Today I got to drive my dad's 2011 gt500 convertible with the svt performance package, and based on my limited experience driving manual trasmissions I thought I'd note a few comparrisons between the two.

For those of you who don't remember my post about a week ago I just got a 2012 mustang gt 5.0 with the 3.73 gears and a 6 speed manual.

First thing I noticed was his seemed like it was easier to drive. I definitely would have thought the opposite. The throw in the gt500 is much shorter. I can shift smoothly every time from 1-2 in his car vs. my gt the throw is much longer and am still learning how to shift smoothly from 1-2 in it. It is partially due to the fact that I basically just started driving stickshift last week. This made me want to get a short throw shifter for my car because I never realized how awesome it actually is to have such a short shift through the gears.

Next thing I took note of was acceleration. Honestly they felt VERY similar. If his was faster it was very hard to notice. The gt revs up higher and seems to rev a bit faster but the overall acceleration is pretty much the same. Keep in mind his is the convertible and mine has the glass roof. The extra weight could have something to do with that. In 5th gear the regular mustang gt actually pulls harder than the gt500. He drove my car after I drove his and confirmed this.

Next thing of note is the steering feel. First of all I love his steering wheel so much more than my regular gt premium wheel. The alcantara is sweet and feels better in the hand. Relatively the same thickness except the little grip thingy's for lack of a better term are slightly larger. My 2012 gt has the selectable steering and in normal mode on the gt the gt500 has tighter and more precise steering, however, switch the gt to sport mode and the gt has slightly tighter steering. So basically the stock gt500 steering feel is somewhere between normal and sport on the gt.

Lastly, the attention. I've had my 2012 mustang (kona blue) for a week now and need to fill it up for a third time tomorrow morning lol. Not once have I really gotten a thumbs up or anything. I drove my dad's gt500 (race red w/white stripes) about 10-15 miles and got a fully extended arm out the window thumbs up from a guy in a 05-09 yellow mustang lol. This thing definitely gets a ton of looks, and the regular gt pretty much blends in with the crowd.

Hope this was helpful. It seems not many people talk about direct comparrisons in these areas between the two. Also, don't worry I am working on getting some pics taken of the two cars together and will post them as soon as we get it done. I just have a few busy weekends coming up.

 

If you think the GT pulls harder, than you definitely didn't throttle the 500 to full boost.

 

I may not have, and I may not have been at the ideal rpms etc for 5th gear in his car, but according to both of us the gt felt like it pulled harder in 5th only. I think the gt500 prolly pulled as hard probably harder in every other gear. Didn't mean to make this sound like I was saying my gt is faster than his gt500. It's probably not, although I imagine they are closer since his is a convertible and mine is a coupe.

 

5th is 1:1 ratio in the GT, 4th is 1:1 in the 500. 5th is an overdrive in the 500.

 

I guess that explains the difference then. Thank you for the info and preventing me from looking like a moron lol. I thought mayube because of my limited driivng experience with stick shift I was doing something wrong when driving the gt500, but it seems as it really is the case.

 

lol.

 

Why not put them side by side with you and dad driving and really see which one pulls harder. Butt Dyno's suck ...

 

I stopped reading.

This.

 

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

The difference in attention may be at least partially a convertible thing. At least in the 1st 3 or 4 months I owned my '11 GT 'vert (June-Sept '10) it was like being a celebrity, with many unsolicited positive comments from all folks, including a 2009 GT500 owner:

HIM: "How many HP does the new 5.0 have?"
ME: "412, yours makes 500, right?"
HIM: (standing a little taller) "Yep. What kind of gas mileage are you seeing?"
ME: "About 21.5-22 in my country road commuting, close to 25 in pure highway"
HIM: (deflating a bit) "<sigh> I only get about 13, and that's with the wind behind me...Nice car Dude."

Even the guys on the ferry boat I ride (who've seen pretty much everything) struck up conversations with me about my car.

I can't say what the current crowd-pleasing factor is since I've not driven my car since mid-February (<sigh>).

 

Because I don't want to be street racing and lose my license or hurt someone. Besides, he's a better driver than me he'd win for sure.

I'm just giving my observations so all the people who don't agree with me or find my comments amusing go drive both back to back and see maybe if you come up with the same results. I am in no way claiming the gt is faster than the gt 500 I said only in 5th it feels like it pulls harder than the gt500.

Also I'll remind you all again he has the convertible which adds weight so that may be why they felt similar. No need for the hate.

 

Don't think he's hating on you, just saying time to take them to the local dragstrip and see what they'll do Bet you both would get a kick out of it, and the crowd would love to see a father/son combo in somewhat similar cars. Oh, then swap cars and do it again!

Finish the break-in first, of course.

 

In my experience, vehicles with Superchargers or Turbo's will deceive your body's sensory inputs. The low-end torque accelerates the car faster at lower rev's, but in a Naturally Aspirated vehicle, you get to hear and feel the engine build power and speed through a slightly longer rev-range. Same goes for an electric car, or cars with CVT transmissions.

 

I'm going to have to call you out on the 25 highway and I get 18 and that's with a head wind (should I stand tall)

 

Smart decision on not to street race and thank your for telling us about those 2 fine Mustangs!
Regards,
Phil

 

I smoked my friends gt500-07, by 3 cars sunday with my 2011gt, its got leathal x pipe, lund tune, steeda cold air. From dead stop up to around 130 , the thing runs good, he'd been talkin trash for months!

 

Yeah I have the 3:31 rear gear and on a 500 mile trip south of where I live ( all highway ) I never saw anything above 22 mpg. It doesn't help that I was doing 80-85 mph the whole way. I still don't think at 70 I would have seen a 3 or 4 mpg increase.

 

You're buddy should put in a 3.73 rear end, his has a 3.31, and he'll be beating you by 3 car lengths and that will end your trash talkin'.

 

Nice comparison, I love that GT500 steering wheel too! That would be the one thing I would change on the inside of my GT...

 

Nice opinion. Too bad some are busting your ***** for it.
I would think that just in driving at n 8/10ths clip you would find that both those cars would be at least in the same ballpark straight line performance wise. Then you factor in the difference in weight and I can see the gap shrinking even more.
I had a gt vert and it was a turd. I think they weigh almost 200 more then the coupes do. The gt 500 is a heavier car to begin with so lets say the gt coupe weighs 3650 and the gt500 vert weighs close to 4000 (guesstimates).
412/3650 is 8.85 lbs per horsepower. Gt500 is 4000/540 is 7.40 lbs per horsepower. There is a difference of roughly 1.45 lbs. per horse. In contrast look at a base mustang which probaly is a little lighter, lets say 3500.
3500/303? 11.5 lbs per horsepower. Hmm almost 3 lbs/horse difference. looks like the gt is a lot closer to the almighty 500 then some are willing to admit, and the gt is certainly closer to the 500 then the base model is to the gt.
Now you throw a pulley on that gt500 and it's over, but with the comparison presented to us by the op I have to agree that there would not be huge amounts of differences between the two cars.

 

GT 402 hp 500 550 not 540