Shelby reveals the new Super Snake package for 2010 Ford Mustang GT500

Shelby Automobiles, the Mustang’s favorite tuning firm, has decided to take the 2010 GT500 to the next level. Therefore, Shelby revealed its new Super Snake package for the 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 this week at the Mid America Ford and Team Shelby Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

With the package, Shelby takes an existing customer car and performs power and handling upgrades. Depending on which supercharger the customer selects, the Super Snake will churn out 630 hp for the base configuration or 725 hp with the optional setup. Further changes under the hood include an upgraded intercooler, cold-air intake system and radiator. A Borla cat-back exhaust hangs out back for 630 hp models, while 725 hp cars use a JBA unit.

Handling improvements come courtesy of a Ford Racing suspension with adjustable dampers, stiffer springs, thicker antiroll bars, a front strut tower brace and custom 20in Super Snake wheels shod with Pirelli P-Zero tires. Helping to tame the additional power are Baer six-piston front calipers with cross-drilled rotors at all four corners.

To ensure the car stands out from the crowd when off the track, Shelby’s engineers have also fitted a new hood with an oversized scoop and vents, racing stripes, rear quarter window scoops, and carbon-fiber splitter and side sills. Inside, the headrests feature embroidered Shelby logos and carbon-fiber faced gauge faces.

Pricing for the Super Snake package begins at $29,495 for the 630-hp model and $33,495 for the 725-hp kit, which includes installation at Shelby Automobiles’ Las Vegas plant or at a Shelby authorized mod shop. Additional options include a six-piston rear brake system, Eibach adjustable coil-over suspension and a two-tone leather interior upgrade. Each car will receive a Shelby consecutively number dash plaque, engine plate and listed in the official Shelby registry.

The first customer cars will be modified this August.

Ford will release new supercar 2010 - Ford Shelby GT500

Supercar Ford GT500 is mechanically an evolution of the previous model.Ford used the current-gen Bullitt model as the starting point for the 2010 Mustang GT, the lessons learned from developing the limited edition GT500 KR fed directly into the latest Shelby-badged variant. Output of the supercharged 5.4L V8 has now been cranked up to 540 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque, and the handling is claimed to be better than before.

Compare with the old GT500, this new supercar model gets more aggressive styling, particularly in the nose, and reprises many of the same detail elements. The horizontally mirrored trapezoidal shape of the grille in the upper and lower front fascia is meant to echo the oval shape of the Shelby Cobras of the '60s. The upper grille is tilted forward at a steeper angle than the GT and the grille surround is separated entirely from the hood. The hood of the GT500 still has a functional air extractor allowing some of the massive heat generated by the blown V8 to escape.

The engine for this supercar is still a twin cam 5.4L V8 with a supercharger. The updates bump output from from 500 hp at 6,000 rpm to 540 hp at 6,200 rpm. Twisting force also goes from 480 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm to 510 lb-ft at the same peak speed. The iron block from the F-150 was used with the top end of the GT engine, which pushed the car's weight up over 3,900 lbs.

The top two ratios in the new GT500's gearbox have been made numerically lower. The clutch plates for supercar GT500 have been increased in diameter from 215 mm to 250 mm. All that torque flows from the Tremec 6-speed gearbox through a limited slip differential with a 3.55:1 final drive ratio. The 2010 GT500 gets 17% stiffer springs at the front axle and 7% stiffer at the rear axle.