2024 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:13
The contrast could hardly be greater. On the one hand, Ford just presented the Mach E, on the other hand, the automaker presented the Mustang Shelby GT 500.
Usually, you feel sorry for the valet guys at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Because they don't see a lot of daylight down there in their underground car park and they can only dream of good air.
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But these days they are the envy of all petrolheads and have the best job in the world. Because while Ford is currently sending the Mustang into an electric future as Mach-E, the Americans are celebrating the past in its most beautiful form down here and putting the brand new Mustang Shelby GT 500 ready for test drive under the deafening noise of greedy eight-cylinders.
Challenge to Camaro and Co
The launch of the most powerful Mustang of all time comes at just the right time. Because the new GT 500 is not just a declaration of war on competitors such as the Dodge Hellcat and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and a middle finger on the face of all Ferrari or Lamborghini drivers. After all, it offers similar performance to a supercar, but at an almost ridiculous price and costs just over $ 70,000.
Above all, the Shelby balm on the wounds of all those Mustang fans who see the end of the legend in the Mach-E and do not want to sacrifice their beloved eight-cylinder for a battery-powered drive. Doing one thing without leaving the other - that is the real message that this car emits. And of course that of uncompromising driving pleasure. And the new GT500 has more to offer than any Shelby before it.
With a V8 engine, of course
The heart of the US hero is an engine that probably only Americans can build: direct injection? Who cares! Cylinder deactivation? Forget it! Downsizing? Shut up! A real Mustang needs a V8 engine, especially if it bears the name of factory tuner Caroll Shelby. Together with the heirs of the full-throttle hero, for whom Hollywood has just set another monument for the triumph over Ferrari at Le Mans, they have planted a huge compressor on the 5.2-liter steel block, increased the output to 771 hp and so on just broken all records from within our own ranks.
Even the legendary Ford GT doesn't make a stab of this Mustang, at least on paper. When you start that engine, it's like a volcano erupting and the earth shaking. The walls start to wobble, small tidal waves form in the puddles and all conversations fall silent within a radius of several hundred meters - when the Mustang is running, passers-by no longer understand their own word and the guys from the valet service feel like they are in heavy metal -Concert in the first row.
Into the traffic jam
However, the pleasure is short-lived. Because the Mustang pushes out of the stable and storms up the ramp, as if it had to say goodbye with a particularly loud encore. The permanent traffic jam in Los Angeles awaits him there and he shows himself from a surprisingly gentle side. Yes, since the chassis with the super fast adapting Magneride dampers is hard, but orthopedically harmless in comfort mode, the steering is direct but not nervous and the seven-stage double clutch apparently not only masters the mallet method, but also changes the gear steps with sensitivity if necessary. Even the hottest stallion in the stable is a surprisingly cozy horse and can even be used as a daily driver if necessary.
Only the driver has a hard time with the restraint and is happy about the cavalier start afterwards at every red light. The feeling is too intoxicating when the stomach curves into a ball during kickdown and slips very hard into the lap because the centrifugal force cannot completely drive it out of the body, and the goose bumps that arise every time the eight-cylinder roars are too good on the eardrum.
847 Nm for powerful drive
And that's just the foreplay. Because woe if the road becomes a bit clearer and your finger falls on the switch for changing the driving profile in the cockpit, which still looks too cheap. Then the Mustang tenses the muscles, sharpens the nerves and only knows its forward thrust: it rears up like a racehorse at the start, shakes itself briefly and, thanks to its 847 Nm, shoots away as if there was no tomorrow: while the engine is full turns close to the red area and the quiet roar turns into an angry roar, the powerful classic reaches 100 km / h in less than three seconds and feels so powerful even beyond the American speed limit that you can do 300 things with it would like to trust.
And once again the current Mustang proves to be a serious and well-engineered sports car. In the past, the pony car was only fast on the straights and only a star on the drag strip, but now it is also good for a lot of curves. Of course, it wobbles a bit with the rear from time to time and without traction control you can steer with the accelerator alone. But whoever gets involved in the hot ride does not end in hell, but in seventh heaven, the horse can now be led around the tightest corners even at the highest speed.
Misfires as a treat
After a few minutes at the latest, you will feel like Christian Bale alias Ken Miles at the wheel of a LeMans GT - only that you are now sitting a little more comfortably in the Mustang. But while Bale was allowed to race for 24 hours, this ride ends much earlier and the Mustang has to go back to the stable. There the Shelby rolls back into the hotel garage with a crackling exhaust and hot breath and lets its fat bass waft over the floor while it waits like an athlete for the return of the resting heart rate after the competition. And again and again the seductive bang of a little too much burnt gasoline mixes in this dark rumble.
The valet service guys enjoy every single one of these misfires. It is quite possible that with cars like the Mach E, the stuffy air will soon get better down here in the basement. But unfortunately it also gets quieter, complains one of the employees and is all the more pleased at the last gas blast, which the guest quickly lets through the garage shortly before getting out. (SP-X)
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