Twin-turbo GT350: Can You Really Use 1,300 Horsepower on the Street?
ThatDudeInBlue gets behind the wheel of a Shelby GT350 making ungodly horsepower at the wheels, but how much power is too much?
Everyone wants to make an obscene amount of power, but is it really necessary? Moreover, is it even usable? You don’t have to explain to us what’s exciting about a car making four digits worth of horsepower, but if it’s just something you take out on the streets for a good time here and there, is there any justification?
That’s what David Patterson of the ThatDudeInBlue YouTube channel set out to find. Patterson is no stranger to Mustangs, as he owns both an S197 GT and a 5.0 S550. However, in this particular instance, he is behind the wheel of the beloved Shelby GT350. Not just any GT350, either. It’s a Fathouse Fabrications modified car, packing two stealthy bottom-mounted turbos and making 1,300 wheel horsepower. If you think that sounds crazy, you need to hear the car. It may be a ghost cam, but it sounds brutal.
It’s not just the hardware that has been changed, either. Fathouse goes all-in on these cars.
“We’ve repurposed the factory drive modes,” says Corbin Johnson of Johnson Tuning and Fathouse Fabrications. “Now normal mode is going to be your lowest power setting, as you go up through your drive modes, track and drag is going to be higher power levels,” says Johnson.
If that isn’t enough to impress you, it has a Motec traction control system, which is perfect for motorsports use. This isn’t traction control that takes away your power when it thinks you’re going to crash. Instead, it optimizes the power used to ensure you are limiting wheelspin and getting where you’re going as fast as possible.
“The ECU is adjusting power to maintain a target amount of wheelspin,” says Johnson. You can also use the cruise control buttons to choose which traction control map you’re on.
Patterson uses the rolling launch control on the freeway, and you truly get an idea of the power when both their heads fly into the seat upon release.
“It’s hooking perfectly. I’m not scared at all. It’s really interesting because I’ve never felt Motec like this before,” says Patterson
So, how’s the original question hold up? Can you use 1,300 horsepower on the street? Well, yes, with a traction control system like this. Though it’s not the most budget-friendly option. Their website states that you should call to receive an estimate. You know what they say about having to ask.