Shelby GT500 is definitely not something new to the scene, but it surely will be something that Ford hasn’t offered for a while. That something will be the most powerful pony in their stable that will be able to bring a heap of trouble to Chevys and Dodges. This one comes just in time because, as you are all aware, Chevy just recently launched the 650 HP Camaro ZL1, while the 707 HP Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is already in its third year on sale. There is also one more newcomer, although narrowly focused one, and it’s the 840 HP Challenger SRT Demon which besides the Hellcat and ZL1 is seriously outshining the Ford and its GT500, at least in the power department.
Because all of this is heavily influencing Blue Oval and their credibility they decided to offer the 2018 GT500 with an all new outside look, hosting insanely aggressive lines, air intakes as well as a very angry-looking front end scowl and menacing rear diffuser which can, to some extent, be seen in the spy shots. To wrap up the entire outside look is the job of those phat tires that, despite them being all covered up, still show writing that says – 305/30 ZR20 Michelin. A sure bet is that the new GT500 will use the brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and a lot wider rear wheels as well to keep everything in check.
One thing that the prototype you see in the pictures, does not reveal, is what exactly will power the new GT500. The only thing that we know is that the most powerful pony so far will feature a V8 under the hood, but whether it will be supercharged or a twin-turbo fed is still unknown. There are some talks that the GT350’s 5.2 L Voodoo V8, or a version of it might be the one to go under the GT500’s hood but it will be with a 90-degree crankshaft instead of the 180-degree one.
The latest rumors regarding this topic imply that another candidate for this job might be a twin-turbocharged version of the Mustang GT’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8, but since the previous variant of the GT500 was supercharged, we believe that this one will also and it might offer somewhere around 700 horsepower. It will be tied to the six-speed manual transmission as standard while the ten speed automatic, also used by the ZL1 and co-developed by Ford and General Motors, will be optional.
The main competitors to the new beast from Ford will, of course, be BMW M4, Cadillac ATS-V Coupe, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, Mercedes-AMG C63 S coupe. As we managed to find out, it will reach dealerships just before the year ends and it will wear a price sticker of $65,000.
