Leaked Document Claims 2020 Ford Mustang GT500 Will Have 710bhp

This document suggests that the GT500 will have 710bhp and weigh nearly two tonnes. But you should probably be sceptical...

Matt Robinson

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

Leaked Document Claims 2020 Ford Mustang GT500 Will Have 710bhp

With the reveal of the new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 still some time off, all we have to go on right now is the odd rumour and occasional spy shot. So, when we found out about leaked document posted by the Mustang 6G forum, our interest was immediately piqued.

Certainly the power and torque figures on the purported engineering document - which can be seen here - are in line with expectations. Ford has previously said the 2020 GT500 will have over 700 horses to play with, and here we have 720hp (710bhp) listed.

But the more you read, the more suspect this document sounds. First off there’s the kerb weight - it’s down 1916kg. Could the GT500 really be over 170kg porkier than the standard GT?

Then there are bizarre spelling mistakes like “trailor” and “patrol” rather than ‘petrol’ that raise eyebrows further. The power is also listed in ‘HP’ in a box which is supposed to be for the output figure in kW.

The spreadsheet claims the car will be powered by a 5.2-litre supercharged V8 (one of the few things we can be fairly sure of), which apparently develops its peak power at its 7500rpm redline. Peak torque of 650lb ft meanwhile supposedly arrives at 4500.

Unsurprisingly, Ford declined to comment when contacted by Road & Track. We’ll have to wait and see just how legitimate this document is.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

This is great and all but I’m a little scared this is the last Big Bang of muscle cars

Why would it be the last bang of the Muscle cars?

For the first time since the 60’s and 70’s we can have true muscle cars again. We can finally have a gazillion horsepower and get mediocre fuel economy. I can’t see them going away any time soon

Probably not…plus old cars will probably be grandfathered in…however the big v8s might go away unless there is a big breakthrough or gas prices never rise significantly

God save the queen

Nope. The power figures might be correct but the weight definitely isn’t. They would have to build the body out of lead for it to weigh 200 kg more than a normal GT

Increase frame weight, lighten everything else
And less than 760hp would be disappointing

Will it handle?

Yeah. It’s gonna have more extreme aero than the GT350R, have Michelin Pilot tires of some sort (my guess are the Super Sport ones), magnaride shocks, and hella wide tires

I have a feeling that this document is fake. If it has a Voodoo 5.2 the how come the redline is lower than the GT350? It’s nearly down 1000 RPM’s too

It probably won’t have flat plane crank. Besides considering that it will be boosted it doesn’t need to rev as high as N/A GT350.

This is probably not going to be as much of a rev-happy track going Mustang as the GT350, I feel it’s going to be more with the 2013 GT500 style, which is being more of a highway warrior.

Plus, historically, big block equiped cars were generally less rev-happy than small block equiped cars, as they counted on displacement to get their power versus higher redline for small blocks. That was also true with Mustangs of the time: the GT350 had a 289 while the GT500 had a 428. This time it would have the same displacement, but the GT350 is naturally aspirated and it seems very likely that the GT500 will have a supercharger, so it won’t need to rev as much.

Maybe 700 american horsepowers would help it finally get as quickly from 0 to 100 as some european 2-ton sedans from years ago…

I’ll leave this here

Tgats cute most hellcats have almost that much hp

Hmm, SuperSnake - Hellcat rival?

Probably not if you consider it alone, but probably yes if you consider its position in the model range with the GT350.

It’s maybe going to be more of a highway warrior than the GT350, but I guess it’s going to be more focused for the track than the 2013 GT500 which was pretty much only a highway warrior.