Why the 2020 GT500 Is Not the Fastest Way to Your Destination
If you’re in a hurry to get somewhere quickly, don’t take the 2020 GT500. Its adoring fans will add to the length of your trip.
The 2020 Shelby GT500 is the ultimate factory Mustang. According to Ford, it’s capable of blasting to 60 mph in the mid-3s and completing the quarter-mile dash in under 11 seconds. But if you need to get somewhere fast, you’re better off taking a four-cylinder econobox. Trust me. I learned from experience.
In early March, Ford sent me a GT500 with the aero-enhancing Handling Pack to test out for a week. It arrived in my driveway just in time for me to throw my luggage into the trunk, get behind the wheel and head from Austin to Midlothian, Texas for a 2020 Nissan Titan and Titan XD media event. The trip there was pleasant. Like a German luxury sedan, the GT500 puts big numbers up on the speedo so smoothly and effortlessly that you’re not even aware of it until you’re going 20 over the limit. Plus, once I realized how fast I was going, I just went with it.
I arrived in Midlothian surprisingly loose and relaxed. For being such a hardcore performance car, the GT500 was a great long-distance cruiser. My ears weren’t ringing, either. The multi-mode exhaust had a great singing voice, but it didn’t always have to be the center of attention.
The next afternoon, my hiking boots covered in mud from off-roading the Titan PRO-4X, I sank down into the GT500’s perfectly sized and strategically shaped Recaro driver’s seat, fired up the supercharged 5.2-liter “Predator” V8 and hit the road for Austin. The first two hours of the roughly three-hour journey went without incident. It was the last one that ended up taking the longest.
I was hungry and so was the GT500. I had made it all the way from home to Midlothian and to Temple on the way back, but now it was finally time to feed the beast some 93 octane. I stopped at the brightly lit beacon to many Texas travelers, Buc-ee’s.
After filling the GT500’s tank and parking in the lot, I headed inside to use the bathroom, wash up and grab a BBQ sandwich. Right as I stepped out of the men’s room, I remembered I had taken my wallet out of my back pocket and put it in the GT500’s center storage compartment to make my drive south more pleasant. I walked out to the parking lot and found a short, stocky man in his mid to late 20s slowly walking around the GT500, camera at the ready. If I remember correctly, his name was Dave. He was an avid attendee of car shows, but he had never seen a new GT500 up close until then.
I totally related to his feeling of amazement; I had been driving the GT500 for a few days and I couldn’t believe I was looking at one. He was kind enough to ask if he could snap a few shots. I told Dave I was just reviewing it for a week and to have at it. He fully indulged in the opportunity, taking numerous pictures of the air-hungry front end and double-striped profile. It didn’t take long for me to pop the hood so Dave could get some photos of the 760-horsepower monster under it. He marveled at how much room it took up.
I’ve been fortunate enough to test a lot of cool cars over the past several years, but I still get excited when I’m near them. I could sense that same enthusiasm in Dave so I knew what I had to do next. I slipped behind the wheel, put my right foot on the brake and pushed the start button. The Predator roared to life. I progressed through each of the GT500’s drive modes, blipping the throttle at each level of fury.
I soon heard another car respond with some revs of its own. I knew what a target the GT500 was so I expected someone in a Camaro SS or Dodge Challenger Hellcat to peel out and haul ass down the nearby access road in a passive-aggressive display of their car’s power. It turned out to be a dark gray S197 Mustang GT…and it headed my way. It stopped behind and to the right of the GT500. A lanky young man somewhere in his 20s named Oliverio stepped out. He liked what he had heard a few seconds earlier, but was stunned to discover the sonic savagery had come out of a new Shelby GT500. He was less interested in taking pictures than just looking at it – and, of course, hearing it. I gladly obliged.
I wasn’t the only one of us who had to get going. Oliverio had somewhere to be and Dave had a long drive ahead of him so we all shook hands and said our goodbyes. My stomach was growling out a song of desire for the saucy goodness of the pulled pork sandwich I had purchased two new friends ago. Before I left Buc-ee’s, I had to make one more quick stop: a more secluded parking spot where I could devour my road dinner in solitude.
Then I saw the tall blonde man in the red Chevrolet Silverado to my left. He was eying the GT500. He motioned to me to roll my window down. My fast feast was going to have to wait. Despite the badge on his truck, Chevy Man was a Mustang fan. So much so that he knew the distinctive sound they make. His devotion went beyond attentive hearing, though. It was skin deep.
He extended his right forearm to show me his Mustang tattoo. I considered getting out of the GT500 and giving Chevy Man a tour of it, but ultimately decided against it. My hunger was too intense and I still had another 45 minutes to an hour of driving until I got home. I waved goodbye to Chevy Man and made my way across the lot to where the GT500 was somehow less visible. More importantly, no one could see me. I was going to gleefully murder that sandwich and I didn’t want any witnesses. Luckily, I had enough napkins to clean up the crime scene.
Stomach full, I finally got out onto the highway and to my house. Ford’s first Mustang with a dual-clutch transmission and its most powerful pony ever had made an hour-long trip almost 50 percent longer. In that extra time, I was able to share my love of the new GT500 with some fellow enthusiasts. I was happy to do it. I’m just glad no one asked for a bite of my sandwich.
Photos: Derek Shiekhi
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