Confirmed: 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Rated at 662 hp, 631 lb-ft!

The 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will have 662 hp and 631 lb-ft of torque, according to SAE ratings released by Ford today—not 650 hp and 600 lb-ft as the company originally announced. We'd love to make an analogy to demonstrate what an obscene amount of power and torque this is, but the GT500 is the analogy. Should you ever find yourself swatting flies with rocket-propelled grenades, you might say, introspectively, "Gee, I really did a GT500 on that one." Let's just stick to other cars for context, then. Ford says that the GT500′s supercharged 5.8-liter V-8 is now the most powerful production V-8 in the world. We'll leave it to you to decide if you want to stretch the definition of "production" to include some of the European tuning houses that work over and rebadge German sedans. But there's this: The GT500 tops the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG by 99 hp. It beats the mighty Cadillac CTS-V by 106. For heaven's sake, the GT500 has 232 more horsepower than does the base Corvette. Even the gladiatorial Vette ZR1 falls shy, at 638 hp and 604 lb-ft. Besides the ZR1, these cars aren't really the GT500′s intended competition, but the extent to which the GT500 tops these cars, rightly thought of as extremely powerful, is shocking. The most direct competitor to the GT500 is the Chevy Camaro ZL1, which has a supercharged V-8 good for 580 hp and 556 lb-ft. We've said it before and it bears repeating: Horsepower numbers are impressive, but ultimately not as important to a performance car as braking, steering, suspension tuning, and the myriad other chassis settings that separate the good from the great. This is a large part of the motivation behind our annual Lightning Lap track showdown. But right now, we've got numbers and only numbers for the GT500. And in the manhood-measuring contest that is muscle-car building, the Ford has the crown. First Ride: 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Prototype Instrumented Test: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Instrumented Test: 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Of probably nominal importance to GT500 shoppers, Ford also announced that its monster Mustang will get an EPA rating of 15 city mpg and 24 on the highway. A run-of-the-mill Mustang GT, with a 420-hp V-8 and manual transmission, is rated at 15/26. The phrase "your mileage may vary" has never been more applicable; we have no doubt many GT500 owners will see single-digit mpg. At least the on-paper numbers are good enough for the GT500 to dodge a gas-guzzler tax. Sales start in May. You can read more about the GT500′s pricing here, and check out our first ride in a prototype here. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

puts the internet to work for you. via task 647533