clutch transmission is designed for a number of drive modes, including normal, weather, sport, drag and track, and activates features like line-lock and launch control through selectable Track Apps.

 

Next-evolution Mustang performance bred from Ford GT and Mustang GT4
To harness the power and torque of the most powerful Mustang ever made for the street requires cutting-edge active chassis technology, track-bred Michelin tires and Brembo^® brakes – all dialed in by Ford Performance.

Shelby GT500 takes advantage of revised suspension geometry, a new electronic power steering unit and lighter-weight coil springs front and rear. Next-generation active MagneRide^™ suspension is baked-in, along with the latest in advanced drive mode technologies from Ford Performance. The payoff is the highest-ever lateral acceleration from a Mustang for greater track performance and driver control.

Putting all this chassis hardware to the pavement, custom Ford Performance-spec Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and more aggressive Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires feature unique compounds and tread. To provide track-ready stopping power, massive 16-5-inch (420-millimeter) two-piece rotors are added – the largest of any domestic sports coupe – plus larger, stiffer Brembosix-piston calipers. With 20 percent more swept area than the Shelby GT350’s, these brakes have more than 30 percent additional thermal mass in the front corners.

Two handling packages with increasing levels capability are offered for the all-new Shelby GT500. An available Handling Package includes adjustable strut top mounts and spoiler with Gurney flap. For the truly hardcore, an available Carbon Fiber Track Package features exposed 20-inch carbon fiber wheels with 0.5-inch-wider rear wheels (11.5-inch), custom Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, adjustable exposed carbon fiber GT4 track wing and splitter wickers with integrated dive plane. The rear seat is deleted to reduce weight.

 

A functional, menacing design tuned with Ford Performance know-how
Thanks to a cross-functional team of designers, Ford Performance engineers and motorsports collaborators, the 2020 Shelby GT500 has functional track-hero looks to match its performance capabilities.

“With a double front grille opening and 50 percent more cooling pack airflow versus the Shelby GT350, along with the most advanced aero components and downforce we’ve ever offered, every millimeter of Shelby GT500’s fastback design is aimed at improving performance,” said Melvin Betancourt, Ford design manager.

Those large angular grille openings and muscular hood combine for a menacing, aerodynamic-led design inspired by modern fighter jet aircraft. The car’s wider front fenders and stance housing Shelby GT500-specific 20x11-inch wheels proportionally align to its rear fenders that hug up to 20x11.5-inch wheels. A standard new rear spoiler and updated composite materials in the rear diffuser result in added thermal management.

The team leveraged Ford’s motorsports technical center in North Carolina and its windshear rolling wind tunnel – where top-tier racing teams test – to perfect the design of the Shelby GT500. Front fascia openings are more than doubled versus the Shelby GT350, while six heat exchangers are stuffed in to increase cooling pack airflow by more than 50 percent. A massive 31x28-inch louvered hood vent features a removable aluminum rain tray for better air extraction and increased downforce.

 

More craftsmanship, technology and driver comfort
Shelby GT500’s purpose-built cockpit boasts race-inspired premium materials and unique finishes worthy of its world-class power. Premium touchpoints include an available exposed carbon fiber instrument panel appliqué and new door panel inserts in Dark Slate Miko^® suede with accent stitching. Available Recaro racing seats with firm side bolstering and pass-throughs for safety harnesses offer the highest level of performance. For those looking for even greater comfort, power-adjustable seating with Miko suede inserts is offered.

The all-new Shelby GT500 picks up a 12-inch full-color LCD instrument cluster, while a high-performance custom-tuned 12-speaker B&O^® Play premium audio system is available. All of this is controlled via an 8-inch SYNC^® 3 touch screen featuring SiriusXM and FordPass Connect^™.

New colors for 2020 include Red Hot, Twister Orange and Iconic Silver. Painted stripes are available for the all-new Shelby GT500 too.

 

Building on the legacy of Shelby performance
With a reputation for transforming Ford Mustang into dominant road racing machines, Carroll Shelby, American racer and entrepreneur, took his legendary Mustang GT350 model further in 1967 to craft the first-generation Shelby GT500 with a modified 428-cubic-inch V8 inspired by his team’s 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans.

Carroll Shelby called the original Shelby GT500 “the first real car I’m really proud of.” Today, that legacy continues with the third-generation 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 – the most powerful and most advanced Mustang ever.

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[David]

I really want to like this, but the Mustang just does not do anything for me.

meh 🤷‍♂️

[ykX]

I think it looks awesome and I love how aggressive it looks. 

Personally , though I would prefer probably the GT350. 

[Robert Hall]

Slick... I like the 'race car for the street' looks.   Though for a current Mustang, the one I would want is the Bullitt..love the dark green and subtle looks. 

[ccap41]

The numbers are going to be pretty nuts with this but the nose isn't the prettiest. I don't think it's ugly but I'm not "Wowed" by the nose or spoiler.

7spd DCT is interesting.. Very interesting.. 

9 minutes ago, ykX said:

I think it looks awesome and I love how aggressive it looks. 

Personally , though I would prefer probably the GT350. 

I would as well. My skill level isn't high enough to be able to control another 200hp and I just can't get enough of the 5.2 flat plane crank's noises. I'll gladly take the "slower" of the two. 

[oldshurst442]

GT350 for me too over this. I like it, but I aint really wowed by it!  Only the Hellcat and Redeye really wow me with the over 700 horsepower club. The Vette ZR1 wows me too, but just a tick above wow.  The GT350 wows me more than the ZR1. 

The thing is... Id take the ecoboosted 4 cylinder convertible right about now and I dont care if its only a 300 horse turboed 4 cylinder!   

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

The thing is... Id take the ecoboosted 4 cylinder convertible right about now and I dont care if its only a 300 horse turboed 4 cylinder!   

Hard to imagine a 300hp 4 cyl Mustang, since my main points of familiarity for Mustangs are a 92hp 4cyl and a 225hp V8..

Edited January 16, 2019 by Robert Hall

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Hard to imagine a 300hp 4 cyl Mustang, since my main points of familiarity for Mustangs are a 92hp 4cyl and a 225hp V8..

Its mind boggling how powerful the engines were in the 1960s and early 1970s only to drop off and then sky rocket back. But with 4 and 6 cylinders. 

The V8s today?  By God! They could power WW2 fighter aircraft. 

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

The V8s today?  By God! They could power WW2 fighter aircraft. 

I know you were making a joking analogy, but I'm a numbers guy, so I had to look it up. And this is only posted as good-naturedly as possible, I assure you:
Mustang P51D, Packard-Merlin V-1650, 60-degree V-12, supercharged, 1649 cubic inches [27L], between 1300 and 1400 HP, 437 MPH. 🤪

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I know you were making a joking analogy, but I'm a numbers guy, so I had to look it up. And this is only posted as good-naturedly as possible, I assure you:
Mustang P51D, Packard-Merlin V-1650, 60-degree V-12, supercharged, 1649 cubic inches [27L], between 1300 and 1400 HP, 437 MPH. 🤪

LOL!

Yeah. I was kinda joking. But I was kinda not.  

There is always a hint of truth to everything I say.  

Before I got car crazy, I was an airplane nut. During my teen years, I was more into airplanes than I was into cars (and I was car crazy then too). WW2 fighters.  Jets fighters of any era.  Commercial aircraft. You name it.  

This makes for an interesting debate.

I did say that modern V8s could power WW2 fighters.  I was being serious.  (Im going by memory, its been a loooong time since I discussed WW2 aircraft. Im too lazy to google or reach out for my WW2 books on airplanes.)  I did know that WW2 fighters had a minimum of 1200 HP.  Some reached 1700HP. Some even surpassed 2000HP.  Some were inline 12 cylinders while others were 18 cylinders in a radial configuration. Some were in an inverted V and some were supercharged. While others used nitrous oxide  to achieve superior performance in high speed or to achieve high altitudes and faster climb rates and what not.

OK...the part where I think that a modern V8 could have powered WW2 aircraft and obviously achieve the same performance numbers as those war birds.

Those  Rolls Royce/Merlin V12s that were in Spitfires and Mustangs, those radial 18 cylinder BMW engines that were found in the Focke Wulf 190s and all the others were huge, big, clunky and heavy. Sure, they produced about double what a Hellcat Hemi or the ZR1 LT5 produces, but I bet you that those V8s weigh less than half of what those old piston aircraft engines weighed. They definitely take up less space. Less space means the fighter could be that much smaller. Less weight means that a fighter needs less HP to propel it through the air. 

So...could a 840HP Demon Hemi crate engine propel a Mustang P51D to be as fast as the real Merlin powered P51d Mustang? (Which the P51D was the fastest piston engined airplane of the war.

I do not know how to answer that. But I will try.  I googled this part. Although I knew some things about it...

The Red Bull airplane race planes use a Lycoming  horizontally opposing 6 cylinder engine. Displacement is 541.5 cubic inches or 8.9 liters.  Producing about 300 - 320 HP give or take.

I knew that these planes go at about 280 MPH. (I googled-between 252 and 265MPH) Its a smaller airplane compared to a  WW2 fighter. But it may be a tad more maneuverable.  

So...no clear answer. But I would simply say that most of the performance specs of a WW2 fighter would be intact if powered by a modern LT5 or Demon engine V8.

So yeah. I stand by what I say. Joking or not!  

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by oldshurst442