There's horsepower, and then there's dyno-tested, can't-lie-to-your-friends horsepower. If you want to know how much power a car really makes, you've got to strap it to a dyno and spin it to redline. The guys over at 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords are always eager to find the true horsepower of a car, and so when they took delivery of a GT500KR to review they headed straight to the dyno to see how much power the supercharged V8 is putting out. What they found was somewhat surprising -- the KR produced 509 horsepower and 467.7 lb.-ft. torque to the wheels. Adjusting for an estimated driveline loss of 15 percent, the actual output at the flywheel is 589.82 hp and 550.24 lb-ft torque -- nearly 50 more horsepower and 40 more lb-ft than Ford is claiming. Take that Z06!
Despite the Shelby GT500KR's claim of supremacy over the dominion that is the open road, there is yet another Mustang that is even more extreme. Shelby's Super Snake package for the GT500 offers up to 725 horsepower and even more aggressive options for the suspension and braking systems. Available as a post-sale conversion for the GT500, the transformation can be performed at the Shelby facility in Las Vegas or at one of the official mod shops around the country. There have been a handful of owners who have already converted their GT500s, and one is already for sale on eBay. Something seems wrong with the seller's math, however, because a "Buy It Now" price of $200,000 is far more than the cost of a GT500 plus the $31,995 needed for the 725 horsepower conversion. We could understand the markup if these were in high demand, but pretty much any GT500 owner can send his car to get converted.
We're here at Milan Dragway for the 2nd annual Ford Racing invitational and just like the guys at Indy, drag racers don't run in the rain. Ford invites the a bunch of Michigan-based media out to Milan during NMRA weekend so that we can try out our quarter-mile skills in a bunch of Mustangs. Since this is bracket racing, where the goal is to be consistent from run to run rather than just fast, we have 17 different Mustangs here including GT500s, GT500KRs, Roush machines and others with assorted Ford Racing parts. We were all assigned cars randomly and I drew this GT500 that serves as the Pace Car at the Homestead, FL track. After rains yesterday morning and early afternoon it finally let up just before 3:00 PM when practice sessions were due to start. When it was finally our turn to hit the track, we headed out to the staging lanes and waited. Before we got to the line, though, it started raining again and it didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon. The weather is supposed to be clear today, so hopefully I'll get my chance to defend the honor of Autoblog.
KGP photographers have caught another 2010 Shelby GT500 prototype just days after shooting the first one, but this time the prototype on display gave up much more info to the spy lens. In the gallery of 10 spy shots below, we can see a much clearer view of the next GT500's front fascia, including copious amounts of mesh for the grilles, as well as a pair of inboard, pie-shaped lights mounted on each side of the main grille. KGP spies also noticed that the wheels worn by this prototype sporting five split-spokes are new, and that the rear rubber appeared noticeably wider than the front. This car also sported a roll cage, which doesn't necessarily tell us anything, but the seats are some serious performance thrones from Sparco. Unfortunately, there's no telling from spy shots whether Ford is planning on using these Sparco EVO2 seats on the production model. Click the gallery below to check all the new shots and compare them to the first set of GT500 spy shots we published earlier this week.
We've seen plenty of spy shots showing the next-gen 2010 Ford Mustang, but these are the first batch of pics to show the high-horsepower Shelby GT500 version running around the streets of Detroit. Though the exterior is largely covered in camouflage, we can make out the Cobra badge on the far right of the front grille. And though camo often obscures the true lines of a car, it does appear that the next GT500 will have a different, bulging hood than the regular Mustang and a deeper front air dam. The spy photographers from KGP also caught the rear of this Shelby GT500 prototype with the camo lifted just a bit to reveal some unique detailing on the car's lower rear valence. Perhaps most significant is the view we now have of the car's interior, which is the first to be seen uncovered. The dual-cowl dash remains, while the entire instrument panel flows seemlessly from one side of the car to the other. The two giant gauges we saw earlier are also present here along with the rectangular air vents atop the center stack, and this model also features a steering wheel sporting a Cobra badge in bright brushed metal. No one's quite sure what will power the next-gen Shelby GT500, though our bet is on a new supercharged 5.0L V8 that will replace the current S/C 4.65.4L engine. As always, time will tell, but these pictures do give up some of the goods.
When I first gazed upon the Shelby GT500KR at a Ford event, I leaned over to fellow blogger Sam Abuelsamid and told him that dealers would try to get $100k for the limited edition road-ruling 'Stangs. Well, as it turns out it wasn't even a ballpark guess, as Lone Star Ford is looking to fetch $155k for his allotted KR on eBay. That's almost double the KR's $79,995 MSRP, but with only 1,000 special edition GT500's scheduled for this year, there is bound to be drastic markup. It is worth pointing out that the Ford GT's MSRP was roughly $155k, and for the same price you can get a BMW M3, a Mustang GT500, and one hell of a vacation.
If money means little to you and you're seriously thinking about shelling out $155k for this Shelby GT500KR, you won't find out a whole lot of information on the eBay page. Part of the reason for that is because Lone Star Ford hasn't yet taken delivery of the 540 hp Mustang that's up for auction. It also explains why the dealer has a photo of a standard GT500 sticker instead of that of the $80k KR.
Sometime around late 2003, I first saw the car that was at that time still known as Condor. Condor was the Ford internal code name for the SVT version of the yet to be publicly shown S197 Mustang. At that time, most everyone outside of Ford was still anticipating that this car would be the new Mustang Cobra. Somewhere along the line to launch, Ford had settled its long standing conflict with Carroll Shelby and Condor ended up wearing one of the other classic Mustang badges from the '60s. The Shelby GT500 eventually started rolling off the Flat Rock, MI assembly line in both coupe and convertible forms for the 2007 model year.
Ford recently dropped off a Grey 2008 GT500 coupe at the Autoblog Garage for a few days, and we just had to share. By coincidence, the GT500 arrived about three weeks after the Mustang Bullitt we reviewed. While the Bullitt was about as understated as a modern Mustang can get, the GT500 is anything but. The Shelby is slathered in stripes, badges, spoilers and driving lights. The GT500 also has a very different powertrain from the Bullitt. Find out how the GT500 compares to the stealth 'Stang after the jump.
When Ford announced the GT500KR's based price of $79,995, many of you thought that it was pretty steep for a Mustang. Even though it's a limited edition Shelby with 540 horsepower, $80,000 can buy a lot of really nice cars. What's even more insane is that we know people will not only buy the KR, but they will pay tens of thousands of dollars over MSRP just to have one. The only question was how much dealers would try and gouge. That question has been answered. Lone Star Ford in Houston, TX has put up a red GT500KR on eBay Motors with a "Buy It Now" price of...$154,991.00. That's nearly double the MSRP. Who knows if anyone will actually buy it at that price, but going off what happened with the standard GT500, then it's quite possible.
Ford will be producing 1,000 GT500KR Mustangs this year, with another 700 in 2009, so FoMoCo is pricing the ultimate 'Stang accordingly. For $79,995 (including destination and gas-guzzler tax), you get everything included in the "standard" GT500, plus Ford Racing's Power Upgrade Package, which includes a new exhaust and a recalibrated ECU to push out 540 hp and 510 lb.-ft. of torque from the supercharged 5.4-liter V8. The only options on the ordering form are a Shaker 1000 stereo, Sirius satellite radio and a navigation system. Ford hasn't disclosed fuel economy numbers yet, but we doubt anyone willing to drop $80k on a blown V8 is troubled by topping off their own KR with $4.00-a-gallon premium. Get your orders in now; sales begin later this month.
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Our initial drive of the Shelby GT500KR on public roads revealed that Ford, SVT and Shelby had addressed many of the issues that we had with the standard GT500. The KR's revised suspension is better balanced and more capable of handling the excessive amounts of horsepower and torque that the blown 5.4L generates, and a new short-throw Hurst shifter makes changing gears a joy instead of a chore. To top it all off, a Ford Racing cold air intake, new exhaust system, and 3.73 gears give the KR an extra kick in the pants. The changes were so spot-on that we wondered why Ford didn't build the GT500 this way in the first place.
With a ride like the GT500KR, however, only so much of the car can be experienced on public roads. At 540 horsepower and 510 lb-ft torque, the KR quickly reaches posted speed limits and the car stays well under its limits around corners. Fortunately, Ford let us loose to run hot laps around Miller Motorsports Park. Follow the jump to see how the "King of the Road" fared at the track.
