1. Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake
COURSE CODE:ENG 204
SUBMITTED TO :GULSEN HUSSEIN
SUBMITTED BY:AKİF YURDAKAN
NUMBER:20100986
MARC 2012
2. On its third pull, the blue black
2010 Shelby GT500 Super Snake
just lit up the K & N's dyno to the
tune of 635 horsepower and 581 lb-
ft of torque. Quick mental math
says somewhere between 730 and
760 horsepower at the crankshaft.
3.
4. I Quickly text for an explanation, Scott Black of Shelby's PR
company. He responds: "We are in the midst of changing
our marketing materials to reflect the 750 launch .. which
we announced last month at the car." Hmmm. Must have
missed that. I do not miss the unintentional irony of
Black's sign off: "We tend to be a bit conservative."
Seven hundred and fifty horsepower is
conservative? Yeah, like an 8 x 8 In'n'Out Double-Double
"Animal Style" or Giselle Bundchen in green body paint
spattered.
Head still spinning from the Obscenity of 635 wheel
horsepower (three shy of what makes a Corvette ZR-1 at the
crank), we head to Fontana to test the Super Snake's
traction and road test editor Scott Mortara's launch's skills.
5. Mortara has already been prepped for this
adventure. Vince LaViolette, Inc. Shelby Automobile's
senior designer, test driver, and, apparently, already
gave us a tutorial vehicle transporter 2010 Shelby Super
Snake # 001C when he dropped off. "Immediately drop
the clutch and then shift to second," says
LaViolette, his left foot and right hand backwards
while jerking spasmodically. "Otherwise, you're just
going to sit and spin."
6.
7. We take him at his word, but it's no good. Despite the
brief engagement, the Super Snake simply PZeros
roasts its in first gear and then all the way through
most of second and third gear. It does not matter what
technique employs Mortara - hard, crunching gear
launches, into a soft roll first, even second-gear starts -
he can not simply set the ponies into the Super Snake's
forward motion. It's like the Raiders on third and
short. Despite all the firepower, it can not simply
convert. Only does the pavement at the top of third
gear finally catch up to the melting Pirellis
furiously. From then on the Super Snake is like a
Rocket Through the quarter mile.
8. Just compare the acceleration of the Super Snake with its
little brother - the GT500. At 1.7 seconds to 30 mph, they're
dead even - though the Super Snake seems more interested
in making little sooty piles of rubber from the moment it
leaves the start. A heartbeat later, the GT500 is pulling
ahead - hitting 40 mph three tenths of a second faster (2.3
vs. 2.6 sec). By 50 mph, the Snake's grip is returning but it's
still behind a tenth (3.3 vs. 3.2 sec). They're tied up at 60
mph (4.1 sec) and 70 mph (5 sec flat). By 80 mph big bro is
locked-and-loaded and bombing down the runway at full
slither. At 90 mph, the GT500 is now seven tenths of a
second behind (7.7 vs. 7.0 sec) and at the century, the
Super Snake has it by a full second. At the 1320 foot
marker, the Super Snake clicks off flat at 120.1 mph 12.0
seconds, four tenths of a second later comes the GT500 and
4.1 mph slower.
9.
10.
So say the handling numbers. With a lateral acceleration of
0.92 g and a time of 25.7 sec at 0.72 g of figure 8, the Super
Snake is a solid performer. Problem is it slots in behind the
GT500 in both categories (0.96 g, 25.1 sec at 0.81 g). In
fact, a regular-equipped Mustang GT track pack (0.95
g, 25.5 sec at 0.70 g) gets around quicker our cones.
So what's the problem? Weight is one factor, as the Super
Snake is 372 lbs heavier than the GT, but that can not be
the only reason. The GT500 weighs only 31 lbs less than the
near Snake production model we tested. Once it has its
much lighter hood (which feels like it adds 60 lbs to the
nose), the two should be nearly even.
