2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 Gets 760 HP

By Dave Ashton

Now we finally know. We have been recently drip fed small morsels of information about the upcoming 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 – engine types, suspension, body upgrades, etc., almost everything apart from how much power the thing will kick out. Now it’s in the public domain, the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will produce 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque. Return serve from Ford, using a tennis analogy.

It was always a possibility that horsepower levels would be over the magic 700 number. 700 horses has been bandied around for months, with lots of speculation, but now it has been confirmed. No performance figures have been issued as yet, but there are hints of a mid three second 0-600mph time, a quarter mile time of under 11 seconds and a very capable track car.

This is significant as the last GT500 had 662 horses and the Ford GT is also beat at 627 horses. Ford has also limited the car’s top speed to 180 mph. Not as an aim to kill the fun, but as it costs so much to engineer a 200mph+ vehicle, they have instead put their efforts into a new dual-clutch transmission and high-downforce aero package generating 550 pounds of downforce. All pointing to a car that should do very well on both a road course and on the dragstrip. A canny move – appeal to both purist pony car and sports car fans alike. Something that is already working for the Mustang GT across Europe in their native hand drive.

All this is great news for Mustang fans, but it also adds fuel to the fire of the horsepower wars and to the wider picture of further promoting muscle cars in general. Clearly, Ford are going for making the best and most powerful GT500 yet, but there are also other milestones to hit.

The horsepower wars started at the dawn of time and are still a factor between the big three muscle makers. More power equals more street cred., it’s just the way of things. The current Corvette ZR1 has 755HP and 715 lb-ft of torque, while the 2019 SRT Dodge Hellcat has 717 horsepower(up from 707HP) and 656 lb-ft of torque, with the Dodge Redeye producing 797hp and 707 lb-ft. of torque and can top 203mph. Although the Dodge Demon was a limited edition model with an insane 840 horsepower and 770 lb-ft. of torque, it’s had a definite influence on the levels of power expected from now on. All fantastic power levels straight from the factory, with enough torque from each to shred tires at a moments notice.

So, while the rest of the planet are working on downsizing engines and working on automated electric boxes, this news is a breath of fresh air for Petrol heads everywhere, muscle car fan or not. The 600 horsepower zone now seems quite sedate, which means the big three now have each a 700HP+ vehicle, which if nothing else still brings that ‘wow’ factor to modern motoring.
Sometimes bigger is better…

In this episode of AM’s Mustang News, Justin Dugan shares his excitement for FOMOCO’s announcement timed perfectly as Ford Performance was present at AM2019 last weekend with their Rapid Red ’20 GT500. Justin shares some additional facts and speculations you won’t want to miss.
https://www.americanmuscle.com/mustang-news-june2019.html

 

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