There’s no other production car in Ford’s stable that is as powerful as the S550 generation of the Mustang, in the Shelby GT500 configuration. A constant presence at drag racing events all over the world, it was spotted on the right side of the pond, presumably not long ago, proving its mettle against some not-that-ordinary rivals.
During the first recorded race, shared on video at the bottom of the page, the ultra-powerful pony car lined up at the start line next to an Audi RS 3 Sportback. Subsequently, it met one bad BMW M140i, and then found itself going up against something even more different: a Toyota MR2.
So, how did it do against those uncommon rivals? Not good at all, because despite being a force to be reckoned with, it needs a skilled driver behind the wheel to make the most of it. Thus, it failed against the aforementioned vehicles, which taught it a few lessons about straight-line sprints, and it couldn’t even perform a decent start. You can blame everything on the person holding the wheel, who appears to be in dire need of some drag racing lessons.
On the plus side, at least it managed to remain in one piece after putting its money where its mouth is, despite losing traction at one point, so its unpredictable nature, a common issue of the previous-generation Mustangs, didn’t seal its fate. That alone could be considered a win, albeit it does not erase the fact that it lost to some hatchbacks, albeit very powerful ones for that matter, which may have been hiding some secrets beneath their skins.
Before wrapping it up and moving on to the next story, we will remind you that the latest Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a ten-second car down the quarter mile. It has more oomph than the Ford GT, and to this day, it is the Blue Oval’s most powerful production car ever made, with no less than 760 hp (771 ps / 567 kW) and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) of torque available at a hard push of the loud pedal.
Packing a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine, which is highly upgradable as we have seen these past few years, hooked up to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and rear-wheel drive, it needs just 3 seconds to hit the 60 mph (97 kph) mark from a standstill. Not many people who are interested in vehicles that have as much power as true blue-blooded machines, giving them a run for their money every now and then, give a flying hoot about the fuel consumption. But if you do, then here are the numbers posted on the official U.S. website: 12/18 mpg (19.6/13.1 l/100 km) in city/highway.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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