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Shelby GT500

The GT500 is equipped with special “Powered by SVT” finned-cam covers to hint at the beauty of all those horses lurking in the engine below. Mated to the Ford GT four-valve cylinder heads are unique exhaust manifolds that help to better scavenge spent gases out of the cylinders and into the custom-tuned mufflers and dual-exhaust system.

To manage heat produced by those 500 horses, SVT engineers devised a set of GT500 specific features, including the air-extractor hood, a high-capacity aluminum radiator, an intercooler mounted below the blower, a loop-style power-steering cooler and oil-to-water stacked-dish engine oil cooler.  

The gearbox used in the 2008 Shelby GT500 also is a rarity. Few transmissions exist in the marketplace today that can handle the torque loads generated by the supercharged GT500's V-8, so engineers have opted to stick with the proven heavy-duty performance of the TR6060 six-speed manual gearbox.

The GT500 employs an upgraded version of the T-56, which first appeared in the 2000 SVT Mustang Cobra R, powered by a naturally aspirated 5.4-liter V-8 with 385 horsepower, and later in the supercharged 2003 SVT Mustang "Terminator" Cobra whose DOHC 4.6-liter produced 390 horses. For the Shelby GT500, the six-speed manual is geared to make the most of the supercharged 5.4-liter’s broad power band.

Ford's “MOD” V-8 family of engines make more power than anything out of the factory in the past, yet tops 20 mpg on the highway and still meets the government's LEV-II tailpipe emissions standards.

A true performance car stops as well as it goes. To that end, the Shelby GT500 features Brembo front brakes with big, four-piston calipers and vented 14-inch discs. In the back, GT500 utilizes the Mustang GT’s 11.8-inch vented single-piston caliper rear-disc setup with unique pad material. Both Coupe and Convertible models ride on four 18-inch x 9.5-inch aluminum wheels, wearing 255/45ZR18 tires on the front and larger 285/40ZR18 tires on the rear.

To improve steering feel, the GT500 adds a brace that connects the rear lower arm bushings side to side. For added precision, a special steering pump is used, and the steering gear utilizes a unique torsion bar.

And just to make sure that all of the powertrain and suspension upgrades engineered into the GT500 meet enthusiast customer demands, SVT engineers not only proved-out their work at the test track, but also on real-world drive routes and race tracks. With that – and the approval of motorsports legend Carroll Shelby himself – they're certain that the 2008 Ford Shelby GT500 will live up to expectations.