Top Gear Bashes The GT500 Over Horsepower Ratings
March 6th, 2007 by CobraMatt
On the latest episode of the british motoring show Top Gear, host Richard Hammond reviews the GT500 yet again to try and stir things up over horsepower shortcomings the GT500 does not have. According to Hammond who in the video brought out his own Shelby GT390 to compare to the Shelby GT500 says with a surprised look the actual horsepower the Shelby GT500 really produces is 447 which he came by using a portable dyno while at a road course track. What most of us already know is that the 447 is the horsepower making it to the wheels and not the flywheel number which is 10%-20% more. He is trying to mislead his viewers to make the GT500 look bad for unknown reasons.
Also in the episode Hammond and his oddly looking co-host Jeremy Clarkson go on bashing the GT500 for it’s straight live-axle and suspension woes while a test driver manueves the car around a track. Both wonder why Ford did not utilize the IRS in this monster Mustang. What they don’t realize is back in 1999 Ford used the independent rear suspension (IRS) and most Mustang fans did not care for it so they left it out this time hoping to please everybody.
I guess if they want the power and handling they can keep on buying overpriced Ferraris, BMW’s and Lamborghinis.
Anthony Says
They do not know absolutely nothing about Muscle cars!
Also, the buyers of these cars love them for what they are, pure excitement, raw sounding power and fun burning rubber!! And remember, who beat Ferrari at there game several times in row, an affordable American muscle car company! Ford and they are still hurting!
Viva el Mustang, Camaro, Corvette, the Cuda, the Chevelle SS, Trans Am, the Charger, the Cougar, the GTO and the Javelin! Muscle cars rule!
Mar 6th, 2007 at 8:52 am
GT500 man Says
I don’t think he is trying to mislead people about horsepower rating. He is just letting people know the actual horsepower that gets put to the pavement by the wheels. Any car guy knows that flywheel horsepower is a useless number you really want to know rwhp this is the real power the car can put out to get you going. I am not bashing the gt500 it is an awsome machine and I want one. Also I wouldn’t trust a portable dyno very much I doubt it is that accurate.
Mar 6th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
steve Says
do not take top geat seriously they are just a bunch of
pranksters why did they choose to do rear wheel horsepower
only on the mustangs and not all the other exotics they test. how about like for like !!
Mar 7th, 2007 at 9:33 am
TrunkAjar Says
I love the mustang (I own an ‘05 GT) but why the heck would you advertise a useless number like the flywheel power?
I would like to know how much power is actually being used, not how much COULD be used.
Mar 7th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Deano Says
That’s not the BHP at the wheels. What most of us who’ve ever dyno’d a car will know is that after measuring the engine’s power, the wheels are allowed to run the dyno down, and the amount of resistance from the wheels give you your drivetrain losses. Add the two together and you’ve got a reasonably accurate indication of power at the fly.
Regardless of that though, the Stig’s lap shows the real story. Same driver, same track, and an Impreza STi with AWD (even more trans loss) and 200BHP less laps .1 of a second slower than the “500BHP” Mustang, with the S4 and Golf R32 (again with AWD and 150-250 BHP less) just a few more fractions of a second slower.
Hammond said it perfectly, if you want to fast in a straight line the GT500 is the car for you. Racing in straight lines or circles has never caught on with Brits, which is why Yank cars tend not to travel well.
Mar 8th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Mathew Says
What do americans know about BHP?….the real meassure is BHP not HP.
So TOp Gear is a very good show and in the rest of the world (not in USA)…the real power is BHP.
U say hey…my GT500 have 500 Hp but only does 447 to the floor…what matters is the power to the floor not the power inthe engyne.
Mar 15th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Justin Says
If you’ve ever watched a reasonable amount of Top Gear you’d realize that if it is American it sucks according to them. Just like with any argument they’re going to point out everything negative about it and avoid any positives and then do the opposite with their lovely european cars. Also this does somewhat defy british logic which prefers handling to speed and power hence why you have BMW’s with I-4’s. Any true american realizes that the beauty of a muscle car is that it goes really fast in a straight line. That is how it was in the 60s and 70s and thats how it should be now though of course it is quite a bit improved. I think their measurement of horsepower was a little suspect and I’ve never seen them dyno test a european car and I’m sure they may exaggerate their horsepower ratings also. Theres nothing American that is worthy of Britains. I’ve heard them insult us on our knowledge of geography such as mentioning that an atlas is a rare book in America and contains amazing places other than America and then refer to our country as colonies. Anyways I could point out multiple things but unlike Jeremy I don’t receive compensation from car manufacturers and I don’t have a stick up my ass. They’re never going to support American cars on this show. I saw them race a Cadillac against an Audi and beat it and then afterwards they said it wasn’t worth buying because it felt “cheap” after claiming they didn’t think its handling could compare to the Audi’s. I think I’ll enjoy owning European cars on the track and worry about Jeremy some other time.
Sep 19th, 2007 at 1:49 am