2010 Ford Mustang GT500 - Brief Impression

Recently I had the opportunity to have a couple of rides in a 2010 Ford GT500. What I learned during that brief time was pleasantly surprising. I used to be "down" on the car due to the weight. And actually still am. It's woefully overweight at 3917lbs as tested by Car & Driver, not to mention a bit front heavy in terms of weight distribution. But Ford continues to revise the solid rear axle and has anyone ever said a low 12-second car isn't fun to drive if it's generally refined? The other reason I frowned on it was when it had excessive badging making it a Ford Mustang Shelby Cobra SVT GT00.

The owner stated it's quite difficult to launch despite the solid rear axle (SRA) and weight. Managing a clutch and accelerator isn't easy with a car of this power on unprepped surfaces. Even Car & Driver managed a lousy 12.9 second ET despite a 113mph trap speed. I would suspect excessive wheelspin that shortened the distance of the track. The car should be in the mid-teens.

Besides a tasteful dark blue color, my next favorable impression was the exhaust note at start-up. "How is that street legal from a production car?" was my first thought. It has a nice bark and a great burble. When inside, it isn't intrusive at all.

The door shuts with a very satisfying and surprisiningly refined "thunk" with close tolerances. It was at this point I started to re-think the car. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to put 200 fun miles on a Hertz Shelby GT Mustang convertible. The sub-standard interior wasn't exactly impressive and a 4-speed automatic was archaic.

Now the improvementst of the 2010 is apparent and a nicer interior with steering wheel controls. The screen for the satellite radio doesn't have the sharpest resolution, but I didn't see the navigation portion. The hoodline is still excessively high so placing the car in the corner is more of a guess than a proper sports car. It doesn't have all the creature comforts and might be one of the lowest content cars for the money. But that isn't what it's about. It's about nostalgia, power, heritage and acceleration.

Also easily upgradable in terms of additional horsepower due to the supercharger, it is the muscle car alterative to the Corvette. In other words, a bigger, heavier cruiser that does well on the dragstrip but is second place on the road circuit.

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