Road & Track name the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Performance Car of the Year

Jeff Glucker

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Yes, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a special car. It’s a wild machine that can set blistering laps on a race track and also serve as a comfortable and composed daily driver. Albeit, one with 760 horsepower on tap. But add up all the good in the ultimate pony car and you have a performance all-star. Road & Track definitely thinks so, since it just named the mighty Mustang its Performance Car of the Year for 2020.

This year’s test was a weird one for the R&T gang. There was some weather. A few automobiles had to be pulled back from competing. And, you know, the whole global pandemic thing. But the testing went on and some interesting competitors rounded out the assembled crew. A plugin-hybrid joined the fun. As did …a god-damn 702-horsepower-having pickup truck. More traditional machines also joined in, as you might expect. But at the end of the day, it’s the Mustang that takes home the top prize. And for good reasons, all listed out over at R&T right now. Go read the full article which breaks down the performance of every competitor entered.

Then come back and watch our own review of the insane and insanely wonderful Mustang Shelby GT500.

[Image snagged from Road & Track with permission]

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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14 responses to “Road & Track name the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Performance Car of the Year”

  1. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    Awesome car. Fun review. It’s a bit “too much car” to squelch my inner sensibilities, but it’s undeniably impressive. It’s way more appealing to me than a Hellcat or a Vette, but not nearly as much as a GT350 or a Challenger 392 Scat Pack W/B. Am I glad it exists? Oh, yes. Do I want one? No, thank you. I’ll waste my money on slower, junkier death traps.

    There is one thing that I’d like to point out, though, because it comes up in this video: If there’s anything more annoying than people (like me) whining about the lack of an optional manual transmission, it is people defending the shiftable automatic with the “performance argument”. Seriously, automatics have been superior to manuals from a purely performance perspective FOR YEARS NOW. It’s common knowledge, and even manual purists can’t deny it. However, if you set aside the objective comparison and consider the subjective experience, then there is room for debate. Unless you’re talking about cars from the 20th century, rowing your own doesn’t make things faster. However, regardless of the year or decade, the experience does make things more fun. Even the best, most responsive paddle shifters aren’t as driver-engaging as a foot-operated clutch pedal and an actual shift lever. They’re faster, yes. More consistent, absolutely. More idiot-proof, certainly. But they are not more involving. That is the argument for a true manual.

    Reply
    1. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      I kinda think the Auto goes with the too much car aspect though. The GT350 is not lacking in power to get you in trouble but is a more high revving peaky power delivery. The GT500 with a torquier engine – well there’s no better recipe for unsettling a chassis than a clumsy clutch engagement on a downshift in a torquey FR car. I think you take what a GT500 is trying to be vs a GT350, it makes a lot of sense in terms of the character of the overall package and not just performance.

      Reply
    2. ericthemadman Avatar
      ericthemadman

      Agree with you 100% Been loving the shit outa my GT350!

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        Too jealous to vote you up, sorry. Haha!

        Reply
      2. Jeff Glucker Avatar
        Jeff Glucker

        I finally get my hands on one next week…

        Reply
        1. ericthemadman Avatar
          ericthemadman

          You will absolutely love her (like you didn’t anticipate that already … LOL)!! Enjoy!!

          Reply
    3. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      I kinda think the Auto goes with the too much car aspect though. The GT350 is not lacking in power to get you in trouble but is a more high revving peaky power delivery. The GT500 with a torquier engine – well there’s no better recipe for unsettling a chassis than a clumsy clutch engagement on a downshift in a torquey FR car. I think you take what a GT500 is trying to be vs a GT350, it makes a lot of sense in terms of the character of the overall package and not just performance.

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        If the automatic transmission is being used to dumb-down the driving process, then it isn’t so much an issue of “too much car” as it is “too little driver”. This is arguably too much power for street driving, but anyone who lacks the skills to wrangle it in without computer assistance shouldn’t be driving it in the first place. I learned to drive a stick on a torque-heavy F/R car at age 15. I had a few “clumsy clutch engagements” early on, until I learned to respect the car and developed some skill. If this is too much car for a manual transmission, then it’s too much car for 95% of the people likely to buy it. At least I’ll know to get out of the way when I see one on the road.

        Reply
        1. crank_case Avatar
          crank_case

          That’s exactly the point, it’s outer limits, like most modern cars to a lesser extent are well beyond the abilities of most mortals, only more so. Plenty of older cars were a bit hairy but a fraction of the power and grip. In other words, when it lets go, you can be going quite fast. This is a different “flavour” to the GT350. I wouldn’t call it dumbing down, I’d call it being realistic about the talent levels of even “enthusiast” drivers, and we all probably rate ourselves as more competent than we really are.

          Truth be told, if you want that purist analogue experience, you’re generally better off in something of modest power and grip that still feels lively – a GT86 is a perfect modern example, of if you’re lucky, a Caterham. There’s still more than enough outer limits to test your abilities (even on many race tracks apart from the odd “power circuit”” and your licenses outer limit’s too. …But “enthusiasts” then moan about 200bhp cars being “slow”

          I like manuals, but not for their own sake – I want to see more cars that really justify having a manual in the first place.

          Reply
          1. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            I guess I just don’t get it, then, or maybe I call myself an “enthusiast” when I don’t really understand the word. I’m not looking for the best track times (that would be a racer), nor am I simply looking for the most comfortable and efficient way to daily travel from point A to point B and back (that would be a commuter). As a driving enthusiast, I really want to be enthusiastically driving. I want sensory input and feedback from the machine. I want the front tires to become my fingers and the rears my toes. I want analog, dammit, not digital.

            Perhaps I misunderstood the GT500 as being a road car. If it’s a track car, then fine. Cram all possible power under the hood, and feed it to fat tires through whatever machinations make the most of it without losing traction. Enjoyment be damned… this is about time. It’s a numbers game– make the car as consistently fast as possible; the real-world equivalent of maxing out your S2 Forza build and mashing buttons on the Xbox controller. Ok, fine, that’s probably as thrilling as a rollercoaster, but with about as little actual involvement.

            If this is really a road car and really about enthusiastic driving, then I don’t get it. Or else, I’m a driving enthusiast from an age that has since passed. If the automatic isn’t being used to “dumb down” this car, then what is it doing? Your GT86 example is a good one, though an enthusiast car doesn’t have to be so restrained in output. But if you add so much power that a reasonably-skilled driver needs an automatic just to lay it down safely, then it’s too much power for normal roads. Period. Make it track-only, and require drivers to test into a racing license in order to own one. If “we all probably rate ourselves as more competent than we really are”, then maybe street cars deserve a power cap. I’m happy with more power, but not at the expense of feel. If it becomes the automotive equivalent of wrapping up with three condoms just to be safe, then I’ll look for a partner that’s a bit more modest.

          2. crank_case Avatar
            crank_case

            The fact you’re debating this passionately probably means you’re an enthusiast. It’s a broad church. 🙂

            I do drive a little eh… enthusiastically. I mean barely 50BHP of pushrod FWD Skoda was enough to get me in serious high speed total write-off aquaplaning accident trouble when I was a “yoof”, I have calmed down since, but I don’t even entirely trust myself with something like a 90s Subaru WRX in terms of keeping my license. Incidentally also a large part in why I’ve never got round to getting a motorcycle, everyone fears falling off, but my fear is lack of fear, that I’d just push til it went very wrong if that makes sense.

            I guess why have a high tolerance for autos, I can be a man of extremes – my driving tends to be either, lets just pootle round because what’s the point old fart mode where my wife is telling me I drive too slow or straight to Defcon1 TOUGE BATTLE MAXIMUM ATTACK! when ththe circumstances allow.That’s why Iove the Cappuccino, I can hoon round like my hair is on fire and no-one cares. Inside feels like 300mph while you’re going 50 and people are thinking “aww look at the cute car” and you can get away with things that’d get you hung in a BMW. A car doesn’t need to be so “restrained” in output as you say, but it’s more about how much time you can spend really “on it”

            Power cap? Maybe, most modern performance cars have outer limts well beyond the bounds of sanity on the road, never mind legally.

            However, that’s not the whole story of what I was getting at – GT350 and GT500 seem to me to be the Porsche 911 GT3 and Turbo (or perhaps GT2) of the mustang world. One is the car for people who really want to drive it, who want every drive to feel “because racecar” while the GT500 / 911 Turbo have a “flavour” that’s more about being user friendly and giving you pace with less effort. I think the real problem is more that Ford offer these models one at time in limited numbers rather than side by side and pick the flavour you want.

          3. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Good points. I tend to drive fast cars slowly and slow cars quickly, so your Cappuccino example hits home. I like cars that you can wring-out on normal roads without risking your license.

            I suppose part my problem with the GT500 is the fact that it seems like it is replacing the GT350, a car that I felt was almost perfect for its class. As Jeff notes, it’s not exactly a scalpel, but any way you look at it, the GT500 is a much blunter, less precise tool. Perhaps what I’m really interested in is the upcoming Mach 1. I’m the type that prefers the Scat Pack over the Hellcat, the M Sport over the actual M, etc. I never go for the uber packages.

            Anyway, I got side-tracked, letting the manual-transmission argument bleed over into the GT500 to begin with. My real point was that the objective arguments in favor of shiftable automatics are well established and don’t need to be repeated every time someone asks for a manual. Anyone who prefers a manual is really interested in the subjective benefits, so shift times and efficiency numbers are largely irrelevant.

          4. crank_case Avatar
            crank_case

            Exactly – if the GT500 and GT350 weren’t limited run things and available at the same time, it would be much easier to make sense of both cars.

    4. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      Agreed completely, however this is “Performance Car”, not “Driver’s Car” where you would expect a manual trans to be prioritised.

      Reply