Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 power figures leaked

THE fraternity of 700hp muscle cars has a new club member on the way in the Ford Shelby GT500, if leaked documents published online are accurate.

A tech sheet pertaining to the hot, unreleased Mustang suggests that its 5.2-litre supercharged V8 will produce a mega 537kW, or 720hp in its native tongue, at 7500rpm. It’s no coincidence that this is more than the Dodge Hellcat twins. Torque is similarly impressive at a monstrous 881Nm, delivered at 4500rpm.

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However, these numbers aren’t yet official. The tech sheet posted to American enthusiast forum mustang6g.com looks fairly legitimate, but includes some strange errors, such as the misspelling of ‘Petrol’ as ‘Patrol’ in the very first box.

The listed kerb weight is also on the high side at 1916kg, which is more than 200kg portlier than a regular GT Fastback with a manual ‘box, and that seems like too much even with the GT500’s additional aero and safety equipment.

But the rest of it looks pretty much on the money for where we expect Ford’s hyper Mustang to sit. Ford itself has previously stated that the GT500 will produce more than 700hp, making it “the most powerful street-legal Ford ever,” in the countries that are lucky enough to get, anyway.

Only one teaser pic and an animated video of the car have been released officially to date, though it has been spied in testing on numerous occasions. The production version is expected to go on sale for the 2020 model year, but there is currently no word from Ford on bringing it to Australian showrooms alongside normal Mustangs.

Ford has had its GT500 nameplate on hiatus for a few years after deciding not to develop one for the current generation of the Mustang earlier in its lifecycle. The last one launched back in 2013, and made 494kW (662hp).

It’ll be interesting to see how Dodge responds to this news, and whether or not this sparks a power war with its cross-town rival. From where we’re sitting, there’s every chance it will.