Ford Shelby GT500 Part 2: Interior & User Experience

Based on the more mainstream Ford Mustang GT, the Mustang Shelby GT500 ups the ante in both performance and price. With 500 horsepower just a stretch of your right foot away, there's not much to complain about regarding performance. But did the added cost of this limited edition Mustang go toward anything besides that raunchy supercharger? And more to the point, does the car feel like it's worth $40,000?

As is often the case with these higher performance variants, most of the additional coin buys precisely what we all want: more speed. But most of us aren't satisfied with only having our cake, we want to eat it too. We want extras on top of the performance gains. So what's inside the cabin of the Shelby GT500 that helps justify the added cost?

In the Shelby GT500, we find a slightly revised interior. There is a new font for the gauges, which now include a boost gauge for the supercharger. The steering wheel has leather covering the spokes as well as the rim. And the dash has a leather covering as well, which definitely helps to bring the interior up-market a bit.

There's also an impressive Shaker 500 audio system with eight speakers and a navigation system. And for getting the mood just right at night, the gauges and the interior lighting offer several color options including a red, white and blue mode for the speedometer, secondary gauges and tachometer. It may be a bit Scion-like and gimmicky for such a serious performance machine, but it's still fun sorting through the various colors and picking your favorite.

The seats are a throw-back to the original Shelby Mustang's design, and while they're quite comfortable, they should probably have a bit more bolstering to help hold you in place given the GT500s cornering ability.

These improvements, however, can't cover-up the fact that the Shelby GT500 shares much of its interior - too much of its interior - with a base car costing half as much. There's just too much hard plastic on the doors and the center console. Still, the more you live with this car, the less you notice these things - such is the charm of Ford's Mustang... especially this one with a big blower strapped to its engine!

Now, you may have read some reviews that complained about the noise from the supercharger... well, forget that. The supercharger sounds awesome -completely in character with this car. Let's face it, this car isn't about sophistication and precision. This is raw American power delivered with all the subtlety of a brick through a window. You want a car with no supercharger whine? Buy a Taurus.

I know some of you might find it difficult to forgive this car its various less-than-stellar elements. There are a lot of high-quality $40,000 cars available with luxurious, up-scale interiors and impeccable manners. But there's only one $40,000 car with the luxury of 500 hp and that's the Shelby GT500. I would advise you to get behind the wheel of one and introduce the throttle pedal to the carpet a few times before making your choice.

Watch the video
Read Part 1: Design
Read Part 3: Performance

Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Performance
- Acceleration: Tire-shredding torque accompanied by awesome supercharger whine results in serious quickness
- Handling: More body roll than expected, but tons of grip once it takes a set - throttle steer always an option
- Braking: Big Brembos do what they're supposed to - lots of dive though

Design
- Exterior: Surprisingly restrained and true to its heritage - still a great looking car... once it's lowered a bit
- Interior: Too much hard plastic and cheap looking materials - more leather than other Mustangs helps though

Utility
- Comfort: Surprisingly comfortable ride given its handling capabilities
- Space: Lots of room in the front - decent sized trunk, but really, who cares?

Safety
- Dynamics: A little bit of understeer built in to keep you out of trouble
- Technology: Four airbags, but 500 horsepower and no stability control... yikes!

Value
- Price: Lots of money for one Mustang... but nothin' for 500 horses
- Mileage: Seriously? If you have to ask, put it in 6th gear and just try to stay out of it. Good luck.

Emotional Appeal
- Heart thumpin' factor: Grows on you with every push of the accelerator
- Fun to spank: An absolute kick-ass car to drive - makes you laugh like a little kid

SPECIFICATIONS

Layout: Front engine / Rear wheel drive
Engine: 5.4 liter, Supercharged V8
Power (SAE): 500 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 480 lbs-ft @ 4500 rpm
Redline: 6250 rpm
Gearbox: 6 speed manual
Curb Weight: 3920 lbs.
0-60 mph: 4.5 sec.
1/4 mile: 12.8 sec. @ 115 mph
Top Speed: 155 mph (electronically limited)
Mileage: 14 city / 20 highway
Base Price: $42,685
Competitors: Dodge Challenger SRT-8, Chevrolet Corvette, upcoming Chevrolet Camaro SS