2007 Ford Shelby Cobra GT500 Review
The Shelby GT500 is the ultimate Mustang. It is the fastest Mustang to every come from a Ford factory - and it deservedly wears the Shelby name. Having been a Mustang fan for about as long as I can remember, just looking at this car is enough to get my blood flowing. Supercharged, DOHC 32 Valve V8. 500 HP. 480 fl-lbs of twist. And it has a back seat ( I have a son, so that’s important to me. )
Shelby GT500 Reviews
Jalopnik reviews the Ford Shelby GT500 and writes - ‘There isn’t much to this ‘Stang except engine. Beneath the bulged hood resides a 5.4-liter block of pig iron, topped with aluminum heads from the Ford GT and finished with an Eaton supercharger and intercooler setup. Altogether, this badassed chorus produces 500 hp and 480 lbs. ft. of torque at the flywheel.’
Yea, that’s one sweet engine.
Automobile Mag reviews the Ford Shelby GT500 and writes - ‘Crank up the big V-8, 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 V-8 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 V-8 pressurized to 9.0 psi by the belt-driven blower.’
Car and Driver compares the Ford Shelby GT500 with the 2006 Corvette C6 and writes - ‘In the end, we wish this GT500 had more horses to go with its lofty price. The last SVT Cobra only cost $35,000 and was just as quick. We also couldn’t stop thinking about a one-off project Mustang we tested in February 2000, the Ford-built, 3587-pound FR500. With a naturally aspirated 415-hp V-8, it was as fast as this GT500, it felt a whole lot less ponderous, and we loved it.’
I have to agree here - the GT500 is too heavy. With the phenomenal engine under that hood, this car should be even faster than it is. Oh, for an aluminum engine block.
You also failed to mention the potential of this motor. 500 horsepower may be quite a bit for it, but this motor is not even close to the amount it could have produced. Just adding the right cold air intake system will add 53 horsepower to the car, and if you would like another bit of information there is also a factory drag pack. NONE of the reviews have even mentioned it. Maybe it’s time you review your work. With minor work such as a pully swap and a little computer tweaking, one man I met was making 700 horsepower.
And if you REALLY want a car to review, wait until the Shelby GT500 SUPERSNAKE appears in the next two years.
And yes, I’m well aware of the GT500’s potential. I was / am a huge fan of the 03/0 SVT Cobras. Stock HP rating was 390, but real life crank HP was more like 420. A few baby upgrades like exhaust, CAI, and a pully swap easy puts you well over 600 HP, with just a few hundred in modifications. Some brave folks swapped out the blower for a more efficient unit, and did a bit more extensive modding, and saw in excess of 1,000 HP, all on the stock block.
However, no matter how good the stock Cobra / GT500 block is ( and they’re both very, very good ), the car will *not* be as reliable as when it came from the factory. That’s why people should try to compare factory units, when possible. What good is a thousand horsepower when your motor blows up because you cranked the boost too high?
Thanks for writing about this fantastic car!
Nov 23rd, 2007 at 3:25 pm