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Byline: ROGER HART
If you think the 500-hp Ford Mustang GT500 is a bit anemic, you're in luck. Coming to Ford dealerships later this month is the biggest, baddest, fastest production Mustang ever, the limited-edition Shelby GT500KR. Packing a whopping 540 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque-30 lb-ft more than the GT500-the new "King of the Road'' is the ultimate street Mustang and is quite at home on the racetrack.
Developed by Ford SVT engineers with help from Ford Racing and input from Carroll Shelby, the 2008 GT500KR was inspired by the 1968 Shelby GT500KR, which was the original "King of the Road.''
The horsepower and torque upgrades were accomplished by letting the supercharged 5.4-liter V8 breathe a little better through a new cold-air intake and more free-flowing H-pattern exhaust. Changes to the engine calibration, including increasing the spark advance and quickening the throttle response, are marked improvements over the GT500.
Even more impressive was what the SVT engineers did in tuning the chassis and developing, in cooperation with Goodyear, a new tire for the King. The chassis upgrades, aero improvements and weight reduction-22 pounds, to be exact-add up to a car that is a half-second quicker from 0 to 60 mph (4.3 seconds), does the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds (0.7 second better than the GT500) and can stop from 60 mph in 109 feet, six feet less than the GT500. Speed is limited to 155 mph.
The GT500KR begins life as a GT500, rolling off the assembly line in Flat Rock, Michigan. It is then shipped to Shelby Automobiles in Las Vegas, where Shelby applies its performance magic during final assembly.
The main appearance changes take place at Shelby, with the swapping out of hood, wheels and tires. A carbon-fiber splitter is fitted to the chin of the car, helping to increase front downforce by 31 percent while reducing drag by 3 percent. Above the splitter are cutouts for front-brake-duct cooling hoses, which come in the trunk. Owners can fit the ducts when they head to the track.
Source: HighBeam Research, BIG, BAD HORSEPOWER DADDY; A new King of the Road.(News)