{"id":24333,"date":"2019-10-31T09:40:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T13:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=24333"},"modified":"2019-10-31T10:00:39","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T14:00:39","slug":"payne-mustang-gt500-is-the-baddest-best-pony-car-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/payne-mustang-gt500-is-the-baddest-best-pony-car-ever","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Mustang GT500 is the baddest, best pony car ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Since it hit the showrooms, the sixth-generation Mustang has topped the Camaro everywhere but on the\u00a0track. Media comparisons\u00a0have consistently given the Chevy the handling nod. Ford got so sick of hearing about its rival’s\u00a0track superiority that it went and made a Corvette-inspired Terminator.<\/p>\n

The 2020 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 is a front-engine Corvette in drag.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlike anything you\u2019ve ever seen from the Blue Oval\u2019s pony car stable. Forget the GT500s of old \u2014 they were crude, solid rear-axle, straight-line hammers. This Mustang is more supercar than muscle car. Nostalgic for the front-engine Corvette now that the mid-engine weapon has dawned? Take a look at the GT500. Like the supreme\u00a0755-horse Stingray ZR1, the GT500 supercharges its V-8 to a mind-blowing 760 horsepower.<\/p>\n

For road-sucking downforce, it\u2019s available with a ZR1-like track package that includes a huge\u00a0carbon-fiber rear wing and front splitter and wicker. It has Recaro seats, magnetic shocks, launch control, electronic rear-differential and a\u00a0quiet mode for long road trips. Tires? Fat Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or near-slick Pilot Cup 2 that stick like glue. Heck, the GT500 even reached into the mid-engine C8\u2019s toolbox and mated its supercharged tornado to a lightning-fast, dual-clutch\u00a0seven-speed transmission from Tremec.<\/p>\n

The 650-horse Camaro ZL1 and winged ZL1 1LE is Camaro\u2019s top-of-the-line. The GT500 is its match, plus 100 horsepower.<\/p>\n

The Mustang is a relentless, apex-carving cyborg on track. Despite its heavy V-8 up front, it defied the law of physics (or more precisely, mastered them) around Las Vegas Motor Speedway\u2019s 2.4-mile Outfield Road Course. Thundering through the tricky\u00a0high-speed \u201cbus-stop chicane,\u201d I overcooked the entry and braced to bounce over the next apex curb. Nope.<\/p>\n

A quick flick of the steering wheel, and the GT500 stayed on course. It’s\u00a0a 4,000-pound rhino in tennis shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the 550 pound-feet of downforce working,\u201d Ford racing driver Billy Johnson told me later. Johnson \u2014 who knows a thing or two about supercars,\u00a0having piloted the mid-engine GT at Le Mans the last four years \u2014 was deeply involved with GT500 development long before it debuted at this year\u2019s Detroit auto show.<\/p>\n

This is a muscle car with degrees in aerodynamics, materials\u00a0and mechanical engineering. If Tony Stark hadn\u2019t invented Iron Man, he would have flown around in a GT500.<\/p>\n

\n