The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 took the North American International Auto Show press day by storm this year as Ford unveiled it’s most powerful Mustang ever built. This pony car not only looks amazing, but it has several details and options that are going to drive enthusiasts into showrooms begging for one.
The Engine
Many Ford Mustang fans were thrilled to hear the announcement that the GT350 was going to have an exclusive 5.2L flat plane crank V8. The 8,200 RPM monster was a crowd favorite for sure with it’s unique sound and reline number, but eventually Ford would find out that the vibrations caused by the engine could be troublesome and would not be the right fit for a supercharged version.
Keeping the 5.2L aluminum alloy block that is build by hand, Ford switched to a cross-plane crank that is paired up with a massive 2.65-liter roots-type supercharger with air-to-liquid intercooler that Ford states is neatly tucked in the engine valley. This beastly pair of horsepower sweating metals is going to produce 700+ horsepower which will get you mid-three-second 0-60 scores. (Listen to the incredible sound of the exhaust in our video at the bottom of the article!)
Transmission
Let’s just say modern performance gearheads will love the new transmission and most likely the majority of old school car guys will think if it’s not a manual I won’t drive it. Well, it’s not a manual.
Ford had to harness all of that power correctly and the choice was clear that a modern TREMEC 7-Speed dual clutch transmission could handle that task. You are talking about smooth shift times that are less than 100 milliseconds. Sorry manual fans, you could not shift that fast if an entire fleet of tornado’s were chasing you down the road. The fast are that this is the fastest way to get that power to the ground and it even includes drive modes slippery, sport, drag, and track along with fan favorites like line-lock and launch control.
No Rear Seat
There will be two packages offered for the 2020 model year GT500. The expensive, hard-core version will be the Carbon Fiber Track Package which has the seat deleted for weight reduction.
Let’s be honest, this vehicle was not intended to carry a load of passengers around so who needs the read seat anyway? You can count on one other person have a blast as you tear up the pavement.
Carbon Fiber
Hold on to your wallets, you can get the top of the line package that comes with 20″ carbon fiber wheels that are .5″ wider in the rear. Those bad boys are wrapped in custom Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires and to top things off you get an adjustable carbon fiber GT4 track wing.
Not only do these carbon fiber items look amazing, they save weight which makes even better use of that insane amount of horsepower.
New Race Inspired Details
You are going to see details on this 2020 Mustang GT500 that have never been seen before on a production built Mustang. Just take a look at the new splitter wickers that have integrated dive plane. This is something you would normally only see on Speedvision during a race.
There is not need to stop there as you will notice the front of the car has a massive opening in the front that will turn every head you encounter. “With a double front grille opening and 50 percent more cooling pack airflow versus the Shelby GT350, along with the most advanced aero components and downforce we’ve ever offered, every millimeter of Shelby GT500’s fastback design is aimed at improving performance,” said Melvin Betancourt, Ford design manager. Front fascia openings are more than doubled versus the Shelby GT350, while six heat exchangers are stuffed in to increase cooling pack airflow by more than 50 percent. A massive 31×28-inch louvered hood vent features a removable aluminum rain tray for better air extraction and increased downforce.
We honestly did not even cover every exciting aspect of the new 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. This five details we thought really stuck out but we encourage you to visit the North American International Auto Show in Detroit January 14th-27th so you can see it for yourself. If you can’t make it, be sure to visit your local Ford showroom immediately when this car hits the lot.
Before you leave, take a listen to exhaust as Car Widdman from Ford Performance fires it up on the auto show stage!
