From what I've seen at Mustangforums.com, they are all very excited about it, but disappointed in the initial performance numbers. Of course, they are b_tching about the dealer mark-up. The cheapest mark-up I saw posted was $10k. This is nuts for a car that will be produced in greater numbers than our EVO.

 

Maybe they are saving the weight reduction stuff for another Cobra R. The weight definitely is the biggest issue I see with that car.

IMO this car (the Shelby) should be the stripped out, stiff riding, loud, and fast as hell variant not, the lots of power but, heavy, soft and, quiet version. That is not what Shelby is about or ever was about. This is just ford milking it's heritage to sell cars.

However, I'm sure the aftermarket will turn these things into some serious 1/4 mile monsters. It's just too bad they aren't from the factory. They are still almost half the price of a Z06 so, I guess it's unreasonable to compare it to the Z06 and what it does from the factory.

 

I just thought of a new nickname: The "Shabby" GT500. I expect royalties

 

OK, I'm the furthest thing from a Mustang lover out there, but a lot of you are missing the point of this car.

Yes, it is offensively heavy. Even with great suspension components, its hard to make a 4000 lb barge be nimble.

But one place this car will NOT disappoint is going to be straight line acceleration. So what if its only traps low-mid 1-teens stock? Neither our cars or the 03-04 Cobras are extremely fast stock. The trick with this new Shelby is that it will be insane with mods. A couple of local guys have bolt on 03 Cobras that are making 525whp with very simple mods, stock superchargers. They have more area under the curve than any four cylinder Evo can dream of and herculean torque from stupid-low rpm all the way up.

Now imagine a better sorted chassis (unlike the old one that was still based from a '78 Fairmont) with a 5.4 liter V8 instead of a a 4.6, and that 4000 lbs aren't going to matter one bit. This car with a Whipple, Kenne Bell, or tons of other aftermarket superchargers and big boost is gonna be Fing sick. Like make upgraded turbo Evo go hide in the corner and cry sick. Just wait and see.

 

I won't totally disagree with that...it makes me a little jealous now when I see the 03-04 cobra guys putting down 750-800rwhp on pump gas @ 15-18psi on some of these turbo kits. Thinking I would have to drop 20K+ to do the same is a little disheartening especially when some are doing it on stock trans with the valve covers never being off.

The 5.4 will just take this one step further! Still a pig though.

 

WoW the same crap I read in my mag. Overpriced american JUNK.

 

I still like it and Id still get one in a second. I think most peolpe are expecting this thing to be some 11 sec monster doing 120+ traps. I personally think 116 out of a stock mustang is very very quick. Could it be lighter, handle better, brake better, have more power? Yeah of course but what couldn't. It seems like it will be a good platform to build off of just like the 03 and 04 cobras. Imagine that thing chip/pulley/tune, holly crap.

 

The fact of the matter is that when you count the gas guzzler tax on this beast and the options, its going to cost the same as a C6 vette. And the vette is just a flat out better car in almost every aspect. Its faster, handles better, brakes better, looks better inside and out, gets better gas mileage, sexier, so on and so forth.

The people that buy this car are either going to be wrapped up in the 500 hp shelby hype, or people who are just in love with stangs and want something other than a vette. But IMO, most people will cross shop the two, and I think youd be an idiot not to take the C6.

 

That's awesome.

 

You might have a point if this thing wasn't billed as a world beater for not much coin. It's a good performing car, sure, but I think most people were expecting this car to compete with the Z06 in every aspect, or at least be close...because that's what the experts were claiming. Somewhat like a bargain-basement Z06. So far it can't hold a candle to the Z06 in any aspect. If they simply announced that this was to be the next iteration of the Cobra, yeah it might meet those expectations. But slap the Shelby GT500 name on there, it should be spectacular, not just good performance for the money...

 

Don't get me wrong, this car still is bad *** in a straight line, and it's bang for the buck performance is hard to match by any car. Still like I keep saying, I just had higher hopes, and yes the EVO has gained weight over the years, but never 400lbs from one model to the other. If the EVO X weighed in at 3700lbs, I wouldn't even consider it an EVO anymore! Maybe I was spoiled with the introduction of the C6 Z06, because Chevy really put in the time, effort, and money into meeting all our expectations, and exceeded it. I just imagined the same from Ford. They could have kept the weight down on the GT500, it would have taken more effort and time, but hey that's what I would expect from such a huge manufactuer like Ford and for a car that many had such high hopes.

Maybe it's my fault, maybe I expected too much from Ford, unrealistic expectations, but hey atleast Ford could have tried. Honestly I was expecting the new Shelby GT500 to be like a 500HP Cobra R, I really thought they were serious about taken on the big boys and bringing the Cobra into another stage of performance, it just didn't happend.

I expected to be shocked and awed, but what we got was just another fast Mustang.

 

+1 agree with you every bit. This car can barely compete with the C6 let alone the C6 Z06.

 

What?! this cant compete with the C5!!!

 

One thing is for sure, it's one of sharpest looking cars on the road!

 

I think we all need to wait to pass judgement as to what the car is capable of and what cars it can or can't compete with. Let's see some actual comparisons done before all us arm chair racers crown a champion.