Each product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from the link, we may earn a commission.

I have always thought that the top'Stang needs to be a nasty, savage muscle car for real fans.

For most of its history, the Ford Mustang has never really paid attention to handling. Cool? Absolutely. quickly? Yes, in most cases-although cars of the sluggish era can only be considered according to the standards of the time, the V6'Stangs of the early 90s did not even have this excuse. But when it comes to cornering, the Mustang is generally better than any other car from Dearborn.

Of course, occasionally there will be race-adjusted models, such as the Cobra R in 2000. But, like most muscle cars, the Mustang is ultimately about straight-line speed-no version is more representative of this than the Shelby GT500. Each version is not only more powerful than every previous Mustang, but it can also be said to be more wild and crazy.

This trend culminates in the GT500 from the fifth-generation Mustang, a 662-horsepower supercharged beast with a shift lever on the top of the cue ball and a sturdy rear axle, making driving feel like a carnival. This is the ultimate Mustang, a rolling Godzilla that can spin tires at 60 miles per hour and crack 200 miles with enough space to run.

This is also one of the first new cars I really fell in love with. It feels like the muscle car that shorts have always expected: big, bad, empowering. I burn rubber on the side streets because it's so easy. I hung it in second gear on the open straight, just to ride the lightning from 25 to 95. I accelerated the engine instead of honking in traffic to hear the horny Tyrannosaurus roar from the exhaust pipe. This is a stupid car made of a supernatural engine.

Therefore, when Ford revealed that the sixth-generation Mustang version of the Shelby GT500 would not only abandon the engine in favor of a new small-displacement supercharged V8 engine, but also follow the steps of the track-centric GT350 more. Not the tire track of the tire. GT500 used to — to make matters worse, the top speed will reach 180 mph — it is safe to say that I feel a little angry. Betrayal, even. The GT500 I like may be rude, rude and nasty, but damn it’s source is honest.

Then Ford invited me to Las Vegas to test the 2020 Shelby GT500 on the streets, tracks, and towing belts. I walked away and fell in love with it.

What's remarkable about Ford Performance's engineering work is that it provides a muscle car that feels as fast and furious as a supercar that is honest to God. Their miracles on the platform and suspension to maximize track performance, whether on the street or in the fierce battle, are ecstatic.

The 2.4-mile pool table flat road track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is hardly the most eye-catching track on the planet for a 760-horsepower car, because it has no straights—I was taken there last time to try one. When it was a new car, it was a 275-horsepower Chevrolet Camaro 2.0T 1LE — but it turned out to be a good place to discover how amazingly balanced and neutral the new "Stang" is in handling. A series of Ford performance tuning software and hardware that distinguishes this GT500 from a small Mustang turns a front heavy-duty muscle car into a supercar that is honest to Edsel, once the GT becomes the automaker's high-performance torch super The sports car gradually disappeared.

However, driving on the road is still easy. Riding is never relaxing, but compared to the previous GT500, this is an OG Lexus, where the pockmarked pavement can actually knock you out of your seat into the air. There may be a PRNDM dial, the gear lever used to sit there, but the paddle behind the steering wheel-from the F-150 Raptor as far as I know-almost equally allows you to choose your own equipment. There may not be a heavy clutch to play, but you can still plug the drivetrain into any gear you like and feed on ruthless power, savoring its power like fine bourbon.

The heavy steering has never had the power of the Mustang, if it weren't for the delicate or fluid feedback, it would be clearer. On winding roads an hour from Las Vegas, the GT500 turns with the intuitive ease of use of a Stuttgart sports car, responsive and easy even at speeds suitable for highways-of course, with the help of a shuttered hood Constant down pressure enhanced aerodynamics and rear spoiler. (The $18,500 track package adds carbon fiber wheels, larger wings and splitter wickers, and other lively accessories; unless you plan to spend more time on closed courses rather than on open roads More time, otherwise save money.)

Of course, it will still slaughter all those who come on the straight. In fact, if there is one place that feels less subjectively than the old GT500, it is how easy it is to humiliate almost anything in a straight line. In the 2013 model, stopping and stepping on the floor felt like driving a D-558-II Skyrocket; in the 2020 model, it was as smooth and simple as taking off in a dreamliner.

In order to prove how easy it is to launch the 2020 GT500, Ford brought a large amount of assembled media to the tow belt, so we can test two functions designed to help even novices squeeze out the straight line ability every time: the line lock, when you step on When the accelerator is on, the computer will lock the front brake so that it burns out perfectly every time (this will also heat up the tires for maximum grip); and start control, no matter how hard you step on the accelerator, the computer will keep the engine at The correct rotation speed allows you to leave the brake with your left foot and fix your right foot on the firewall when the light turns green. Do it right, you will run a quarter mile in 10.7 seconds, and the stopwatch will stop after you launch 3.3 Achieve 60 mph in the ticking sound.

Thanks to the spectacular new dual-clutch gearbox, don't worry about trying to use a clumsy gear lever to achieve the perfect 2-3 gears; it can immediately turn off the gears as prompted in just 80 milliseconds. The entire quarter did not step on the pedals or dance with the accelerator to prevent tire overload. If the 2020 model is only easier to drive than its predecessor, it is easy for people to hate it. However, the fact that it is easier and faster just makes it better.

The 2020 Shelby GT500 may not be a monster of the United States like its ancestors, but it is far superior in almost every aspect. Whether it is ultimately more worthy of being the ruler of the Mustang family than its primitive, animal predecessor-well, it's up to you. But I am not ashamed to admit that it converted me.