GT500 s all muscle — but do you need it?
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Carroll Shelby, Ford and Mustang go way back, back to the 1960s when Shelby was a winning sports car racer.
Shelby created his Cobra sports car, and then lent his expertise and name to some spicy Mustangs. One was the GT500 and now, roughly 40 years later, it's back in Ford's lineup. Again, it is all about power.
Like the '60s version, the gorgeous Shelby blue GT500 with its trademark wide white racing stripes packs major power under the long, bulging hood. There's a supercharged version of Ford's 5.4-liter V-8 available to slam out 500 horsepower.
Ford says it'll do 155 mph at the top end, but it's electronically limited to stop there. It'll do 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
Unfortunately there isn't much call or opportunity for all that power on the streets.
The GT500 will explode up a highway entry ramp and sound terrific getting there. But then you'll have to slow down to normal highway speeds or risk a visit from your favorite state trooper.
The GT500 cruises at 70 mph-plus with ease and I managed up to 22 mpg on long highway stints. That's pretty good for a hog of a V-8 that drinks premium and is hit with a $1,300 gas guzzler tax.
The GT500 is rated 15 mpg city and 21 highway. I got no less than 18 in any of my drives.
Ford tuned the independent front suspension with its MacPherson struts to give this car a racy feel. Steering is heavy, but more precise than I'd expected. The car feels track-ready and is a hoot in tight turns.
The rear-drive car's back end still feels like it wants to step out a bit, as do other Mustangs. There's a solid rear axle with 3-link suspension that hunkers down in corners. Road grip is helped by 18-inch ZR-rated performance tires.
You must be prepared for a fairly harsh ride on bumpy streets. A bigger annoyance was the howl from those tires on cement. I finally turned the radio off on one long highway stretch because I couldn't hear the music without blaring it from the awesome Shaker 1000 stereo system ($1,295 option). On blacktop the tires quieted some.
The Brembo brakes drew gasps from some folks eyeballing the car when it was parked. The front discs are a monster 14 inches, while the rear are 11.8-inchers.
Shifting is fine from the six-speed manual. It's fairly notchy, but easy to pick out the gears and I eased it into sixth every chance I could to save fuel. However, a run down I-94 through a congested Chicago pointed out the clutch's heaviness. This thing is beefy and you'll want to do some thigh-building exercises if you drive it in stop-and-creep traffic much.
Inside, I wasn't that impressed, considering the GT500 starts at $40,930.
The dash is clean and simple, especially the center stack, so it's easy to use the radio and climate controls. The digital trip computer's large buttons are right here too, making them easy to use while driving.
I also like the blue backlighting for the main gauges, a real help at night. But those four main gauges are set deep into round casings and with gray faces are hard to see in daylight. The speedometer only puts numbers at 20 mph intervals too, so you see 20, 40 and 60, but it's harder to quickly read where you are in between those markers.
In fact, the entire interior is dark and devoid of much style. The dash face is a black plastic with leather-look texture, the same that's on the door panels and looks pretty pedestrian. The dash top is leather and there's carbon fiber-look trim across the dash's top face by the gauges, but again, it's all black or gray.
While there are cruise control buttons on the steering wheel hub there is no radio control, something that would be useful in such a noisy interior.
Ford delivers a fast and frisky GT500, with awesome looks, but doesn't give you a full package for the price. Note that a convertible GT500 starts at $45,755.
Folks wanting a fun Mustang, but at considerably less, might consider the Mustang GT Premium coupe with its 300-horsepower 4.6-liter V-8. It starts at $26,895.
Mark Savage welcomes your new vehicle related questions and comments at Savageonwheels@yahoo.com.
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