Michael Satterfield
Ford’s SVT team has not built a new car with the 2010 GT500, but they have improved the breed over since its reintroduction in 2007. They have done some major tweaking to get it to turn, ride, and perform at the level of supercars costing much more. For under $50,000 you get a 5.4 liter supercharged V8, pumping out 540 horsepower, up 40 horses over the previous generation. The SVT team also took care of the suspension with stiffer springs both front and rear along with firmer damping, intended to reduce roll in corners, dive under braking and squat under acceleration. All of this helps move the 2010 Snake to 60MPH in just 4.3 seconds.
They the car we had already been tweaked by the owner to include California Pony Cars engine compartment dress-up kit (so no, the stock GT500 does not look this nice under the hood). The sound of this car upon firing it up is biblical, a snarl that the last GT500 seemed to miss. The Shelby requires a little bit of a learning curve to drive fast, but once you get it down it just feels right. As you enter a corner and downshift the engine bounces off the rev limiter and brings the back end back into line with the car in a cloud of smoke. This type of driving would have sent you into the ditch in the old car. Most of the new GT500 road manners come from the new AdvanceTrac system that even has a “sport” setting and is a safe place to keep it for the less than talented driver. But if you are in the mood for some counter-steering madness you can always just turn it all off, this much more fun and allows you to flick, slide, and create a massive amount of tire smoke.
It is a great car, and I hope to see a few more on the road…
