Lethal Performance 2020 Shelby GT500: Fit for a King

Lethal Performance 2020 Shelby GT500: Fit for a King

 

The Mustang King's chariot has arrived and she is GLORIOUS.
Check back here often for continuous updates on the progress of our 2020 Shelby GT500 Carbon Fiber Track Pack car. We'll be posting track times, modifications, dyno numbers & much more. We have some big plans for this car but, like our previous projects, we'll take the modifications step by step from bolt ons to a complete supercharger replacement (hellooooo 3.8L Whipple Supercharger!). Follow on our journey here and across our social media. It's going to be quite an adventure...


 
 
 
 
 

 

Here's what you can find below (click to jump ahead to that section):

 

Looking for current numbers? Check this out. We'll update it with new numbers when we get them so keep it bookmarked!

 

 

 

THE WAIT

Ford put out the initial teaser for the new new Shelby GT500 in the beginning of 2018, marketing it as a 2019 model. We were excited, to say the least, having owned just about every generation of SVT/Shelby vehicles before this. What we didn't know at the time was that we wouldn't get the car for TWO YEARS. TWO LONG IMPATIENT YEARS (luckily we had Project Goldmember to keep us busy).

 

 

We placed our order with Phillip Weikert of Weikert Ford in June of 2019 the same day the order banks opened up. Fortunately Weikert Ford had secured a golden ticket for the model we wanted: the Carbon Fiber Track Pack. BAZINGA. Unfortunately we didn't know ordering the majestic CFTP would set us back even more time due to the harsh winters of Michigan and Ford not wanting those special rubbers sitting in the icy wilderness that is Michigan (I'm being sarcastic....or am I?). 

Flash forward to March of 2020 and we get the notification that our car has entered PRODUCTION. Fireworks go off, bells ring and we are celebrating here at Lethal Performance, incredibly anxious to get the car. But then the Coronavirus pandemic reared its ugly head and Ford halted all productions... womp womp. 

Now we're in July of 2020 and the time has come: our car has arrived at Weikert Ford and is ready for us to take delivery!

 

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THE ARRIVAL

We packed up the camera gear and some extra outfits and headed over to Weikert Ford to pick up our new 2020 Shelby GT500. We lucked out and were joined by Ford racing driver & test engineer Billy Johnson, who was picking up another beautiful Carbon Track Pack car that day. 

 

 

In true #teamlethal fashion, we couldn't just "pick up" the car so Phillip had the dealer lot cleared and we handed Billy Johnson the keys to give us some donuts for lunch. Oh and a healthy burnout departure from the dealer lot, too, joined by The Mustang King himself. 

 

 

The car is definitely a beast, a blast and it will only get better as we get to start playing with it. Like we did with our 2018 Mustang GT, Project Goldmember, we plan to document every step of the way right here and across our social media platforms (speaking of which, have you followed the King himself on Twitter yet?).

 

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FIRST PHOTOS

Now that we had the car, we set out to get some good photos of it before we started messing it up.... I mean modding it. We hit up a few spots and snapped some shots. Even in stock form it's no doubt that this is one of the best looking Mustangs EVER (fight me).

 

 

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DRIVE & DISCUSS

Sure the 2020 SHelby GT500 LOOKS good, but how does it feel driving it? Take a ride with Jared (aka The Mustang King) as he cruises around [Mexico] in our 2020 GT500 and goes over the different driving & exhaust modes. He may even punch it a few times...Maybe. 

 

 

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FIRST TRACK VISIT: BONE STOCK

We took our new 2020 Shelby GT500 to the track BONE STOCK (right down to the Sport Cup 2 road race tires...) to get some baseline numbers. We fought crappy south FL humidity & heat (DA over 2600, grains over 130) as well as a track getting beat up by a bunch of street tires on a regular test & tune night but we managed to squeak out an 11.18 @ 123mph. We were hoping for a 10.xx but it just wasn't in the cards for us. The stock numbers don't mean much to us besides the baseline so after a couple of passes where traction was our biggest enemy, we decided to call it a night. Check out the video:

 

 

 

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FIRST MOD: CORSA EXHAUST

Exhaust! One of the first mods just about every Mustang owner does and we are no different! While there are a handful of great options for the exhaust on the 2020 Shelby GT500, we knew we wanted to rep our friends over at Corsa Performance. They didn't have any systems in production yet so we worked with them on this EXCLUSIVE catback setup for the 2020 Shelby GT500. CLICK HERE to check out the options for your own Shelby GT500.

This is what the Corsa Sport/Extreme Catback Exhaust (Corsa Touring/Sport mufflers paired with their Double Helix XX-pipe) sounds like on our 2020 Shelby GT500.

 

DYNO TIME: BASELINE RUNS

While it's all fun & games to jump on a dyno & see 4 digits off the bat, it's always nice to have some stock baselines for comparison. After all, wouldn't it be awesome to see HOW MUCH horsepower we GAINED? Obviously. Check it out:

 

 

Our 2020 Shelby GT500 put down 674 rwhp / 516 rwtq on a Mustang Dyno. We are extremely happy with the numbers and it's a GREAT starting point (can you believe that factory cars from Ford are coming with over 600rwhp now???).

 

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THE BUILD

Now that we know what it made stock and what it ran stock, it's time to jump right in! In the past, we've usually done gradual builds; starting with a cold air intake and tune, exhaust, pulley swap, etc. but with this car, we knew it was time to go big or go home so we jumped right in with the massive 3.8L Whipple Supercharger, Stainless Works longtube headers and a full Lethal Performance / Division X triple return style fuel system to support the power. CHeck out the videos below highlighting the installations of the different components:

 

Episode 1: The Essentials

Going over the Whipple kit & components, the exhaust & its installation.

 

Episode 2: The Fuel System
Installing the Lethal Performance / DivisionX triple pump return style fuel system
 
 
 
Episode 3: The Finishing Touches
Installing The Box and the 3.8L Whipple Supercharger

 

 

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WHIPPLE DYNO NUMBERS

 

With the massive 3.8L Whipple Supercharger now installed, supported by a full Lethal Performance / Division X triple pump return style fuel system, it's time to see what this car makes on the rollers! This car is being tuned by the badasses over at Lund Racing, who make it easy to remote tune AND lay on the sauce...

 

 

 

We wanted to dyno the car with the standard 3.75" pulley that came with the kit but we also wanted to turn up the boost and put on our "party pulley" as well. 

 

With the 3.75" upper pulley, the car put down 926rwhp/687rwtq. We switched out the upper pulley & belt setup to a 3.00" Griptec pulley and the car picked up some steam, making 1122rwhp/844rwtq (all on a Mustang Dyno). 

 

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WALKAROUND: A run down of all the mods

 

In this video Jared goes over all the mods we did on the car to get to the 1100+hp range, from the Whipple 3.8L Supercharger to the Corsa Performance Catback. 

 

 

TO THE TRACK: First runs with the 3.8L Whipple

 

Now that we have the Whipple 3.8L supercharger on our 2020 GT500 the Whipple 3.0L supercharger on the F150, and the Mach-e GT Performance Edition in our hands it's TIME. We couldn't have all those under one roof and not know what type of numbers they can run so we headed to the track with all 3! While we didn't get the 8 we were after, we managed to chop away at the times pretty good throughout the night. Check it out.

 

 

 

 

ALMOST THERE: Getting closer to that magical number...

 

We went back out to the track to see if we could get that elusive 8 second timeslip. While we didn't get there, we go pretty close.... What a wild ride! Jared gave it a shot this time in Manual mode and it seemed to have helped (plus we removed the rear carbon fiber track pack wing, as we wondered if the extra downforce was hurting our times). 

 

 

JARED DID IT! HE GOT HIS 8-second SLIP!

 

After multiple times out to Palm Beach International Raceway, Jared got his first 8-second timeslip in the 2020 Shelby GT500 with the 3.8L Whipple Supercharger. While this isn't his first 8-second run (he'd gone 8.67 in our 2018 Mustang GT "Project Goldmember"), this one was a bit rowdier! Check out the video:

 

 

HUGE thanks to Lund Racing for giving us amazing trackside support, checking logs and adjusting tunes as need be, as well as Whipple Superchargers for making some badass blowers! Plus a huge thanks to all those involved with the build (see mod list below). After you check out the mod list, browse our GT500 performance parts, too, for more options.

 

 

FINAL MOD LIST:

 

Whipple 3.8L Supercharger Kit

2.75” Griptec pulley

Lund Racing Custom Tune via HP Tuners RTD+

Stainless Works Headers

Corsa Performance Catback with Double XX-pipe

Lethal Performance / Division X Triple Pump Fuel System feat. The Box

Forgeline GS1R 20x8.5 Fronts

Forgeline GS1R Beadlock 18x11 Rears

M/T ET Street R Drag Radials 

E85

 

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