[nthfinity]

wow!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/dr...d-shelby-gt500

2013 Ford Shelby GT500 - First Ride Before its introduction at the 2011 L.A. Auto Show, we took a spin around the Nürburgring in Ford’s new 650-bhp GT500! By Shaun Bailey / Photos by Author & Press November 14, 2011 Slideshow >> It’s going to be hard to keep quiet. This is being written on June 17th, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I’m on my way back from the Nürburgring, where I was a member of the Ford SVT Shelby GT500 development team for a day—a lucky 200 pounds of ballast for repeated laps in the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 development mule as it careened around the track. Only a few days earlier I’d seen spy photos of the very same car, and speculated about twin turbos and an independent rear suspension. I was wrong, and now I’ve had to hold my tongue about the truth for five long months—a difficult task for any journalist. The V-8 engine is now at 5.8-liters and capable of revving to 7000 rpm. So if you’re anything like me, you’re waiting to hear the facts. What I learned wasn’t what I expected, but the GT500’s changes are surprisingly logical when viewed from the engineering team’s point of view. The lack of turbochargers and independent rear suspension doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to improve the performance of the GT500; those things simply didn’t make a lot of fiscal or engineering sense. The chassis, introduced in 2005, wasn’t designed to support IRS; it was designed to support a 200- bhp V-6 and a 300-bhp V-8. It’s now sporting twice that power—a testament to the strength of the chassis and durability of the suspension. The Mustang’s live rear axle is not unfamiliar with high-horsepower abuse and the team is making use of it, although the 8.8-in. rear end is fitted with bigger bearings. The new 5.4-liter aluminum V-8, introduced in 2011, is now bored to its maximum intended size of 5.8 liters, a capacity that engineers had allowed for in the block but never really expected to use. I suppose we can thank the competition for pushing them to this. Ford’s patented plasma transferred wire-arc coating protects the bores. New pistons are used with oil squirters for improved cooling, requiring a higher-capacity oil pump. The cast-aluminum oilpan is larger now by 1.5 quarts, and replaces the stamped steel pan. The forged crank is about the same, but better balanced with a titanium slug to support a new redline of 7000 rpm, up from 6250. Topping it off is an Eaton-supplied 4-lobe TVS style supercharger breathing through a larger 3-row intercooler, up from a 2-row. The majority of parts on this Nürburgring mule are not finalized, but functional—very-very-rock-your-socks functional, to the tune of 650 bhp. This is where the SVT team members smile and quietly thumb their noses at the (550-bhp at time of writing) 580-bhp Camaro ZL1. I can understand why they wanted me here; they were having a hard time not telling anyone too. A new Eaton TVS supercharger is more efficient. Supporting that extra horsepower and torque is a slightly larger twin-disc clutch with extra clamping force, and a pedal that is slightly heavier, but now with an over-center spring to keep it easy at a stop light. Power continues into a Tremec TR6060 transmission that is similar to the one used in the Dodge Viper, but with unique gearing. Of special note is the 2.66 1st gear that, with the 3.31 final drive, will get the GT500 to about 62 mph at 7000 rpm. So a dramatic 0–60 improvement is expected, and combined with an extra 100 horsepower the quarter-mile time could likely drop by a half second. Sixth gear remains optimal for cruising, and the team hopes to maintain the car’s fuel efficiency and avoid the gas-guzzler tax. Carbon-fiber single piece drive shaft saves weight and is stronger than the steel two piece unit used before. Differential is now a torque-sensing helical-gear unit with cooler. Achieving those acceleration times means effectively putting that power to the ground, and the 2-piece driveshaft wasn’t going to cut it, so it’s replaced by an 11-lb.-lighter single-piece carbon shaft. And that viscous differential that seemed so questionable during our previous testing is now a torque-sensing helical-gear unit with about a 2.1–2.3:1 torque bias, a much-needed upgrade. Of course both the transmission and differential now feature coolers; the transmission’s uses an integrated mechanical pump in the Tremec, while the differential’s has an electric pump actuated by temperature. Both are visible in prototype form above the bumper through the test car’s grille. Below, the lower grille is filled with the air-to-water intercooler. The driver’s-side foglight housing is now an air duct for a remote oil cooler. The team is obviously focusing on extreme heat management—as if the original’s 550 bhp wasn’t enough of a challenge! Flexible air deflectors that route air to an enlarged radiator with greater cooling capacity and bigger Brembo brakes are all part of accommodating the extra ponies. The new GT500 displayed at the L.A. show has a unique front clip that retains fog lights, but has a much enlarged radiator opening that is unhindered by a grille. Convenient hiding spot for the Damptronic Bilstein switch. A press of this button drastically changes the valving of the shocks from normal to sport. To go with the added engine performance is a stiffer suspension featuring adjustable Damptronic monotube Bilstein dampers. It’s not like most systems in our experience, with multiple adjustments being constantly tweaked by a car’s computer, but rather two sets of valving; one for normal street driving and one for attacking an apex. The new dampers adjust both compression and rebound to preset levels that are being determined here on this drive, as the team evaluates the car with both subjective feedback from test driver Gene Martindale and recorded data collected by myriad electrical devices spread throughout the car. I evaluated the system from the passenger seat and concluded that in normal mode the 2013 GT500 felt as comfortable as the 2011 car, but that in sport mode the bumpiest of roads was a bit unbearable. On the track I needed only to experience a partial lap; after the first jump at Quiddelbacher-Höhe I began frantically gesturing for a switch to the sport setting. Gene was in complete agreement, as normal mode is not appropriate for attenuating the landings of the Nürburgring’s four jumps—there is simply too much bounce on the landing, like a Cessna trying to touch down with excessive airspeed. The previous-generation GT500 suspension is a compromise of these two settings in both spring rates and damper stiffness. The result is a somewhat playful suspension, but one that’s more compliant on a track than it really should be. These new adjustable dampers allow, at least felt from the passenger seat, a very perceptible change in the suspension. With the click of a button it goes from acceptably sporting to ultra-stiff, so stiff that over a particularly bumpy road outside the track my vision blurred. The 2013 GT500 engineering team. Upon my arrival in at the Nürburgring, I was blindfolded and taken to a secret garage. No, I’m kidding. The Ford team shares space in the Jaguar garage, a legacy agreement from the days when Ford owned Jaguar. The Jag guys are a cordial bunch who welcome the three Shelby GT500 test cars into their secretive garage bays, yet the Jaguar F1 engine displayed in the front lobby has the Ford emblems on its valve covers concealed with black tape. Of the three Shelby GT500s, one is a 2011 car that’s been in Europe since last September when the development of the 2013 GT500 began. The team went round the Ring in this car and apparently our spy photographers missed it. As a 2011, its white hood stripes are thinner than those on the newer cars that arrived by plane only two weeks before I did. One is red and fitted with a full cage; the other is black with blue stripes that only has a rollbar. The full cage was necessary for the next leg of development testing in Europe where the team will travel to Nardo for top-speed validation. The 155-mph speed limiter will be removed, allowing a top speed approaching 200 mph to be achieved in 5th gear. I suspect breaking that 200-mph barrier will be difficult, but 5th is geared to do it. A place of business. Part race car, part street car. In my laps with Gene, the track was its usual finicky self and refused to give a consistent surface. Although dry and sunny at the pits, the run down to Ex-Mühle was wet with recent drizzle. Occasional sprinkles on the windshield made me glad for the full cage of the red car I was riding in. This, however, didn’t keep me from making some observations. Compared to the 2011 car, the 2013 car is far sharper and precise in its body motions. Pitch and roll in Sport mode are almost nonexistent. For 2013, the wheels will be slightly different in style, but retain the same forging and size. The new Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2 tires will remain the same size as well, so the changes I felt are mostly coming from the suspension. Clearly, my butt isn’t sitting on the comfy Recaro production car seats, but is instead for safety reasons physically clamped in place to a full bucket race seat courtesy of some heavily padded TeamTech 6-point restraints. During the four lapping sessions, Gene had the team increase the rear sway bar diameter and change out the jounce limiters to those of different heights. Part of being a test mule means strange diagnostic tools being zip-tied everywhere. This one I believe was measuring engine oil loss at over rev during prolonged lap sessions. Launch control isn’t functional at this time, but is planned to be something like the one used in the Boss 302, which has an adjustable 2-stage limiter that holds a lower preset adjustable rpm until the car moves, at which point it reverts to the 7000-rpm redline. This allows the driver to simply floor the throttle and side-step the clutch for consistent launches at the drag strip. With 650 bhp on tap, this should provide for plenty of giggles. The new GT500 may not rival the electronic gadgetry of the Camaro ZL1, but it looks as if it will hold its own and be far more practical for those who want to modify the car from stock. I’m glad to finally get this off my chest, as it’s one less secret to keep. Now I can just look forward to the day we get to sit in the hot seat. A direct head-to-head with the Camaro ZL1 is imminent!