Not that long ago, YouTube vlogger StangMode had an unfortunate surprise while driving his tuned Shelby GT500. After five seconds or thereabouts of wide-open throttle, the supercharged V8 with 1,000 horsepower on tap blew up in pretty spectacular fashion.
In addition to a thick cloud of white smoke, the car was also leaking oil following the catastrophic failure. The extent of the damage became obvious up on the lift, and as you already know from the headline, there are two holes in the block located right next to the motor mounts. Small bits of the block, two halves of a piston, and flapping rods also need to be mentioned.
The heads and 2.65-liter supercharged supplied by Eaton have yet to be analyzed, but in light of the aforementioned problems, they’ll probably need to be repaired or replaced as well. StangMode doesn’t know for sure how much he’s going to spend to get “The Hulk” back on the road under its own power, estimating the bill at anything between $10,000 and $30,000.
The best-case scenario would be to replace the short block and fix the rest, although that may be wishful thinking on my part. A long-block package, which features quite a few more components over the short-block counterpart, costs an eye-watering $25,000 straight from Ford.
Another unpleasant surprise may come in the guise of the TR-9070 dual-clutch transmission supplied by Tremec. This bad boy is rated at 900 Nm (664 pound-feet) of torque from the factory, which is why the Shelby GT500 tops 625 pound-feet (846 Nm) as standard. StangMode’s car has a little bit more than that, accelerating the wear and tear of the high-tech transmission.
Although it's stout for a V8, it’s worth remembering that Ford didn’t design the Predator with bulletproof internals. The same can be said about the DCT, and lest we forget, the TR-9080 in the C8 Corvette isn't perfect either.
The heads and 2.65-liter supercharged supplied by Eaton have yet to be analyzed, but in light of the aforementioned problems, they’ll probably need to be repaired or replaced as well. StangMode doesn’t know for sure how much he’s going to spend to get “The Hulk” back on the road under its own power, estimating the bill at anything between $10,000 and $30,000.
The best-case scenario would be to replace the short block and fix the rest, although that may be wishful thinking on my part. A long-block package, which features quite a few more components over the short-block counterpart, costs an eye-watering $25,000 straight from Ford.
Another unpleasant surprise may come in the guise of the TR-9070 dual-clutch transmission supplied by Tremec. This bad boy is rated at 900 Nm (664 pound-feet) of torque from the factory, which is why the Shelby GT500 tops 625 pound-feet (846 Nm) as standard. StangMode’s car has a little bit more than that, accelerating the wear and tear of the high-tech transmission.
Although it's stout for a V8, it’s worth remembering that Ford didn’t design the Predator with bulletproof internals. The same can be said about the DCT, and lest we forget, the TR-9080 in the C8 Corvette isn't perfect either.