Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Watch Ford's Shelby GT500 gun for 200 MPH on Italy's Nardo Ring
There's a reason the speedometer on the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 reaches all the way to 220 mph. By all accounts, Ford poured a substantial amount of development resources into the supercharged creation by running it through the ringer at some of the world's most hallowed courses. Those include the infamous Nürburgring and Italy's massive Nardo Ring. The automaker has finally released a video detailing some of that work, specifically on the Shelby GT500's high-speed dynamics. In order for a production vehicle to safely operate at 200 mph, the machine needs to not only be able to achieve the speed, but also to maintain the velocity safely.
It also needs to be able to stop at a moment's notice. As such, engineers ran the 642 horsepower sportscar up to V-max and proceeded to induce a full ABS stop. That must have been an interesting moment behind the wheel.