Ford Releases Pictures, Specifications of 2010 Shelby GT500

While Ford Fans In Europe are celebrating the recent release of the 300bhp Focus RS hot-hatch, Ford fans in America have an entirely different release to celebrate - the debut of the new 2010 Shelby (Mustang) GT500, in both coupe and convertible form.

A car seemingly designed entirely for American tastes, the GT500 is rolling proof that America still knows how to do what they do best - overmuscled, steroid injected sports cars.  For 2010, the basic Mustang chassis was revamped with more modern, sleek styling and vastly improved suspension tuning - a criticism of pretty much every Mustang since the demise of the Fox-platform in 1993.

Ford released details of the new Shelby GT500 at the stroke of midnight, bringing in the new year with a bang and a whole lot of horsepower.  The 2010 model has had it's power bumped from 500bhp to 540bhp, and 500lb-ft up to 510 by way of modifications to the ECU, a low-restriction exhaust, a revised intake setup, and the addition of knock sensors (Ed: Really?  It didn't have them before, Ford?)  The engine is still the same hodgepodge of F150, Cobra, and GT supercar parts - F-150 "Triton" 5.4L cast-iron block, all-aluminum dual-overhead cam 32v heads, same blower as before.  The redline has been lifted to 6,250 rpms as well, giving a more usable power band.

The coupe rolls on new 19" forged wheels with the same too-narrow 255/40/ZR19 tires as before, while the  convertible has an 18" variant of the same pattern.

Changes over the regular base and GT Mustangs include a different front fascia with a more angled grille, a taller hood to clear the massive supercharger, aerodynamic front and rear diffusers, and the gaudy tape stripes that have graced all of the Shelbys in the past.

The rest of the hardware is also equally serious - the brakes are 4-piston cross drilled and ventilated units from Brembo, the transmission is Tremec's bulletproof TR6060 with a new twin-disc clutch with greater swept area for better driveability, and the heavy-duty rear differential has a 3.55:1 final drive ratio for stronger acceleration.

On the other hand, extensive work has apparently been put into additional refinement - that larger clutch requires less effort while being more capable of handling the power.  Reworking of the intake setup has cut down on the intrusive blower whine that "plagued" (depending on your opinion on the relative merits of supercharger whine!) the previous generation. Both 5th and 6th gear have been numerically lowered to offer lower RPMS at highway cruising speed, reducing fuel consumption and noise on the highway.

Of course, it's not all wonderful happy news.  There are still basic design flaws with the GT500 that haven't been corrected in the slightest in this generation.  What the previous generation needed wasn't more power, it was less weight over the front end!  That giant 5.4L iron block motor moves the weight bias much further forward compared to the aluminum-block 4.6L GT.  The coupe still rings up around 3,900 lbs of curb weight (1770kg!), which is just way too heavy for a real sports car.  The convertible, which requires additional chassis bracing, is well over 2 tons curb weight.

In addition, the GT500 still has a live rear axle - a solid beam, rather than fully independent suspension, like most other sports cars have been using for the last 5 decades or so.  In fact, the last generation (2003-2004) Mustang SVT Cobras had an independent rear suspension!  This retrograde step is surprising, and moreso that Ford didn't see fit to rectify this in the updated 2010 model.

Time will tell if the new GT500 lives up to it's legendary moniker - it is a Shelby, after all.  And even if it's not the best around a corner, it's hard not to get excited about this first debut of 2009 - it's refreshing to see that manufacturers haven't forgotten some people just want a large clump of horsepower!  Amidst the green revolution we seem to be going through, it warms my soul to see Ford releasing such an obscene car at such an inappropriate time.