Everyone knows one of the meanest muscle cars in America is the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. In the UK, the Clive Sutton tune CS850GT is the automotive equivalent of the royal chariot. Mat Watson of CarWow put the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 against the Clive Sutton CS850GT to determine which one is the ultimate Ford muscle car of both worlds.
The Ford Shelby GT500 comes with a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 pumping out 760 HP and 850 Nm of torque. Driving the rear wheels is a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. In the U.S, the starting price is the equivalent of £75,000, but in the UK, it’s about £125,000 due to shipping, taxes, and prepping.
By all means, the Ford Mustang GT500 is the ultimate fast Mustang. It checks all muscle car boxes; it’s loud, aggressive, and powerful. It’s the benchmark when it comes to pony cars. But there’s a problem. It is only available in America, and worst of all, in left-hand-drive. For the London folk, this is a dealbreaker. All hope is not lost. The Clive Sutton team has a solution - the CS850GT.
The Clive Sutton CS850GT is United Kingdom's answer to the GT500. It comes with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 putting out 859 HP and 900 Nm of torque. This muscle car doesn’t make that much horsepower by chance. The Clive Sutton team put a supercharger, new exhaust, brakes, suspension, and loads of other bits and pieces to pull out that kind of performance.
Like the Shelby GT500, the CS850GT is rear-wheel-drive (but with a manual gearbox). The starting price is £115,000, with a fully kitted version costing £135,000.
They warm up the tires and line up the muscle cars for a drag race. Once it’s time to bolt, both vehicles get off equally at the same time, but after a couple of feet, the Mustang GT500 starts pulling away to victory.
The Ford Shelby GT500 took 11.8 seconds, while the CS850GT finished with 12.2 seconds in the quarter-mile drag race. An impressive win for the GT500. On a roll race from third gear at 80 kph (50 mph), the GT500 surprisingly won again.
This drag race reveals one thing - manual shifters are no match for DCTs.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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