2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Packs 760hp, 625tq

Early this morning, Ford Motor Company announced the power figures for the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500. When the car was introduced earlier this year, we were simply told that it would have at least 700 horsepower, but everyone speculated that it would be well above 700. Everyone was right, as the 2020 GT500 offers a whopping 760 horsepower, making it the most powerful Mustang and the most powerful Ford road car ever in terms of horsepower, but when it comes to torque, the new Shelby is a bit lower than everyone expected.

That being said, with 760 horsepower, the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 should be capable of going toe-to-toe with just about anything on the street.

The Big Numbers
Back in January, Ford introduced the 2020 Shelby GT500 Mustang at the Detroit Auto Show and while the company provided all sorts of details, the power numbers were held back. According to Ford representatives, the engineers were still working out the final numbers, but today, the wait is over.

The 2020 Mustang GT500 with the supercharged 5.2-liter, cross-plane V8 engine delivers 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque. Ford promised that this would be the most powerful Mustang ever and it is, based on horsepower, but not on torque. This new GT500 beats out the 2014 version by 98 horsepower, but the previous supercharged Shelby packed 631 lb-ft of torque while the new model “only” has 625 lb-ft.

As a side note, it is a pretty great time that we live in, when we can loosely complain about a muscle car “only have 625 lb-ft of torque”.

In any case, the combination of 760 horsepower, 625 lb-ft of torque and a quick-shifting dual clutch automatic transmission should easily allow the new GT500 to hit Ford’s estimated performance figures of a sub-11-second quarter mile and a 0-60 time in the 3-second range.

GT500 Versus the Competition
The GT500’s output of 760 horsepower makes it the most powerful Ford ever, but it also bests any road car from General Motors, with the C7 Corvette ZR1 offering 755 horsepower. The new Shelby currently ranks second overall among the American automakers, trailing only the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye at 797 horsepower, but beating the standard Hellcat Challenger, which has 717 horsepower. The closest competition from the Chevrolet Camaro is the ZL1, with 650 horsepower, so in the American market, the 2020 GT500 Mustang has more horsepower than all but one car.

Torque is a different story, though. As mentioned above, the 625 lb-ft torque figure of the 2020 GT500 is less than the 2014 GT500, but it is also well below the other high horsepower competitors from other American brands. The Camaro ZL1 offers 650 lb-ft of torque, the Corvette ZR1 offers 715 lb-ft, the standard Hellcat Challenger offers 650 lb-ft and the Redeye offers 707 lb-ft. This big torque advantage could play a role when it comes to drag racing, but with the GT500 being engineered to shine brightest on a track with turns – torque delivery will prove to be more important than peak figures for road-racing owners.

Of course, the other key factor will be weight, and we expect that the GT500 will be somewhere in the area of 4,000 pounds. The current GT350 is around 3,800 pounds with a manual transmission. The GT500 has the added weight of the supercharger and supporting components, the gigantic brakes and the weight of the automatic transmission – all of which could push the car over 2 tons. If it weighs 4,000 pounds, it will be lighter than the Camaro ZL1 and the Hellcat Challenger in either form, possibly allowing it to compete with both of those cars in their chosen venue.

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Patrick Rall @TheAutoBeard is the Managing Editor of Torque News. Please follow us on Twitter at @TorqueNewsAuto, Facebook and send us tips. You can also Follow Patrick on Youtube.