Ever since the Mustang's inception in the 1960's it became well known as the king of muscle cars and with fierce competition from the Chevrolet Camaro and the Dodge Charger, the Ford Mustang still stacks up the competition. The Mustang has been widely known to be starred in different movies and shows. It was once famously appeared in Bullitt starring Steve McQueen, Gone in 60 Seconds, Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, Drive, Getaway, next year's NFS movie, the unsuccessful TV reboot of Knight Rider, and oh, it was once appeared in an episode of Alcatraz.
If someone complains about a Mustang, then it's got to be Europeans and Asians doing the complaining over the Mustang because even though Mustangs love to prefer the straight line enjoyment, having one in countries outside the USA makes you feel like you're a spokening dollar wearing a stetson, some cowboy boots, drinking too much fizzy pops, wasting some cash on a holiday in Disneyland, eating too much fast foods like McDonald's, Burger King, or Subway, and you're the sort of person occasionally living the fancy life. That's how a Mustang guy best describes himself.
If you're in the land of anime, K-Pop, baguettes, kebabs, tom yum, or Right Honorable Gentlemen, you might think that the Mustang is nothing but a pet peeve. A cog piece for the shorter chap. An equivalent of The Rich Texan from The Simpsons.
This particular Mustang, however, is not like that. This is the Shelby GT500, the pinnacle of the Mustang range. The king of Mustangs. In the US, this car costs $54,995 so it's cheaper than any other supercars five times the price. What surprises me is the engine that powers it, a 5.8L DOHC 32-valve supercharged V8 engine, produces 662HP. That's about a hundred more than a Ferrari 458 or a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Ford says it's the most powerful production V8 ever made. Yummy.
It maybe heralded as America's most powerful car but there are some downfalls to the GT500. Like all Mustangs, the GT500 is not good on the corners because unlike most modern cars that comes with multi-link, dual-rate dampers, and independent rear suspensions, this Mustang still comes with a live-axle, which is a bit old-school in the handling stakes but still, it's enjoyable as a drifting machine if you got some time to pass.
Reason why the Mustang GT500 didn't come with some modern suspension is because it would have added some pricing to each car. It maybe a ridiculous decision but you can't have a powerful car stuck with some suspension made of wood or a lamppost. What remains is a car that looks great and still performs on a straight line. That's it.
You can't add that much power on a car that still comes with an old suspension system, right? Most modern sports cars are not like the Mustang because even with the added power, they took some time beefing up the suspension to make it more handling-friendly. In the past, power is the top priority but with times changed, sports car makers rely on the handling as the top priority. The Mustang is...well always sticking to the power struggle.
Back in 2011, when Chevrolet launched the ultimate Camaro, the ZL1, Ford got alarmed that the ultimate Camaro got more power than their GT500 so they've responded and in the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford takes a stab on the Camaro ZL1 with their 2013 GT500, which produces more power than the rival Chevy. The Mustang loves playing catch-up since the advent of the fifth-generation Camaro in 2009 and while the Camaro has been America's best seller, Ford wanted to keep up by giving the 2013 Mustang range a 100-horsepower increase. The previous GT500 has about 550-ish horsepower, don't know but I keep forgetting maths but since it was rated at around 662HP, the 2013 GT500 is once again king of American muscle cars. Not only it outwit the ZL1 but also the Corvette ZR1 in the horsepower stakes. It's kinda shame that even with the 100HP increase, nothing can match the technology and sophistication of its Chevy rivals.
Hmmm...
Unlike most any traditional American V8 engines, this 5.8L DOHC 32-valve supercharged V8 engine is quite sophisticated. The block is German-made, perhaps they all know what they're doing, the crank shaft is made of carbon fiber and hopefully it won't blow in the hands of whatever Brainiacs introduce it to SPEED. 0-60 takes 3.7 seconds and top speed is over 202mph.
What shocks us the most is the 2013 GT500's fuel tank because of its 50L capacity. A 50-litre fuel tank takes about 14MPG, which means at 140 miles, this car has to stop for fuel. Ouch. Well that's a theory worth proving but your actual mileage, both GT6 and reality, may vary.
As the Mustang GT500 continues to chew off the miles, I was wondering how come this immensely powerful car feels so...cheap.
Well, it's not what you called luxurious for a car that some people would call it a luxury car because of its outrageous pricing and it's not quite as refined as sportscars from Europe and Japan.
Despite all this, it's still worth addicting. When you put your foot on the pedal hard, your life gets drunk with speed. Once you're in the GT500, you'll never ever get away with it, it enslaves you for the fun of it. It's a likeable car, a good looking car, and no wonder why I got hooked on this car probably because it's so powerful enough to take on the sophisticated supercars five times the price.
And then, apart from being a likable, you can also expect one thing that stands out: HERITAGE.
This car owes its existence to a legend named Carroll Shelby. He was born in 1923 with a heart condition, meaning that he has to spend the rest of his life fighting for a living so one day, he decided to become a racer. While his racing career never cut the mustard, he heard that somewhere in England, a small company called AC was struggling to find a Ford-sourced engine for its sportscar. Carroll Shelby brokered a deal with Ford Motor Company to supply big V8s and the Cobra was born.
The Sunday Times reported that the coupe version of the Cobra, the Daytona Coupe, reached 190mph on the M1 highway and that sparked an enormous outrage over the safety of motorworks. Because of that, the 70mph speed limit was introduced.
In the USA, the Cobra christened a collaboration between Shelby and Ford, which spawned numerous creations until in 2012, Carroll Shelby died at the age of 89.
Just before his passing, he had to see this and apparently, he liked it. I also like the fact that this Mustang bears some menacing Cobra badges and his name on the back as a tribute to the motoring legend himself. I was going to say this but Mr. Shelby, no matter where you are, even if you are in the Great Racetrack in the Sky, my tribute goes to you but because I am so busy playing Gran Turismo 6 with the 2013 Shelby GT500, I just can't bring myself to say it.
Even though the Mustang GT500 has some ups and downs in terms on how does this car behaves, this car is definitely one of my favorites in the game. Not good on cornering, good on the straights, 50-litre fuel tank, heritage, these traits what best describe this car.
It looks great, tons of character, and goes like a train...well, almost. However, there is a problem regarding this car because the biggest advance on cars in the last century is refinement. You could drive an old banger at around 70mph but it feels like you've been shaken, rattled, and rolled. A present-day Ford Focus makes you feel like sitting in a bathtub while your hands and feet get lubed into something oily when you reach 70 mph.
The GT500 feels like an old banger to us because of the noise, vibration, and the harshness. Perhaps no wonder why American cars are so cheap. They're so cheap, they couldn't pay attention to the details and they simply aren't as sophisticated as the European rivals.
Don't get me wrong. Even though this is no Mustang, this is the exact Mustang that Jeremy Clarkson drove in the Series 19 episode from Top Gear in a Pan-European race from Wembley to San Siro and he lost just after Hammond and May arrived at the bar near the stadium.
