[thePill]

Originally Posted by Blue Maro Demon

It wont matter what Ford puts in the Shelby GT500 for 2013 600hp wont matter if the Shelby GT500 still has the same pathetic suspension and still cant put the power to the ground with traction management it wont matter. We already know the ZL1 has no trouble with either of those and Ford doesnt have the technology that Chevy & Ferrari has with magnetic suspension so we will see. Im betting the suspension and PTM will be too much for the Shelby unless they have some new technology tricks up their sleeve.

I understand your enthusiasm with the ZL1 since it claimed a 7:41 unofficial ring time. I was there in June during a 10 day industry booking when "Red" was lapping the ring faster than the ZL1's September time. SVT has actually been working on the car since the Z28 hype in October of last year. 7:41 is fast however, it was a rolling start (same as Red but not like the CTS-V) and will never be an official run (same as Red). The suspension that underpins the 2013 GT500 is almost identical to that in which the Boss 302S uses and runs in SCCA and Grand Am and very similar to the Shelby GT350. The car will most likely use Corsa's but is unknown if Ford really wants to go with a 305.. If a 305 is used, I expect the GT500 (or SVT Cobra) to be back over here Sometime in March/April to lay down a REAL Ring time.

Here is what we seen in June, Ford tested this GT500 while Team Corvette ran the record ring run...

Long time reader and first time poster. I am currently stationed in Kaiserslauthern, Germany and was informed on Tuesday that there was a new GT500 testing at Nurburgring. I went up on Wednesday and Thursday to check it out. There were quite a few club members there and they were clocking both cars throughout the week. You could not get near the vehicles (not that I would try) and no questions were answered. It rained Monday, Tuesday and some on Wednesday and was cool and clear the rest of the week (about 65-72). I could not hear a supercharger or a turbo but I was not very close to the actual track and exhaust was pretty decent (and tire noise). Club members here clocked the red GT500 around a best of 7:30 and the black one around 7:40. There were two passengers most of the time with the occasional driver only run. The cars would do 2-3 laps of 8 minute laps and then move to a 7:XX lap so it seems heat soak was being looked at as well. It was said that Karl Gieger was there personally but I don't know if anybody from the US has heard of him. The traffic was pretty low when I went up on Wednesday and Thursday and I was told that the it was that way pretty much all week. Both cars would do 2-3 laps, sometimes running together, sometimes one at a time and then they would disappear for 30 minutes. There were a series of 10 minute laps (which is slow) and as I said, multiple time keepers clocked the cars mid 7 minutes at their best under very good weather and traffic. This is all I know, I have iPhone video of some turns but it really sucks and the audio was crappy so I didn't keep them, the group I was in picked a location way too far from the track IMO. We were told that there would be photos and video online later this month so I didn't care about the video. I was surprised when I checked the internet late Thursday night and found it posted already.

Anyway, I thought the lap times would be interesting at least, I am trying to circulate this info as much as possible. I was also told that a local guy ran his Boss 302 LS at a 7:45-7:49 which is right on par with the BMW M3 GTS and the Audi R8 V10 but this, along with everything else I was told is all hearsay. I did however, confirm a 7:35 from the red GT500 and a 7:43 from the black car via a club members stop watch so... I can see a 7:30 and a 7:40 from these cars. There was speculation about the Red GT500 being a Nurburgring edition and the other being a future production GT500 SVTPP. There was speculation that maybe one was a manual and one was an auto and that one was a 2012 and the red one was a 2013.... either way, they were both very fast and ran most of the day for most of the week...

Hope this helps...

http://www.teamshelby.com/forums/ind...e/page__st__20 The video was posted a few days later... We did do some separate timing on a very special part of the track and found that "Red" was almost as fast as the ZR1 through that particular section (about 0.7 second behind the ZR1 and 1.4 seconds faster than the ZL1).

I am impressed that Chevrolet beat the C63 Black that was 4123lbs and produced 670hp and 740tq... however, that run was actually an official run from a stop (like the ZR1). If Ford is going into this race with a 7:35 and a 167mph top speed (the only lap I seen and the top speed was not confirmed by us) then it is possible that this snake is prepped and ready to go.... It does weigh 3850lbs, 600-620hp and has a large supercharger on top.... The ZL1 comes in at 7:41 with 170mph top speed for reference. Remember, the 2012 CTS-V had a top speed of 144mph on the straight at VIR, the 2012 GT500 only did 137 (142 on the record run), the GT500 still beat the CTS-V in every section of the track and ultimately won by a second on the same day.

What I want to see happen, is now that Chevrolet went public with an unofficial time.. I want to see SVT hushed about the Ring and when they are compared stateside.. everyone will wonder what happened from Germany to the US? The actual battle will be at either VIR, Laguna or Willow (or all three)... VIR and Laguna hates heavy cars, Willow is a very fast track...

I doubt we will see the video of this "7:41" run but we won't see the GT500s June run either...

Edit: This is an American car defense statement here: You have to watch Porsche when you beat them, they will buy the car, ship it here, run it slower (from a dig) and call you a liar. You will ultimately have to back up the unofficial time with a production car time or they will be all over us (see GTR). Also, there is no standard for official lap times. manufacturers shave tires, run race gas, aggressive tunes, weight reduction and god knows what else. There is no official Nurburgring inspection team so the watch is really the only judge, upon futher inspection though, you will find out that you can't "Ring" as fast as the manufactures do. The SS posted an 8:20, the fastest local SS posted an 8:40 and had wheels, tires, suspension, exhaust and a few other things (weight reduction) and sold the car in August 2010 because the it was impossible to reproduce the claimed lap times (I posted this car here last year). I would like to know the details on this run but I know that I am asking for too much, the locals are also calling BS and waiting for a video upload to at least add it to the list.