I don't care what you say, trapping 117 means the GT500 is one freakin fast stock car. I totally agree with everyone that it's way, way to heavy. The weight alone would keep me from buying one, but it's going to be one fun car to drive. I guarantee. Anything that has the power to trap 117 in the 1/4 has some major b@lls and will give most any car on the road a run for it's money from a roll. The only other American cars that trap higher are the Z06, Ford GT, and the Dodge Viper correct?

This car is for a different kind of enthusiast. Not the die hard, by the numbers kind of guy. It's a great looking ride that will be fairly rare on the street, and is one fast car, period. I don't think this car was designed for the track, but for that guy on the street who wants the bragging rights of owning one.

4 years ago, this car would be considered insane! The latest Cobra, the C6 'vette, and the "inexpensive" Z06 have just raised the bar way high recently.

I am NOT a Ford enthusiast by the way, but still want to give the GT500 a fair shake.

Dan

 

Well put Dan. Milan is a grease pit at the starting line. The only times they treat the track is during a major event or when they have a private rental and you pay extra for VHT or similar substance. 117mph is high 11 et range with a 1.8 60 foot you could get with a drag radial. Too bad people are paying $15-20 grand over sticker for the early cars that are showing up on ebay. Dealers see that and demand a market adjustment premium on them.

 

funny how a 12.2 is somehow slow to some of you. That is about right for the weight of that car and 500HP. I'd say it's pretty damn fast for a street car and the mph indicates it's got the HP. You will see these cars deep into the 11's or high 10's with little mods.

 

12.25 is slow when it takes Evan Smith, 40-50k bucks and 500+ ponies to get there.

I mean we're talking about a car that has 200 extra ponies (assuming they were both underrated roughly equivalently), 40-50k dollar price tag, and nearly a decade of time to advance in technology and design over the original LS1 f-body and it still only has a 6-7 tenths advantage over what most would consider a 'best' time for the LS1?? And in addition to all that - it doesn't even handle all that well or offer super impressive road manners. It doesn't really seem to excel at any one thing.

 

Is the car expected to handle with any cars in its price range or is it just a quarter-mile fire breather? It is still IRS right?

 

It excels at sucking, and at being heavy, and at drawing a lot of negative attention despite being the first sub-$50,000 production car to hit the 500hp mark.



Don't have time to verify right now, but I think it's LRA.

 

Yeah, ok..

 

It's a solid axle.

I'm not saying the car is "slow" by any means....the performance leap just isn't as impressive from '04 Cobra to '07 Cobra as it was from '01 to '03. Again, I think the expectations of this car were a wee bit high. I'm not saying it isn't quick, but the $42,000 base sticker (a full $10,000 more than the last Cobra, if I remember right) with Shelby's name on it put a lot of pressure on the car.

Perhaps reactions to it will be very different a year from now, when they're selling at MSRP and running 11's with a pulley and a capable driver.

 

I wonder if this car is going to get a Viper-like reputation (easy to get 130+mph trap speeds, but making them run seriously low ETs would be an awful lot of work, and fairly rare).

 

I dunno what the future holds, but I dont see where a pulley, headers, full exhaust, compy tune, and a CAI would be hard work. These mods supposedly put the Shelby at or above the 600hp mark.

 

Hey when did you get to test drive one?

 

Okay, point taken

 

Hmmmm, thats odd............ pretty much every test has said that the car handles very well, and that there is very little ride penalty over the Mustang GT.

However, being the automotive expert that you are........... with all of the seat time (and instrument testing) that you have in the GT500.............. you probably know better.

BTW, this car makes 500hp. The LS1 made about 335-350hp. This does not equal 200hp. Also, you could buy a loaded 2002 SS Camaro for about $38K. For that sprightly sum, you could have a limp noodle chassis with rock hard bushings, and an interior that would make Rubbermaid blush (along with some great vinyl look/feel leather), and a toothpick rear axle. The 2003 Cobra Coupe had an MSRP of $34750.

Selective memory is a wonderful thing.

(Disclaimer: I love the LS1 engine............ just was never a great fan of its wrapper)

 

To my understanding the pulley swap is going to be much more difficult on the Shelby's blown 5.4. Also, the exhaust from the factory isn't much of a restriction on the new car, although sources say the intake is. This is some of what I have read on the SVT boards.

 

I don't know where you were buying your Camaros, but you were getting ripped off. I could see $38k getting you an SS vert with every single SLP option available, but $38k was not the typically price by a long shot. I could get in an 02 fully loaded SS for $28k easily, and I am not referring to talking the salesman down on the price either.

Quoted for irony.

*Edit - Here is the old Measuring the Competition article about the SS running the 12s stock.

http://www.stangbangers.com/01_Bullitt_Article2.htm

If you read through the article, you can see that MM&FF seems to agree with me for the most part on the pricing.