2020 GT500 results from Car and Driver Lightning Lap 2021

[Tomster]

I could but I’m meeting with a staff member now. Feel free to enjoy a trip down memory lane and look up the press releases from 2019.

The last time I looked, the GT500 was declared the most powerful mustang ever built. Barely street legal with a focus for the track. Not some soccer kid hauler or a Starbucks cruiser.

It is something what money can do. Anyone with money can buy one, but not everyone with money can drive one well, as it was intended.

Mr Owens told me personally that these cars were meant to be driven as designed, within the spirit of how Carol Shelby would want them driven. I dont think Mr. Shelby had Starbucks or the grocery store in mind.

I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with another great, Mr. Billy Johnson, right before we drove one of my R models around the track. We discussed the track attributes of the CFTP and how much better than it would be than the R model for ficused track use. I dont recall soccer, the grocery store, or starbucks in that conversation.

Enjoy all of those moments looking cool cruising around town letting people think you are some kind of Rockstar, lol

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[kilobravo]

Enjoy all of those moments looking cool cruising around town letting people think you are some kind of Rockstar, lol

Tom: I respect your experience, knowledge and driving skills but, take it for what it's worth, your wordsmithing could use some Recurrent.

Your words imply that the person who does drive the car in the spirit of Mr. Shelby IS a "rock star" while those of us who do not are mere peasants. Honestly, I resent that line of thinking and I would imagine that I'm not alone.

I truly hope you get every damn nickel's worth of both your investment and, your enjoyment out of your car but please, don't just willy nilly go about dis'ing those who have other desires. I think you're above that, amigo.

 

[Tomster]

Tom: I respect your experience, knowledge and driving skills but, take it for what it's worth, your wordsmithing could use some Recurrent.

Your words imply that the person who does drive the car in the spirit of Mr. Shelby IS a "rock star" while those of us who do not are mere peasants. Honestly, I resent that line of thinking and I would imagine that I'm not alone.

I truly hope you get every damn nickel's worth of both your investment and, your enjoyment out of your car but please, don't just willy nilly go about dis'ing those who have other desires. I think you're above that, amigo.

Then hit the report button

 

[kilobravo]

Nah, ratting someone out isn't my style. Oh well.

 

[Epiphany]

I am renting a Camaro right now. What a horrible car. Sight lines from hell. Blind spots everywhere. Awful controls and ergonomics.
I own a Porsche 911S and am 1st on my dealer’s list for a CFTP car with painted stripes. Which is will drive for pleasure and occasionally track, but mostly street, just as Ford designed it for.

Looking forward to learning more from you regarding what Ford designed the car for, beyond profit and shriner's parades. So where do you track your vehicles?

that was a completely separate statement saying that I like how the 500 wasn’t optioned for 100% track setup. I also never said anything comparing it to a ZLE. I said why compare it to a corvette when the marketed competitor is the Camaro. Comparing it to a corvette would be like comparing the FGT to a corvette. Plus my comment was a general comment, not a response to you. This one is though.

If you’d like my opinion on the ZLE it would would be this:
I would not daily drive it. I think they look badass and a pretty awesome car but I don’t like the interior, visibility or the seats.

I agree with your assessment. That said, I've tracked the lesser Camaro's but not the ZLE. After being on the track with my phatass5000 and ZLE's at the same time I admit to having a heck of a lot of respect for them. I'm jealous of not just their more ragged edge but the 300 lb weight savings as well.

Your words imply that the person who does drive the car in the spirit of Mr. Shelby IS a "rock star" while those of us who do not are mere peasants. Honestly, I resent that line of thinking and I would imagine that I'm not alone.

Everyone outside of politics is a peasant and everyone who's life doesn't revolve around Wall Street-think is irrelevant. Enjoy your crumbs!

 

[Jmeo]

Tom: I respect your experience, knowledge and driving skills but, take it for what it's worth, your wordsmithing could use some Recurrent.

Your words imply that the person who does drive the car in the spirit of Mr. Shelby IS a "rock star" while those of us who do not are mere peasants. Honestly, I resent that line of thinking and I would imagine that I'm not alone.

I truly hope you get every damn nickel's worth of both your investment and, your enjoyment out of your car but please, don't just willy nilly go about dis'ing those who have other desires. I think you're above that, amigo.

I respect Tom as well KB. Don't let it get under your skin. There are those who track their cars, and then there is everybody else.

If you are getting enjoyment out of you car, then you are doing it right. Screw everyone else

 

[Tomster]

I respect Tom as well KB. Don't let it get under your skin. There are those who track their cars, and then there is everybody else.

If you are getting enjoyment out of you car, then you are doing it right. Screw everyone else

Yes, exactly. I piped up because of the banter between Tob and whatever his name is. I can only listen to so much garbage before I throw my 2 cents in.

I agree with Tob. I don't agree with the other guy.

 

[Alex.Envy]

I agree with your assessment. That said, I've tracked the lesser Camaro's but not the ZLE. After being on the track with my phatass5000 and ZLE's at the same time I admit to having a heck of a lot of respect for them. I'm jealous of not just their more ragged edge but the 300 lb weight savings as well.

yeah, I do wish there was a bit of weight savings but I feel like it would’ve been hard without getting rid of all the infotainment stuff. How well did the stripper Rs do in sales compared to a the regular R?

I think ford could’ve gone with a smaller light brake set up and got rid of the spare tire compartment, but I don’t know anything about the engineering behind these cars. Are the brakes really necessary? Would it cause too much front end weight? Aren’t the DCTs like 250lbs without fluid in them?

I don’t have any track experience, I just do a lot of back/country road stuff lol

 

[Ace]

really? then compare it to the originally released version.. and the GT500 is 2 seconds faster on LL..
few people buy a car specifically for the track only duty, so yes, street manners are equal to track performance, and the 1LE , as shown by the buyers remorse, is horrible for the street.
GT500 is not. I just drove from Southern Florida to Delaware straight through, modified, in recaro's, on R888 rears, in 13 hours without issue.. 1LE isnt doing that comfortably

Your GT500 doesn't have the track package, so the best comparison would be base ZL1 which also has a comfortable enough ride.

I actually don't see a point in buying a ZLE or GT500 CFTP to daily drive it. It's the track package, it's fine when it drives like it belons on the track. I wouldn't even want Cup2 or other semislicks on a daily. Oh an by the way, the CFTP removes the rears, the ZLE does not.

Where do you get that from, that the GT500 was 2 seconds faster? I was on the lightning lap article minutes after it went live and it always stated these times.

 

[V00D00]

Your GT500 doesn't have the track package, so the best comparison would be base ZL1 which also has a comfortable enough ride.

I actually don't see a point in buying a ZLE or GT500 CFTP to daily drive it. It's the track package, it's fine when it drives like it belons on the track. I wouldn't even want Cup2 or other semislicks on a daily. Oh an by the way, the CFTP removes the rears, the ZLE does not.

Where do you get that from, that the GT500 was 2 seconds faster? I was on the lightning lap article minutes after it went live and it always stated these times.

the track package? whats different between mine and the one with more carbon fiber as it pertains to comfort? lighter wheels? check. aggressive tires? check. no backseat? oh more luggae space. check.

again. the 1LE was great for advertising, not so much for real people

#36 originally, then #20 since its virtually "unchanged"
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23319884/lightning-lap-times-historical-data/

so to reiterate, the same things we've said for over a year now; this horse is not only dead but rotten and decayed:
the GT500 handles better on the track, its quicker and faster on the strip, more comfortable on the street, and offer's a level of driver involvement/ driver experience unparralelled by cars of equal cost, and pairs up better with cars 2-3x its pricetag - all from the lesser "rental car chassis" with a metric fukton of technology employed

 

[Epiphany]

yeah, I do wish there was a bit of weight savings but I feel like it would’ve been hard without getting rid of all the infotainment stuff. How well did the stripper Rs do in sales compared to a the regular R?

I think ford could’ve gone with a smaller light brake set up and got rid of the spare tire compartment, but I don’t know anything about the engineering behind these cars. Are the brakes really necessary? Would it cause too much front end weight? Aren’t the DCTs like 250lbs without fluid in them?

If you look at the list I went through it was mostly all body panels for weight and I did not include ditching the entertainment system. What with federal rear view camera requirements it makes sense to have that hardware in place. Again, my beef there was no PDR-like system from Ford. That is embarrassing. The car collects the same data as the ZLE and all Ford had to do was to get their software act together but they went full bore lazy in this regard.

No need to ditch the spare tire bulge as there is no more spare (for the GT500 anyway) and having a new stamping adds mucho costo. Ford went with mondo brakes due to the weight and speed this car can attain. For a better understanding you can peruse most any related pdf on the matter, such as this one (great for those that love math).
http://www.fem.unicamp.br/~phoenics... 2 SEM-11/TURMA A/G7 OK/artigo_referencia.pdf

I mentioned using a more race orientated system (which could include CC rotors, etc) with pads that work on the street as another means of reducing weight that would also allow a smaller diameter wheel if that's what you wanted to run. Big money can spent in this area but the performance improvement can be significant, allowing for better unsprung weight numbers.

 

[Ace]

the track package? whats different between mine and the one with more carbon fiber as it pertains to comfort? lighter wheels? check. aggressive tires? check. no backseat? oh more luggae space. check.

again. the 1LE was great for advertising, not so much for real people

#36 originally, then #20 since its virtually "unchanged"
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23319884/lightning-lap-times-historical-data/

so to reiterate, the same things we've said for over a year now; this horse is not only dead but rotten and decayed:
the GT500 handles better on the track, its quicker and faster on the strip, more comfortable on the street, and offer's a level of driver involvement/ driver experience unparralelled by cars of equal cost, and pairs up better with cars 2-3x its pricetag - all from the lesser "rental car chassis" with a metric fukton of technology employed

In the end we have to compare what the carmakers are offering and that is what tests are comparing (not calculated in that tests on different days in different conditions vary). If you want a track ready GT500, you have to get the CFTP and pay $92,500, while the ZLE costs $72,000. Thats $20k and 120hp more to be slightly ahead of the ZLE in this test. And the measured time from Lightning Lap is a CFTP, so it's hard to believe that without the weigth saving of the carbon parts, the huge wing and the removed rear seats the same time is achievable.

I looked up the LL article as soon as it went online and never saw other times. I will check the internet archive if there was a change, but it sounds more like a fan theory? They even have the lap time videos online, did they change them too?

As I said earlier, I really appreciate what both cars are doing. It's crazy that Ford was able to build such a good Mustang out of the S550 platform, and it's still awesome how competitive a ZLE still is. If one of these cars is to hard for a buyer, may it be so. But saying a track toy is bad since it's too harsh to buy groceries with it is pretty much not the point what Lightning Lap is for.

 

[V00D00]

In the end we have to compare what the carmakers are offering and that is what tests are comparing (not calculated in that tests on different days in different conditions vary). If you want a track ready GT500, you have to get the CFTP and pay $92,500, while the ZLE costs $72,000. Thats $20k and 120hp more to be slightly ahead of the ZLE in this test. And the measured time from Lightning Lap is a CFTP, so it's hard to believe that without the weigth saving of the carbon parts, the huge wing and the removed rear seats the same time is achievable.

I looked up the LL article as soon as it went online and never saw other times. I will check the internet archive if there was a change, but it sounds more like a fan theory? They even have the lap time videos online, did they change them too?

As I said earlier, I really appreciate what both cars are doing. It's crazy that Ford was able to build such a good Mustang out of the S550 platform, and it's still awesome how competitive a ZLE still is. If one of these cars is to hard for a buyer, may it be so. But saying a track toy is bad since it's too harsh to buy groceries with it is pretty much not the point what Lightning Lap is for.

1- no, the base Gt500 is "base" in name only base Gt500 is $73k its a better value- faster in turns, faster on a strip, more comfortable on the road, more driver enjoyment/involvement
win/win/win/win

 

[Snakecollector]

Your GT500 doesn't have the track package, so the best comparison would be base ZL1 which also has a comfortable enough ride.

Doesn't really matter. Even the CFTP, although more track-focused, provides a very nice ride that one _could_ easily daily. The 1LE in comparison rides like absolute garbage.

 

[Classic Lover]

Doesn't really matter. Even the CFTP, although more track-focused, provides a very nice ride that one _could_ easily daily. The 1LE in comparison rides like absolute garbage.

Well to get basically the same track performance With 110 less hp, and no dct you have to sacrifice something.

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