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2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive

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danio3834
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
I for one am glad that Ford understands that there are customers who want a live solid axle out back. There are those that still want the extreme durability, simple and compact setup of the live rear axle.

For all the bench racers and techno-junkies, there are cars like the GT-R, ZR-1, and even Camaro and Challenger with their multi-link rears.

Like Wes said in the review, all the live-axle hate is un-warranted.
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tafan69
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
Another mustang........Yawwwwwwwwn!
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Mad_Science
04/06/09

@tafan69: You scrolled all the way to the bottom of the page 2 to leave that comment?
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Douglas Powers
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
$48.6k puts you within a grand of a new Corvette coupe. I like the looks of this new Shelby but the Corvette beats it at every game except for carrying amputee children in it's back 'seat'.
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Wes Siler
04/06/09

@Douglas Powers: That'd be a tough choice. I'm honestly not sure which one I'd take.
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Ray Wert
04/06/09

@Wes Siler: You'd TOTALLY take the Corvette. You know you would.
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Mad_Science
04/06/09

@Ray Wert: But then he'd have to gain 100 lbs and cut his beautiful flowing locks!
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Mobius
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
As long as cars like these continue to be made and sold, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Michelin et al would never go bankrupt.
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lilwillie
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
Still need the supercharger to get over the the 500 hump for horsepower?
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conrader
04/06/09

@lilwillie: still need loads of displacement and pushrods for YOU to do it?
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elwood
04/06/09

@conrader: God damn, pushrods don't have anything to do with the power or torque an engine produces. Pushrods are just another link in the valvetrain. If they do anything, they add undesirable valvetrain dynamics over a directly actuated overhead cam system. And a properly designed 4-valve cylinder head will always flow more air (and make more power) than a properly designed 2-valve setup.
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Mad_Science
04/06/09

@elwood: Of course, pushrods have less rotational inertia than an OHC setup.

@conrader: Who cares about displacement? Isn't engine weight the big issue?

I'm willing to bet an all-aluminum NA 7.0L weighs a hell of a lot less than an iron-block supercharged 5.4L mod motor.
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Novaload
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
I like it. I love that evil front end.

And jeez, guys, it's a Mustang, ok? It is what it is, for around $40k. Not a supercar, not your dream come true.

If it were like an old GT, people would be saying, "Gee, it's so irresponsible of Ford to be building a hog like that these days, with such a tiny target market..."
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Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
When this car has an independent rear suspension like is 2004 Predecessor did, I do not give two shits about the GT500.

It handles like crap and a Roush 427R TrakPak (which is CHEAPER and has only 435hp) will run circles around it.

Shit, my modded out MN12-chassis 96 Thunderbird will positively trounce one of these in a corner, and I'm only running mildly more aggressive than stock equipment. It's all in the more advanced suspension setup in the front and a fully independent rear.

And yet this thing needs 275-series tires (I make do with 225s) and huge brakes (I'm packing tiny 11.25 drilled/slotted rotors with 2-piston calipers in the front) and can't handle for shit.

Message to Ford: The Mustang will eventually need to TURN in addition to GO FAST IN A STRAIGHT LINE.

Why is it so hard to put an IRS back in the stang when it was so easy to stick a Thunderbird IRS into the 2000-2004 Cobra?
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Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
04/06/09

@Pleco, king of the junkyard: /Ford Thunderbird Fanatic
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danio3834
04/06/09

@Pleco, king of the junkyard: Live axles have their place, and they belong under this car.

Like Wes said, the car handles good and the 'Stang guys get what they want.
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Steven Dale Schmitt
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
live axle?!?!?!

curb weight?

coefficient of drag?

when will they get up to date and get off the image bandwagon?
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Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
04/06/09

@Steven Dale Schmitt:

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Put the same motor in a 96 Thunderbird with Bilsteins and Vogtland springs with similar tires and brakes and it'll positively destroy the Mustang... Actually. I was going to say that the Thunderbird is heavier, but the sad part is they're not far apart in the weight department... The Thunderbird has IRS, a fancy suspension setup and a VERY low coefficient of drag... what can be said of the BRICK that is the Shelby?
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A strolling player got drunk and
04/06/09

@Pleco, king of the junkyard: Put the same motor in an '06 Prius with Bilsteins and Vogtland springs with similar tires and brakes and it'll positively destroy the Mustang, and it's half a ton lighter... the Prius has IRS (well, yeah) and a VERY low coefficient of drag...

Hmm...
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Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
04/06/09

@A strolling player is: Gold Member!: You know what I'm getting at.

Does the Prius really have fully independent suspension? Even so, it's ludicrously wallowy.

I'll venture to say that my 96 Tbird AS-IS will outhandle a GT500.

OEM Sport springs, 2-piston calipers. 16" wheels with 225-series tires.

I like my odds.

My original point was the same 'beefing up' that the GT500 sees over the standard mustang will yield a far better car from something else out of ford's stable with several hundred less HP...
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A strolling player got drunk and
04/06/09

@Pleco, king of the junkyard: Well, yeah, it's wallowy now, but the Bilsteins and Vogtlands are gonna fix that right up.

Your idea is great. There is a special place in my heart for those Thunderbirds--a car on which I can have a bumper emblazoned with "SUPER COUPE" is a car for me--but your idea just isn't bonkers enough!

The touring edition Prius has a revised suspension which already makes it worlds better to drive (and was gracefully released the year after I bought mine. grrrrrr), so imagine what a real nice setup would do! And imagine 540 horses coupled with a thousand pounds less and an 0.26 Cd? Carnage. Absolute, hilarious carnage.

This is a similar but different idea that I've been playing with for a while: I'm going to make my Prius MR by removing the back seats and placing either an MR or an FF powertrain there. I was thinking either Northstar V8 or Toronado 455.
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FЯeeMan
04/06/09

@A strolling player is: Gold Member!: I can only imagine all the greenies peeing their pants when you pull up to the light in your Pious and instead of sitting there in icy stillness and silence, it's shaking, rumbling and emitting that wonderful, cammy throbbing V8 burble. Oh, the angst they'd experience when the light turned green and you burn through 3 gallons of premium and turn 5,000 miles of rubber into billowing white smoke before you cross the intersection.

I think I can hear them crying for the whales right now...
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X3SoB
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
Honestly though, Wes, do you ever go to sleep?
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nick2ny
04/06/09

@X5 Son of a Beach: "Wes" is actually 4 people. They sleep in a hollywood squares arrangement in a loft outside city limits. they've been working together for years--applied to college as a foursome in '03 after combining SAT scores to get in. They lived in a dorm together, and took 50 credits a semester, finally graduating with three degrees in '06, in english, mechanical engineering, and photography (they wore a four-man, four legged two-man high horse suit to graduation and the dean really bugged out, because she had never seen Wes as a single entity). When blogs got popular, everyone in "Wes" got very excited, for they could continue to compete against normal people but be four strong behind the scenes. To answer your question, yes they do sleep, but rarely at the same time. They are aslo planning to be the only driver ever to enter LeMons solo.

That's f*kin teaamwork

-Jack Black
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MushyHeirloom
04/06/09

@nick2ny: Amazing.
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
04/06/09

@nick2ny: Heart clicked!
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A strolling player got drunk and
04/06/09

@nick2ny: You're a genius.
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
04/06/09

@nick2ny: I think multi-person (polycorpus?) Wes should be the next meme, after his smokin' hot ass.
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
04/06/09

@Leeeeena the Jalopchick wants to please Roy Wort: Can't believe it took this long to get mentioned: Lot's of photos of hot Shelby ass, but not a single one of young Wert's. Maybe he's still recovering from the weekend.
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nick2ny
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
I reserve judgement until I know how much it weighs. I'm guessing 3750+ If that's the case, guess my judgement!
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Ray Wert
04/06/09

@nick2ny:

Coupe - 3,924 pounds

Convertible - 4,014 pounds
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nick2ny
04/06/09

@Ray Wert: ahahahaha okay then! I'll be having a Factory Five '33 Hot Rod then please. $35k, 500bhp, 2200lbs...
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
04/06/09

@nick2ny: Yeah, I'll be going with the GTM, tyvm. I just discovered recently that my friend's roommate is in process of building one in their apartment garage. Crazy kids are building a goddamn racecar in the middle of getting their degrees from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo... *shakes head* I'm at least going to wait until I finish my degree and have a more permanent place to work on it before I get started.
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Ray Wert
04/06/09

@Leeeeena the Jalopchick wants to please Roy Wort: Have I mentioned how happy I am to see your screen name is sorta back?
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
04/06/09

@Ray Wert: I aim to please! Can I borrow the Ferrari now?
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
04/06/09

@Leeeeena the Jalopchick wants to please Roy Wort: Hey, you two, go get a chat room!
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Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. .
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
I knew that saving all my homework until 11:30 (CST) would pay off in the end. Yeah laziness!
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RamblinReck89
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
This car is like a pet midget. I don't anticipate buying one, but if someone gave one to me, I'd have as much fun as I could before the police came and took it away.
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MushyHeirloom
04/06/09

@RamblinReck89: That's the funniest goddamn thing I've read in weeks. Heart-clicky to you, sir!
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Six Flags Over Tomsk
04/06/09

@RamblinReck89: A politically incorrect heart-click for you.
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A strolling player got drunk and
04/06/09

@RamblinReck89: Hee hee. ♥
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
04/06/09

@A strolling player is: Gold Member!: How do you get the heart symbol?

RR89, that was awesome :)
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shenanigans
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
"SVT's engineers claim they've turned a 500 HP Mustang into a 540 HP super car." That can go in straight lines. SVT's head engineer says that the whole concept of halfway decent handling, cornering, and oversteer reduction are many years off into the future, but are looking forward to it with great anticipation.
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MushyHeirloom
04/06/09

@shenanigans: Maybe for the 'Stang. The Focus SVT sure can corner!
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Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
04/06/09

@shenanigans: You, my friend, are right on the money.

The Shelby GT500 will NEVER be a super car.

Not as long as it has that shit live axle.
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A strolling player got drunk and
04/06/09

@F*ckingPlushroom: Yeah, but the Focus SVT doesn't have a live rear axle, haw.
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Chike Ujuagu
04/06/09

@Pleco, king of the junkyard: I'll 1up you. A Mustang will NEVER be a supercar. It may be Ford's top dog for now, but it's nowhere near as capable as Ford GT, Viper, or a ZR1.
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A strolling player got drunk and
04/06/09

@Chike Ujuagu: Viper's discontinued, too, leaving GM the only one with a supercar (or two, if you count the CTS-V, which you should).

I can understand Chrysler being boned with the post-carpocalyptic landscape, but Ford has no excuse. Build a real supercar. We know you can. You just did. Do it again.
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Novaload
04/06/09

@A strolling player is: Gold Member!: Obama won't let them. They're afraid they'll get fired, or dragged up to Cap Hill for an irate lecture from dimwitted parasites.
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B
04/06/09

@Novaload Misses Murilee: Obama can't fire any Ford Execs, cause Ford's not taking government bailout cash.
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Marquis de Saab
04/06/09

In reply to 2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
Great review, and in the interest of diplomacy, I think it's only fair to send 100 of these little babies to Europe. Then they send us 100 Focus RSs and so on...
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Wes Siler
04/06/09

@assaab E666 wants Canadian C(l)ub(e): That sounds like an excellent arrangement, but why bother when we could just declare war on Europe, steal all your Focus RSs, then occupy you forever in order to have access to your excellent roads?
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Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. .
04/06/09

@Wes Siler: Then we'll proceed to sell our of our overstocked big trucks and suvs to re-build your tiny countries and save 2/3 of our hopelessly lost automakers!
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Pessimippopotamus
04/06/09

@Wes Siler: It worked wonders for Germany. Why not?

...wait. That's not exactly how it happened.
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MushyHeirloom
04/06/09

@Pessimippopotamus is at 0% productivity: Chicken tax!
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Mad_Science
04/06/09

@Wes Siler: Or you could go somewhere in the US with good roads.
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