Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 Laps Hockenheim Slower Than An M5 Competition

With 750bhp available from its 5.2-litre ‘Predator’ supercharged V8, the Ford Mustang GT500 is certainly no slouch. However, despite Ford also making a big deal about the car’s on-track performance and fitting things like bespoke adaptive dampers and adjustable camber plates, the ultimate ‘Stang disappointed somewhat in Sport Auto’s famous Hockenheim hot lap test.

With Uwe Sener at the wheel, the GT500 clocked a 1:54.6 lap - not exactly slow, but the similarly heavy BMW M5 Competition went four-tenths faster when Sport Auto tested it a few years ago. And remember, that’s a car with nearly 150bhp less to play with.

The lap was also only marginally faster than times posted with a BMW M2 and a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 at the track. Hmmm.

It’s worth pointing out that the M5 does have all-wheel drive on its side, and indeed, there are times when the GT500 struggles to get its power down without the back end wanting to step out. Plus, this isn’t the most capable version of the GT500 - it doesn’t have the $18,500 carbon fibre track pack fitted, which would have added Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s in place of PS4 S boots and a GT4-style rear wing among other things.

With those changes, that lap time would have been shaved down nicely. Regardless, we can’t help but be a little underwhelmed at the standard car’s effort.

This isn’t the only eyebrow-raising time to be posted by Sport Auto recently - Christian Gebhardt’s lap in a McLaren 765LT turned out to be seven tenths slower than the lesser 720S. The publication blamed the car’s aggressive setup, noting “Entry oversteer when the steering input is a tiny bit too sharp” and “Less traction and snappy oversteer during accelerating out of the corner.”