2020 GT500 Governed Top Speed of 180MPH

[bluebeastsrt]

Well, not trying to play devil's advocate, but you have to give GM credit. The ZL1 will go 20 mph faster, still offers the aggressive aero for those that want better handling, and it came out 3 years sooner than the GT500. Plus it's offered with a manual.

When did getting to market first become a factor? I mean if we’re doing the devils advocate thing. Mustang beat Camaro to market by 3 years back in 64. And Camaro been looking for an answer every since. A special edition car comes out when the company feels its ready to release it. The GT350 was selling just fine. Your second point. What race will that extra 18 mph top speed help you win? The Texas mile? Maybe??? I guess ever GM fan boy will suddenly be racing the salt flats. Your 3rd point. I doubt many sales will be swayed away to a ZL1. Due to it having a stick shift. A higher % of sales goes to the automatic ZL1 already. Over the manual they offer. Sucks for the manual or die guys. But that’s just the nature of the new age, technology automotive landscape we live in.

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[Timeless]

So driving 180 on a public road is a smart thing to do?
And how many are able to drive 180 at a track?
And if you can do it at the track, it’s most likely not stock anyhow.

No.
Anyone that wants to pay to do it.
Some may want to see the stock performance.

Again, it is obviously not going to stop people from buying...just silly it is there at all considering the previous GT500 and the competition.

 

[Ken F. Williams]

Just caught this on C&D...

Ford Slaps a Top-Speed Governor on the Most Powerful Mustang Shelby GT500 to Date

The Shelby GT500 will deliver the goods in corners, not just a straight line.

• The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 will be Ford's most powerful production car ever, but the automaker has been light on details about the forthcoming car.
• We expect Ford's zero-to-6o-mph and quarter-mile claims to prove true, but we were taken aback by the information that the GT500 will have a governed top speed.
• The GT500 goes on sale this summer.

Dearborn is still mum on nearly every critical specification of its new GT500 other than these: it is Mustang based. It will feature a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 cranking out at least 700 horsepower. And now, that this, the most powerful production car Ford has ever created, is governed to 180 mph.

If you're a little let down that Joe Walsh's (at least) 39-year-old Maserati will outrun the brand-new Shelby, don't be. The cost associated with engineering a 200-mph car versus a 180-mph car is not insignificant, and it likely allowed for the wiggle room to include such performance-enhancing features as a dual-clutch automatic transmission and a rear wing borrowed from the Mustang GT4 racer. This should make for the most track-capable Mustang of all time and something that should rival the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE's pony-car record at C/D's Lightning Lap. Also, some of you may recall the mild embarrassment Ford suffered when many media outlets, including us, could not confirm the automaker's claim that the 2013 GT500, with its 662 horses brought to you by a supercharged 5.8-liter V-8, was capable of 200-mph travel.

At top speed, the GT4-borrowed airfoil of the Exposed Carbon Fiber Track package contributes to a net downforce of 440 pounds. A Handling package–equipped GT500, with a Gurney flap attached to its hybrid spoiler-cum-wing "swing," develops about 220 pounds of total downforce. The base GT500 gets by with no downforce-aiding elements but the prize of being the quickest GT500 in a straight line, says Ford.

While we fully expect Ford's claims—under 3.0 seconds to 60 mph and a sub-11.0-second quarter-mile—to prove true, the difference between the base and Track package will likely be very close, as that package also includes carbon-fiber wheels from supplier Carbon Revolution. In our testing, we found the low rotating inertia to be a slight advantage. The front wheels feature a plasma-coated barrel, as they do on the GT350, to reduce the possibility that the front brakes' immense heat will compromise the wheels' integrity. The 20-inch GT500 wheels are also claimed to weigh the same as the GT350's 19s.

Ford utilized 3D printers to cut development time while engineering the front-end package for the GT500. The massive hood vent, which can be removed to maximize downforce, started as a vent the size of an iPad and quickly developed into the size of an iMac. The front splitter wickets, L-shaped add-on strakes to aid net downforce, were also developed in a fraction of the normal time thanks to 3D printing.

Again, the specifics are few and far between with this one. When we know more, we'll be sure to pass the information on. The 2020 GT500 goes on sale this summer.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a26802817/ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-top-speed/

Seriously, a governor on the GT 500 ??? Tell me your kidding or is this an April Fool's joke?!?!?!

 

[williamwally]

I wonder if putting the 180mph soft limiter on the GT500 will help with ADM's. I know it sounds strange, but first it sounds like it will take out the people who want to own the 'latest fastest' since it can't 'do 200'. Then secondly, it may help push out some of the 'speculators' who want to buy and flip, either at the personal or dealership level, since how many people want the latest and greatest that can't do 200 out of the box: "under 200!? So antiquated, so boring."

Just a random thought, but the 180 limit might be a unintentional blessing in disguise.

 

[okfoz]

For one thing, 180, 198, 250, 300, 120... Let's face it, 99% of these cars will never see 120, let alone 180, Although I know many people who have gone 130+ on public roads, in some states (Michigan for example) Speeding at 30+ over speed limit is a trip to jail and an impounded car for a set amount of time. So, other than bragging rights and a magazine article that states that a car on a particular day went so fast is all most people will have. Besides, at a particular speed parts start flying off and littering the road behind you...

Take for example a rear spoiler that is 60" wide and 5" tall would have a frontal area of 300 sq in, or 2.08 sq ft. At 180 mph the load on the spoiler would be 213 lbs.

The Front Fascia, if it is roughly 54.4" wide, and a height of 18" would have a frontal area of 1357.2sq in or 9.425 sq feet. at 180mph the load on the front bumper would be 964#, the frontal area of the car is probably around 3500 sq in, and the wind load on the car would be 2455 lbs...

John

 

[Tomster]

For one thing, 180, 198, 250, 300, 120... Let's face it, 99% of these cars will never see 120, let alone 180, Although I know many people who have gone 130+ on public roads, in some states (Michigan for example) Speeding at 30+ over speed limit is a trip to jail and an impounded car for a set amount of time. So, other than bragging rights and a magazine article that states that a car on a particular day went so fast is all most people will have. Besides, at a particular speed parts start flying off and littering the road behind you...

Take for example a rear spoiler that is 60" wide and 5" tall would have a frontal area of 300 sq in, or 2.08 sq ft. At 180 mph the load on the spoiler would be 213 lbs.

The Front Fascia, if it is roughly 54.4" wide, and a height of 18" would have a frontal area of 1357.2sq in or 9.425 sq feet. at 180mph the load on the front bumper would be 964#, the frontal area of the car is probably around 3500 sq in, and the wind load on the car would be 2455 lbs...

John

Thanks captain obvious.

But what about the few of us that drive these cars on the track like they were designed to be driven?

 

[bluebeastsrt]

I got a sneaky feeling the Car got expensive. Relative to the competition. So they cheaped out on something? Drive shaft? Tires? Something? Ala the 115 limit on the v6 cars a few years ago. I think if your going to pick your battles. It’s better to win the 1/4 mile and lightning lap. Than to brag about 200+mph.

 

[9secondko]

I got a sneaky feeling the Car got expensive. Relative to the competition. So they cheaped out on something? Drive shaft? Tires? Something? Ala the 115 limit on the v6 cars a few years ago. I think if your going to pick your battles. It’s better to win the 1/4 mile and lightning lap. Than to brag about 200+mph.

I could see price bit if they went TT. but not this car.

It was always going to be priced a bit higher than the ZL1, because you are getting such a better car.

But I have a feeling it has more to do with performance. Specifically acceleration. So agreed there. I think they have recalibrated the gearing to punch up the quickness. That little bit About killing demons has gone viral. it’s a huge deal and the reputation of the car would suffer if it didn’t at least compare facvorably with the demon.

Since most of the Public just reads an advertised spec, they aren’t aware that you have to put Dodge’s glue on the tires, load a new tune, add race track skinnies on the front To go with the drag radials on the back in order to get the advertised speeds.

You can’t drive it home that way... at least not legally.

but it doesn’t matter. That’s what sticks with people - the advertised numbers.

so the GT500 has to outperform whatever the original intent was. Top speed is such a crazy thing on so many cars. Some super cars don’t have the top speed the rest of their performance would seem to indicate. If there was something they could cut corners on to bolster everything else, it would be the top speed.

 

[roygriffin2020]

For one thing, 180, 198, 250, 300, 120... Let's face it, 99% of these cars will never see 120, let alone 180, Although I know many people who have gone 130+ on public roads, in some states (Michigan for example) Speeding at 30+ over speed limit is a trip to jail and an impounded car for a set amount of time. So, other than bragging rights and a magazine article that states that a car on a particular day went so fast is all most people will have. Besides, at a particular speed parts start flying off and littering the road behind you...

Take for example a rear spoiler that is 60" wide and 5" tall would have a frontal area of 300 sq in, or 2.08 sq ft. At 180 mph the load on the spoiler would be 213 lbs.

The Front Fascia, if it is roughly 54.4" wide, and a height of 18" would have a frontal area of 1357.2sq in or 9.425 sq feet. at 180mph the load on the front bumper would be 964#, the frontal area of the car is probably around 3500 sq in, and the wind load on the car would be 2455 lbs...

John

The thing is that sports cars are measured on their performance figures when compared to other cars. Simple fact. Zero to 60, 1/4 mile, lateral g-force and top speed are all standard metrics in the automotive industry. SOOOOO when one of the metrics is low or lower, people take note regardless if Sue Ellen or Bobby Joe is ever going to reproduce those metrics.

 

[Laststandard]

I got a sneaky feeling the Car got expensive. Relative to the competition. So they cheaped out on something? Drive shaft? Tires? Something? Ala the 115 limit on the v6 cars a few years ago. I think if your going to pick your battles. It’s better to win the 1/4 mile and lightning lap. Than to brag about 200+mph.

A drive shaft that will handle a sub-11 second pass won't have any issue at 200mph. And any tire they put on would be fine, it's not like they're installing cheapo all-seasons or something.

I'm just curious why they said anything about a 180mph limiter and then say it wouldn't hit 180 during testing. Why not just say it topped out at 178 or where ever it happened to?

 

[nastang87xx]

I saw another inteview about the car from I think speed freak or phenom or something. Basically what I read between the lines was "we're keeping the cars tiered."

 

[Hack]

I saw another inteview about the car from I think speed freak or phenom or something. Basically what I read between the lines was "we're keeping the cars tiered."

That makes the most sense to me as a key reason for the limiter. Prevent the "top dog" most expensive version of the GT500 from having any stat that is lower than another version of the GT500.

 

[Dominator961]

Can’t have a mustang out running the GT.

 

[Stonehauler]

The majority of people who own one will probably...maybe...see 100 mph+ one or two times. Most will never track it. In fact, most will probably never see north of 90...unless they live in the Chicagoland area where you go 90+ in bumper to bumper traffic.

The number of people who will actually own it, and see it hit over 120-140 will be a slim percentage. probably single under 10 percent, probably even under 5 percent. Those that are sold for track day cars will, the rest will be some rich guy/girls DD..which will account for the vast majority of sales.

Those that hit 170+? probably in the 0.1 to 0.01 percent category.

Ford has to look at the numbers and make the call. At what point do they cap it? To them, their engineers, and their beancounters, that number is 180. In a way, you are lucky it's not limited to 155 like many European (German) cars are.

 

[V00D00]

100% of owners will see 130mph

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