Caught the episode yesterday. The Brits had the GT500 on TopGear and I'll summarize their review: 1. Fast 2. Handles like a tank The Stig took the GT500 around their road course and talk about "in the weeds"! The car was almost out of control on a couple of occassions... the one guy who's owns a classic Shelby GT Mustang that's on the show, had similar things to say about it... and this guy's a Mustang owner! They dynoed the car and pulled, I believe, 440 hp. They attribute the less than spectacular handling to the solid rear axle (as would most people). Then they tested a Roush Mustang with 415 HP on the same course. The Roush DEMOLISHED the GT500 by 2 seconds in the lap.
I saw that vidoe about a year ago....the Roush would pull ahead in the curves then the Shelby would catch up in the straights.....
I didn't see an actual side-by-side race... they tested them seperately... just goes to show, however, what a little suspension work can do! TWO SECONDS difference on a roadcourse. 2 seconds. Alot?!?! *According to the show, Ford claimed that adding a better rear suspension would have tacked-on an additional $5000 to the MSRP. Call me an asshole, but if you're spending $40,000+ for a car, shouldn't a decent suspension be included?!?! I'll bet that our SRT8's, even stock, would eat a GT500 for lunch on a roadcourse (we already know that the GT500 isn't THAT much faster than our cars anyway - Drew and one other person raced them... we're talking a fender difference).
I road with one of the instructors at an SRT Track Event at VIR about a year ago....I timed his run over the same course one of the magazines had done a story about the Shelby...He beat the Shelby's time driving a Charger......the head instructor gave the go ahead and told the driver "the rules dont count this one time".....that was a heck of a ride..:sick:
General rule of thumb when you make something to sell (yes, it varies with different products) is that retail is 4x? or so of manufacturing cost. Ford was probably referring to mfg cost?
I do agree that the bogus suspension on something with the potential of the GT500 was a mistake....... wtf were they thinking.....? Use the powerhouse from a FORD GT then neglect the suspension...... Mercy The body roll when that thing cornered was a joke........ Too bad..... D
They will destroy any american car if you have seen enough episodes of Top Gear... if you want to see the best example watch the 300 SRT one where they put it against a M5 thats DOUBLE the price and just BARELY edging it out...they even finish the segment saying "I KNOW ITS DOUBLE THE PRICE BUT WOW"...come on now? thats like...Racing a Lambo LP640 vs a VW Golf GTI...oh wait... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp37BvVmzfY[/media]
Steve, you are correct. I saw that 300SRT episode awhile back... Those guys will indeed rip an American car apart (99.9% of other countries/their citizens will bash anything American if given the chance). So, you gotta keep that in perspective with that show. However, they do produce a cool show and their antics are pretty amusing (tractor races, create-a-limo, etc.). The whole Lambo vs. VW was however, simply a comparison for comparison's sake... to show average folk what the difference between a FAST car and an above-average quick car is... in a visual perspective. They do knock the Lambo (which I was surprised at) in that they call it (among other cars) a Hyper Car, not a Super car (like a Ferrari)... their distinction revolves around simply being fast vs. being fast and handling being up to par with the competition. A GREAT comparison test they did was of an Evo vs. Lambo on their roadcourse. Awesome comparison... as the $35,000 Evo kept up with, and eventually passed the Lambo (as the Lambo spun out of control). Overall, I like the show.
hahahaha i know...i just think thats a funny clip hahahaha...my friend has that GTI and gets SO pissed when i play the clip hahahahaha... the show is very amusing for me when they arent testing american cars hahaha...
I love the cars, and some of their humor, but Clarkson is a Nationalist Ahole. Still, the cars sound good when they test drive them.
I just started watching this show a few months back and gotta say I love it, those guys are total idiots and are hilarious! Yea they rip american cars but the whole world rips america these days so who cares. I love the odd stuff they do like trying to plow fields with their tractors or trying to pave a roadway or trying to make a space shuttle out of some small car, it's really funny and not nearly as stuffy as our car shows here like Autoweek. Gotta say the best bit I saw so far was where they had Kristin Scott Thomas on and she was going over some cars for the "cool wall" and she called the Lambo (that clarkson had just ordered) pathetic, it was great!! That guy though, he thinks the end all, be all of a car is being able to powerslide through a corner at 100 mph. Uh, no, wrong Jeremy, try again.
This is my favorite episode hahahahahahahahaha [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mio5fTKqWgM[/media]
Gotta love some of their comparisons! Lol! I'm sure with some aftermarket parts and tuning the GT500's, especially the KR's will be a monster on the drag strip, but for the price, and being supercharged, we hold our own for being NA!
Yea, that limo one was a friggin riot, I couldn't stop laughing! The missus even came in to see what I was watching and laughed her azz off herself!! :thumb3:
