Hey there! Welcome back to another edition of Tony Fords and Mustangs. Today's video we cover
the s197 Shelby GT500. It's the everything you ever want to know video. The S197 mustang was the
fifth generation Mustang it was manufactured from 2004 to 2014. and began with the 2005 model Mustang.
A glaring omission for those who were paying attention was the Terminator Cobra. In 2005 the
highest horsepower offering was the 4.6 liter 300 horsepower Mustang GT. Now we're going to rewind to
late summer 2003 which saw the return of an icon in ford racing history, Carroll Shelby, the legend
the man who beat Ferrari at Le Mans and turned the original Mustangs into a race-winning car
had mended bridges with Ford motor company. He wasn't there to simply license his name to the
Mustang. He was there to work with Ford on the s197 Mustang. In 2006 the Shelby GT and GTH's
were released. These were cars modified by Carroll Shelby Automobiles to produce 319 horsepower but
both Ford and Shelby have much bigger things in mind. In 2006 Ford and Shelby unleashed the first
Shelby Mustang GT500 the world had seen in 36 long years and it was a great one. Sold as a 2007 model
at a base price of $41,950 this pony was powered by a 5.4 liter, double overhead cam, supercharged
engine that was rated at 500 horsepower. The iron block was connected to a Tremec TR6060 6-speed
manual transmission, and used a 3.31 rear drive ratio. Wheels are 18.9 inches wide with p255 45 zr
18 tires in the front, and p285 40 zr 18 tires in the rear. Brembo 14-inch disc brakes with aluminum
four piston calipers on the front and 11.8 inch disc brakes with a single piston calipers in the
rear. Motor Trend magazine blasted the car through the quarter mile in 12.7 seconds at a speed of 116
miles per hour. Car and Driver drove a GT500 in their 2007 lightning lap road test at Virginia
International Raceway and found the car's on-track performance lap time of 305.9 fell
just below that of the Porsche 911 turbo at 305.8, and faster than that of the Lotus Elise a 309.3,
the Porsche Cayman's which is a 309.5 and the BMW M6 at a 310 flat. One of the drawbacks noted by
several publications of the car was the nose heavy weight distribution. 57.7 percent of the weight was
in the front and 42.3 percent of the weight was on the rear. In 2008 and 2009 the Shelby GT500KR was
offered KR being an abbreviation for King of the Road. It pays homage to the original 1968 Shelby
Mustang of the same name. Production for 08 was limited to 1011 units with another 712 KR's built for 09.
The KR featured new components and performance enhancements over the standard GT500. The KR's
engine was tuned to produce 540 horsepower and 510 foot-pounds of torque gains of 40 horsepower and
30 foot pounds of torque respectively. The rear axle was a 3.73 to 1 ratio. To improve handling
and help offset the car's front heavy weight distribution the GT500 KR featured a Ford Racing
strut tower brace, and unique tuning struts shocks and springs. 2010 brought a change to the styling
of the car and a bump in horsepower to 540. the engine was lifted from the limited edition Shelby
GT500KR the 5.4 liter, 4 cam, 32 valve V8. The limited slip differential was shortened to a 3:55
ratio. SVT suspension tuning was aimed at improving the car's dynamics. New Goodyear F1 supercar tires
on special 19-inch alloy wheels on the coupe and 18s on the convertible. Stability control
is now standard with normal and sport modes but it can also be turned off. The Mustang's cabin is
more refined. The classic interior now displays far better materials and craftsmanship. The instrument
panel features real aluminum to highlight the SVT style gauge cluster. Sport seats are leather
with embroidered snakes and new Alcatera racing stripe inserts that mimic those on the exterior.
In 2011 Ford rolls out the alloy block and heads. The new engine is 102 pounds lighter. That's 102
pounds removed over the front axles. The amount of weight over the front wheels has gone from 57.4
percent of the car to 55.7 percent. It features six bolt billet main bearing caps and Ford's
first use of plasma transferred wire arc liner coatings on the cylinder bore which adds enough
strength to get around using cast iron liners. The supercharger gets a larger two-row intercooler. It
is said to have 40 percent more cooling capacity than the single row unit it replaces. Horsepower
improves to 550 and peak torque remains unchanged at 510 foot-pounds but it's delivered at 250 revs
lower. The new Shelby gets electric power steering. Also noteworthy for 2011 is the availability of an
SVT performance package. It features Goodyear's latest Eagle F1 rubber p265/40 front and p285/30
back tires mounted on 19 inch front and 20 inch rear forged aluminum wheels. Each one inch larger
than the base GT500's. To match the tires Ford's engineers increased the front spring rate by 20
and the rear by 9.5 percent while lowering the ride height by 0.4 and 0.3 inches respectively.
The engineers also modified the shock valving for stiffer dampening and a shorter 3.73 final drive
ratio. Motor Trend peeled off consistent quarter mile runs of 12.3 seconds at 115 miles per hour
and Car and Driver chimed in with times of 12.4 flat. The 2012 Shelby gt500s were almost a carbon
copy of the 11s. The only change to the option sheet was that you could add a pair of Recaro
seats in 2012. You also got the Mustang's new selectable steering system that allowed drivers
to choose up to three different settings. Sport mode, Comfort mode, and Standard mode for normal
everyday driving. The 2013 Shelby gt500 was seen by many at Ford as a tribute to the late Carroll
Shelby. They had three goals in mind when building it. 650 plus horsepower, 600 pound feet of torque,
and an over 200 mile an hour top speed. Those goals necessitated the following
changes. The engine grows to 5.8 liters, the supercharged V8 pumps out 662 horsepower
with 630 foot-pounds of torque. It's a punched out version of the aluminum block 5.4 used in
the 2011 and 12 GT500. The compression ratio rises from 8.4 to 9.0. The Eaton supercharger in the
engine's valley displaces 2.3 liters and spins faster than the last GT500 blower. It cranks out
14 pounds per square inch of maximum boost up from 9. The fuel injectors have been increased
from 47 pounds per hour to 55 pounds per hour and two 5-liter Mustang fuel pumps are added
capable of pumping 79 gallons of fuel per hour. The base car gets a larger front anti-roll bar
and re-tuned springs. An RPM adjustable electronic launch control feature is standard, as is four
mode electronic stability control. The clutch is 10 millimeters larger than it was in the 2012.
Further the clutch housing has been strengthened. The GT500 now comes with a one-piece carbon fiber
drive shaft. New 19-inch front and 20-inch rear forged wheels were also deemed necessary to help
handle the GT500s higher performance capabilities. If you opt for the SVT track package you also get
an axle cooler and pump, a transmission cooler, and an external engine oil to air cooler. It does claim
a 200 mile an hour top speed but to get there a ferociously tall gearing is used. This means
third gear is good for 140 miles per hour and first gear is long enough to reach highway speeds.
They change the final drive ratio from 3.55 or an optional 3.73 to a standard 3.31 and to give the
GT500 even longer legs five of the six gearbox ratios are new. First gear goes from a 2.971
to a 2.661 which combined with the differential change reduces the maximum rear wheel torque by
a couple of percentage points from the 2012s. Even so Car and Driver makes a quarter mile pass
in 11.8 seconds. The 2014 model year sees almost no changes and is a carbon copy of the 2013.
So there's all the details on the s197 GT500s but before you go I'll take you for a
little ride in a 2011 Shelby GT500 with the SVT package. This is owned by my brother-in-law Mike
bumps in the road?
You know I'm like the worst passenger on the planet. That's okay that's fine, I'm not
not gonna, I'm not gonna kill you. So how many times
do you think you've actually hammered this car to the floor? A few, a few.
I love the car but, don't get me wrong once in a while I do carry on.
I mean I think that's what they're made for. I think so. You drive this to work occasionally?
I have actually. I kind of park in like the supervisor's position. Just because uh you know.
The supervisor's okay with that? They never really say anything. It just makes work so much better.
Even when I get out. I look forward to jumping in this car and oh just just driving. I can put the
windows down and I just cruise along. it's it's so so... This is the newest car I have ever owned.
This is the most powerful car that I've ever owned. But as far as the drivability
factor compared to like your old muscle cars? Oh my I would take this I would take this anywhere on a
trip. and don't worry about it? No not at all. It has a nice ride to it, It's very comfortable.
Absolutely it's a nice ride and honestly for the horsepower that it has, I get almost 19 miles a
gallon. right, and you've done some slight mods to this car? Slight mods. I went with a smaller pulley
did with a big air intake, I had it tuned, and a cooler spark plug. and it got dyno at? It
got dynoed at 570 horsepower to the rear tire. Yeah that's pretty, that's decent. That's pretty
healthy. I actually gained 100 more horsepower by getting those three things four things done.
So it was quite noticeable. If you want to stomp on it at some point, pick your spot. Oh yeah okay
so that whine, that whine it's like the mad max whine?
Probably one of my favorite parts of the car. The supercharger?
all right!
it's 90. yeah that's good you have the plastic from the dealer on the floor mat over here. every time you take off my knees are coming way up to my chest.
Say you were looking to purchase one of these S197 Shelby gt500s. Which one should you buy? Let me give
you my opinion I'm going to tell you why. Now don't get me wrong. These are all fast cars, they're all
really nice cars and anyone that has one out there kudos to you. You own a great vehicle
but, if I were to have to pick one, the 07s through 2010s they're a little bit too nose heavy for me.
The prices are decent, but they're not that much less than the 11s and 12s and the 11s and 12s
would be the ones I'd pick. I wouldn't go with the 13s or 14s and the reason for that is this is a
purpose-built car. It was made to go 200 miles an hour that's not something I do that often.
The car's geared for that and that gearing even with all the extra horsepower is what's to
set me off from that. Also the 13s and 14s their prices are up there a little bit. You
can pick up an 11 or 12 for $10,000 to $15,000 less with similar equipment and similar mileage.
So the 11s and 12s would be the way I'd go. One it's gonna save you a little bit of cash
two they can mod those cars very easily. Hey thanks for watching. I put a video in here
let me think about this it's gonna be on my right. It's Mike's Falcon this is one of the
first videos I did so please don't don't cut it down too much. It's a good story he's
got a neat car there so maybe check that out as well. Until next time we'll see you