Pros :
- Looks good on the road.
- Immense power.
- Fair factory price.
- Supercar braking performance.
- Convertible top is fairly quiet.
Cons :
- Basic Mustang interior.
- Not as quick as you'd expect.
- Limited rear legroom.
- Fuel economy of a truck.
- Live axle rear suspension hurts handling.
Interior :
Press Coverage :
The collaboration between Shelby and Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) is yielding an instant collector's Ford Shelby GT500 that builds 500 horsepower in its 5.4L supercharged V8.
True to the original Shelby GT500, it is available both as a coupe and as a convertible.
As expected of anything with Shelby's name on it, the heart of the car is what's under the hood. The Ford Shelby GT500's supercharged 5.4-liter, 32-valve V-8 evolves from Ford's experience with tuning its modular, or MOD, engines. Output is a brawny 500 horsepower.
The engine is force-fed an air-and-fuel mixture via a "Roots-type" supercharger providing 8.5 pounds per square inch of boost. The Ford Shelby GT500 uses a cast-iron engine block. It borrows from the Ford GT program aluminum, four-valve cylinder heads, piston rings and bearings, adding a high level of performance durability to the drivetrain. "Powered by SVT" camshaft covers add the finishing touch to the engine.
Helping put the power to the pavement is a 6-speed manual gearbox. For the performance driver, its evenly spaced gears mean less "stirring" is needed to find the "sweet spot." This gives a rewarding experience throughout the engine's broad torque curve. The heavy-duty transmission has proven itself a willing companion to Mustangs in both road and track environments, including recent road-going Mustang Cobras and the new race-winning Mustang FR500C.
The Ford Shelby GT500 starts with the solid Mustang underpinnings. The all-new Mustang was designed from the beginning with performance derivatives in mind, providing an exceptionally rigid, well-engineered starting point for GT500 chassis engineers.
SVT engineers retuned and upgraded key chassis components. Improvements such as revised shocks, spring rates and upgraded stabilizer bars help the Ford Shelby GT500 stop and turn with the same authority as it goes.
One glance shows this is not the typical Mustang Cobra. A sinister-looking front-end design includes wide upper and lower fascia openings with a functional air splitter. The upper intake sports the famous Cobra logo floating off-center in place of a centered galloping pony found on other Mustangs. On either side, slanting headlamp openings add to the dramatic front appearance.
The "GT500" script emblazoned on the gas cap emblem is joined by an updated version of Shelby's classic Cobra logo that is repeated on the grille and the headrest.
The bulging hood has heat extractors protruding near the leading edge, combining to provide improved airflow and aerodynamics. As air passes over the hood, hot air from the engine compartment is drawn out through ducts attached to the hood extractors.
Driving enthusiasts know all too well that the vastly increased weight and reduced structural integrity of some drop tops over their hard top derivatives sometimes force manufacturers to restrict performance capability. Often it’s a matter of a detuned engine or a softened suspension – that one must suffer for the sake of drivability or durability in convertible models.
The good news is that the same 500 horsepower V8 engine powers the Ford Shelby GT500 coupe and convertible. And with the convertible’s added weight kept to a bare minimum, fewer suspension modifications are needed, meaning the handling you experience driving the convertible will be far closer to that of the coupe than ever before.
Considering where the convertible would require the most strength and how commonality with the coupe could be integrated into the car’s basic structure, engineers added strength into both models by designing body joints and rocker panels, for instance, which help solidify the convertible without excessive bracing.
As a result, the Shelby GT500 Convertible is less than 125 pounds heavier than the coupe. This enabled engineers to use the same suspension geometry, with chassis modifications limited to only slightly softer spring rates, sway bars, and damper tuning to fit the convertible’s character.
The Shelby GT500 Convertible features a unique cloth convertible top, replacing the vinyl top of the Mustang GT Convertible. The GT500 will be only the second Mustang to feature a cloth top, first introduced on the 2003 SVT Mustang Cobra.
The cloth is similar to that used for high-end, exotic sports cars, providing an elegant visual upgrade to the GT500 convertible. In addition, the thicker fabric is not only more durable than vinyl, but creates a much tauter top resulting in a very quiet interior while driving with the top up.
For top-down driving, the Mustang’s convertible “floating” five-bow power top with z-fold construction tucks nicely into the boot, providing a more finished, tidy, top-down appearance.
Inside, too, upgraded levels of flair and function abound. The locations of the speedometer and the tachometer are swapped to provide performance-oriented drivers with a better view of shift points while changing gears. Front seats have received additional lateral support to help keep the driver optimally positioned during cornering. The interior is offered in a choice of two colors, Charcoal Black or Charcoal Black and Crimson Red. The charcoal/red offering features Crimson Red seating surfaces and door panel inserts. Seating surfaces are leather with both interior treatments. Snake logos embossed in the seat backs finish the package.
Ford Motor Company
Not that this sports car is a tire-smoking monster in acceleration, but it's quick enough and its overall performance in ride, handling and getting up to speed is excellent. This is a sports car that loves to tackle that favorite twisty road or local racetrack, and it does so with utter confidence.
The only transmission available at the time of this writing is the Aisin 5-speed manual, which hooks up to a 3.91:1 rear differential. One of the features that makes a sports car a delight to drive is a really good gearbox with short throws and precise shifts. The Pontiac team nailed this with the Solstice, as its gear changes are a delight to the touch, and I never came close to missing a shift. Fifth gear is a 0.73 overdrive ratio, making highway cruising effortless and reasonably quiet.
The steering is by rack and pinion with power assist, and the effort and feedback are ideal. The standard tires are P245/45R-18 Goodyear Eagle RS-As, which offer ample footprint and grip. The fully independent suspension uses A-arms, coil springs, tube shocks and anti-roll bars front and rear. When all of these components are put together, the result is a fun roadster with good response to driver input, comfortable ride over all surfaces, and decent traction around even the tightest of corners.
Car and Driver
Crank up the big V8, click the faithful Tremec six-speed into first, and one touch of the gas is all it takes to rock you back to 1968, when a Shelby GT500KR (King of the Road) Mustang cost $4473. Back then, the 7.0-liter Cobra Jet V8 delivered a bazookalike torque hit without waiting for the tach needle to climb the dial. Today, an even more forceful smack is provided by a medium-size V8 pressurized to 9.0 psi by the belt-driven blower.
Unless you've got the Shaker cranked up with Bob Seger hammering out "Old Time Rock & Roll," there's no escaping the sound track revolution. Thanks to the government's pass-by noise standards, heavy exhaust rumble is a thing of the past. Instead of the horny honk of the Cobra Jet's Holley four-barrel sucking holes in the ozone layer, you get a blower serenade with the level of whine directly proportional to the engine's rpm. Chief engineer Jay O'Connell acknowledges that resonance chambers capable of quieting the yowl were considered but rejected because of the void they left in the Shelby GT500's character.
SVT chassis engineers had their work cut out dealing with the extra 340 pounds heaped onto the front tires. The added weight and stiff-sidewall tires collaborate to provide crisp on-center steering feel and sharp initial response. Since a complete overhaul of the suspension systems was out of the question, the SVT crew focused on retuning every bushing, damper calibration, bar size, and spring rate for this new assignment. What they achieved is commendable: a cornering limit boosted from the Mustang GT's 0.87 g to the GT500's world-class 0.95 g without trashing the ride or bombarding the cockpit with road noise.
A ballerina's balance is too much to expect of any true muscle car, so there is ample understeer when the Goodyears slide. However, a few laps circulating California Speedway's tight road course revealed a strategy that keeps the Shelby from tripping over its front feet: complete the hard braking with the steering dead straight, turn in gently, then add throttle well before the apex to encourage the rear tires to shoulder their share of the load. Plan B is to hurl the car into the bend, adding full throttle to hang the tail out. That works, but it's neither the tidy nor the quick way around any corner.
Automobile Magazine
History:
2003-2004 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
4,601 cc / 390 hp / 390 lb-ft / 3664 lbs / 0-60 mph 4.7 sec.
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