Black Horse
06-01-2012, 09:34 AM
This last weekend I had the opportunity to have a few laps in a 2013 Shelby GT 500 at Virginia International Raceway (a very fast road race track). Let me tell you I was not a bit disappointed! This is one heck of a beast! The 600+ horsepower sends you down the straights like someone lit the rocket assists. What is really amazing is the amount of low-end grunt torque. Unlike some of the preceding mod-motored models that felt lacking until the revs came up, the Shelby nearly felt like a pushrod 351 even when asked to come out of a corner in the wrong gear.
Nearly gone is the whine of the supercharger at boost, instead the deep growl of the exhust tone reminds you more of an angry beast running down it's prey.
What truely amazed me is the handling. My first expectations were that, yeah this thing is going to be fast down the straights with all that horsepower, but the weight will make it a pushy pig in the corners. Boy was I wrong. This monster corners better than I could have ever imagined. At first there was a small hint of push, but with the stability control activated, you could drive it deep into the corner and make your turn-in and leave you thinking to yourself - wow, I could have gone even deeper. The stability controls (monitors yaw and pitch) corrects your mistakes faster than you can make them! The shock modes kept the car extremely stable, even when driving over the hill down into the off-camber corners. While it is not go-kart, it is still extremley nimble and agile - a true surprise!
The brakes could whoa down the space shuttle on landing. Hurtling down the straight at 150 and passing all but the last brake marker you start thinking about how hard this missile is going to launch into the tire barrier...but this is not the case. The massive brakes scrubbed off speed at an alarming rate with a very acceptable nose dive, setting you up perfectly for a balanced turn-in.
I didn't get the chance to experience the launch control - basically you set what rpm you want to launch, hold the pedal to the floor - it holds that rpm until the clutch is released. Just too cool!
The folks at Ford really have their act together on this one. You can certainly tell that each and every feature, knob, bell and whistle has a purpose and works in unision with everything else. This car was designed and built by true motorsports enthusiasts, somewhere there are some pissed off bean-counters! All this horsepower, handling and yet still great enough gas mileage to avoid the gas guzzler tax. Makes you want to go out and beat up on those over-confident Z06 or ZR1 guys!
The ones that SVT brought to the track were the black, grabber blue and the new candy apple red -now that would look great in the driveway!
The SVT folks also brought one of the ST Focus models. While I didn't get a chance to experience a ride in it, everyone that did was quite impressed! The Eco-Boost in this lightweight package is a winner! For those that lean more towards the rice diet, a plate full of domestic rice will not leave you hungry! I think there will be some shocked V8 drivers when one of these blows them away!
I also spent some time in one of the 2012 Boss Laguna Seca models. Holy cow do these things handle! With a set of sticky tires a set of stiffer springs, this beast handles like it is on rails! You would never know how much this car weighs from the way it takes to the twisties! Light, nimble and sure footed! The balance is incredible and the brakes are certainly some of the best around! I look at all the work I had to do to the race car to get it to handle the way is does, and then look at the LS to see a track monster right out of the box. Yes I am jealous - there I said it!
Ford's slogan is "Going Further" - I can't wait to see how far this ride goes! Hang on tight!
Nearly gone is the whine of the supercharger at boost, instead the deep growl of the exhust tone reminds you more of an angry beast running down it's prey.
What truely amazed me is the handling. My first expectations were that, yeah this thing is going to be fast down the straights with all that horsepower, but the weight will make it a pushy pig in the corners. Boy was I wrong. This monster corners better than I could have ever imagined. At first there was a small hint of push, but with the stability control activated, you could drive it deep into the corner and make your turn-in and leave you thinking to yourself - wow, I could have gone even deeper. The stability controls (monitors yaw and pitch) corrects your mistakes faster than you can make them! The shock modes kept the car extremely stable, even when driving over the hill down into the off-camber corners. While it is not go-kart, it is still extremley nimble and agile - a true surprise!
The brakes could whoa down the space shuttle on landing. Hurtling down the straight at 150 and passing all but the last brake marker you start thinking about how hard this missile is going to launch into the tire barrier...but this is not the case. The massive brakes scrubbed off speed at an alarming rate with a very acceptable nose dive, setting you up perfectly for a balanced turn-in.
I didn't get the chance to experience the launch control - basically you set what rpm you want to launch, hold the pedal to the floor - it holds that rpm until the clutch is released. Just too cool!
The folks at Ford really have their act together on this one. You can certainly tell that each and every feature, knob, bell and whistle has a purpose and works in unision with everything else. This car was designed and built by true motorsports enthusiasts, somewhere there are some pissed off bean-counters! All this horsepower, handling and yet still great enough gas mileage to avoid the gas guzzler tax. Makes you want to go out and beat up on those over-confident Z06 or ZR1 guys!
The ones that SVT brought to the track were the black, grabber blue and the new candy apple red -now that would look great in the driveway!
The SVT folks also brought one of the ST Focus models. While I didn't get a chance to experience a ride in it, everyone that did was quite impressed! The Eco-Boost in this lightweight package is a winner! For those that lean more towards the rice diet, a plate full of domestic rice will not leave you hungry! I think there will be some shocked V8 drivers when one of these blows them away!
I also spent some time in one of the 2012 Boss Laguna Seca models. Holy cow do these things handle! With a set of sticky tires a set of stiffer springs, this beast handles like it is on rails! You would never know how much this car weighs from the way it takes to the twisties! Light, nimble and sure footed! The balance is incredible and the brakes are certainly some of the best around! I look at all the work I had to do to the race car to get it to handle the way is does, and then look at the LS to see a track monster right out of the box. Yes I am jealous - there I said it!
Ford's slogan is "Going Further" - I can't wait to see how far this ride goes! Hang on tight!