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2020 Shelby GT500 Is Out for Porsche 911 Turbo S Blood, Receives Killer Blow

We really can’t get enough of seeing America’s finest taking on Germany’s quintessential supercar, the Porsche 911. As of right now, you can’t do much better than a Shelby GT500 if what you’re going for is raw American muscle. Sure, a Corvette Z06 would have been the better matchup, but that GT500 is a formidable straight-line foe, nonetheless.
2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile 7 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile2020 Shelby GT500 takes on 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S over a quarter mile
That said, we’ll admit that this is the type of drag race where we pretty much knew what would happen (statistically speaking) even before the lights turned green. The Porsche 911 Turbo S is an incredibly difficult car to out-accelerate off the mark. It’s not just because of its all-wheel-drive system, but also because of its excellent gearbox. The entire drivetrain is pretty much an engineering masterpiece.

The 991.2 Turbo S is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six engine, generating a maximum output of 572 hp (580 PS) and 553 lb-ft (750 Nm) of torque with overboost. With the help of a seven-speed PDK automatic, you’ll be hitting 60 mph in well under 3 seconds flat, before maxing out at 205 mph (330 kph).

Now, doing the dirty work for the Mustang Shelby GT500 is a considerably larger power unit. It’s a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 with 760 hp (771 PS) and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque. All that grunt is going to the rear wheels exclusively through a Tremec seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, featuring a Torsen limited-slip differential. However, we have plenty of reason to believe that the 2020 Shelby GT500 is considerably more powerful than officially advertised.

Even so, it was the Porsche that grabbed the win here and did so rather easily. The Turbo S covered the quarter-mile in 11.07 seconds at 127.8 mph (205.6 kph), while the GT500 needed 11.89 seconds at 122.8 mph (197.6 kph). They did race again, yes, with the Mustang coming out on top. We won’t count that one, though, because there was clearly an issue with the 911.

In the end, we believe both cars could have done better and that this should have been a very close race.

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About the author: Sergiu Tudose
Sergiu Tudose profile photo

Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration.
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