THIS ONE IS ‘JAIL’ FAST
Anti-social sounding, track-ready, 760-horsepower muscle car isn’t built to make friends
Lots of cars have angry eyebrows, but not many have the moves to back them up. The 2020 Shelby Mustang GT500 does — and it’s very angry indeed.
Even when painted in a jovial shade of safety-cone orange, the leering face bristles with vents, scoops, spoilers, and splitters. The second you fire it up you realize that the multi-mode exhaust has no fewer than four settings, and they range from anti-social to jet engine.
It wasn’t built to make friends; it was built to be the ultimate performance Mustang. With 760 horsepower, it’s far and away the most powerful Mustang ever built. Two of Steve Mcqueens rowdiest 1968 GT390S would still need a Mustang II stacked on top to equal the power of the mad supercharged 5.2-litre V8. Remember those “this is your brain on drugs” ads? Well this is your 5.2-L GT350 Voodoo engine on copious amounts of boost.
The bones of the same flatplane-crank V8 that we adored in the GT350 has been treated to a healthy dose of Roots blower, which pushes 12 psi of go-fast squeeze through the mill. It makes 620 pound-feet of torque and will rev out to 7,500 rpm.
The engine is a treasure. It revs, it pulls, it’s linear, and boy, is it mean. The idle has an off-key warble like a V10 Viper, thanks to the cross-plane crank breathing through one intake plenum. It’s everything you loved about the GT350 motor but with more of everything everywhere.
Coupled to this engine exclusively is a paddle shift-equipped seven-speed dual-clutch Tremec automatic. I can hear the pitter patter of #savethemanuals typers already, but honestly, the average human buyer will not be able to shift fast enough to keep up with 760 hp. The paddle is a welcome companion to the GT500 engine and the shifts are absolutely fierce when you need them to be. Otherwise, it seems content to waft you along and seamlessly shift in traffic. It’s a very good transmission.
Every bit as good as that transmission is the suspension tuning. The GT500 is fully aerodynamically optimized and that, combined with good suspension engineering, makes the GT500 not as scary to drive as you might think.
The magnetorheological suspension is not too harsh on real roads. Sport mode is just about perfect for fast driving. The steering lacks feel compared to what you’d find in a Porsche 718 or even in a Camaro. But the weight feels right and the entire package inspires tons of driving confidence. And you’ll want confidence when you’re piloting 760 hp around.
When you slap the accelerator down in a Hellcat, all kinds of amusing and terrifying things happen. The tires light up and the car goes sideways no matter what speed you’re already doing. It’s fun in the same way that base jumping is fun. But the Mustang simply rears up on those 315-section tires and explodes forward.
Mat the gas at any speed above first gear and it just moves out like no muscle car you’ve ever seen, accompanied with a wild banshee wail. Lots of muscle cars have big power, but the GT500 lets you use that power pretty much anywhere.
The cabin is nothing to write home about. You sit in a pair of nicely shaped Recaros but those are the only seats you’ll find inside. The rears have been replaced with a little bit of foam. The GT500 is a true two-seater. Though it may cost a full $94,675 in Canada, the door panels, dashboard pad, and console are made from the very same materials you’d find in a humble four-cylinder Mustang. However, if you’re buying this car, you know exactly where your money has been spent — it went to fund all the amazing pieces that transform the Mustang into a 100-percent capable track car. And frankly, I don’t know where you’d find more performance capability for under $100,000.
Despite it’s angry face and it’s back-off exhaust tone, the GT500 is actually friendly to drive, once you wrap your head around the sheer speed of it. It’s the GT2 RS to the GT350’S GT3. The manually shifted GT350 is more pure and is the true driver’s car of the two. The GT350 also has that extra little bit of hard-edge sound, thanks to it’s sky-high 8,200-rpm redline.
Which is the better car? The GT350 may be “ticket” fast but the GT500 is “jail” fast. The 350 is ideally suited for canyon carving and fast road driving. And while you can canyon carve the GT500, it wants something more. The GT500 deserves a racetrack to be let loose on, and a big one at that. Then you can show all the other cars how angry the GT500 can be. Driving.ca