When we arrived in Vegas,...
When we arrived in Vegas, the Shelby American Motorsports shop was chock-full of hot Mustangs.
If you own a modern rendition of the Shelby GT500, even a stock one, you have a stout Pony capable of dropping the competition with a crack of the throttle. The GT500 is a machine that not only has 500-550 hp--it also carries one of the most iconic names in automotive history. So, if you’re interested in modifying your Shelby for increased power, what better way than to have it done by the specialists who carry the Shelby name?
With this in mind, we hopped a flight to fabulous Las Vegas, where our destination was the headquarters of Shelby Automobiles. There, we hooked up with Gary Patterson, vice president of Operations. Patterson arranged for us to follow along as this Shelby received a big bump in power at the in-house performance shop, Shelby American Motorsports.
Before digging in, the Shelby...
Before digging in, the Shelby GT500 recorded 478.86 rwhp and 479.43 lb-ft of torque.
The cool thing is you don’t have to be a Shelby owner to get the Shelby experience as anyone can bring his or her car to SAM. We wanted to appeal to all performance customers, not just those buying one of our specialty cars, but to anyone who wants to take their car to the next level, said Patterson.
Drag racer Gil Nevarez serves as the shop supervisor, dyno operator, and tuner, and SAM is capable of working on all types of vehicles. (Hey, Shelby built more than just Mustangs.) Nevarez and his staff attended to our power needs by selecting a combination of a Ford Racing Performance Parts TVS supercharger, along with Kook’s headers and midpipe exhaust to enhance power on the GT500.
Before starting, the Shelby was strapped down and a few baseline pulls were made on the DynoJet chassis dyno. The result was 478.86 rwhp and 479.43 lb-ft of torque. The exhaust swap was done first. This task was handled by Justin Quinville and Randall Laviolette of Shelby American Motorsports.
Randall Laviolette (left)...
Randall Laviolette (left) and Justin Quinville began by removing the air inlet system and a few wiring connections.
With the new pipes in place, attention was turned to the FRPP blower kit, which is a straight- forward swap on the GT500. Within two hours, the new blower was sitting atop the 5.4L, ready to make some noise. Quinville replaced the battery cable, loaded the FRPP tune (which comes with the kit), checked the fluids, and cracked the key to fire the mill.
All was well, and we were anxious to see the level of improvement, so the GT500 was returned to the dyno for the after test. The results were instant and impressive, as the blown 5.4L now cranked out an effortless 601 hp and 574 lb-ft of torque, all using the conservative FRPP tune. Nevarez commented that SEM could easily tune this combination to well over 600 rwhp, but this owner was content with the FRPP tune. The new parts produced peak gains of 117.75 hp and 79.68 lb-ft of torque.
On the road, the GT500 was a complete animal, scooting from a roll to well past the triple-digit mark in a hurry. The insane tip-in throttle response was the best part--it makes you giggle every time you breathe on the gas. And while we didn’t get a chance to drag-test this Pony, similar mods on a another GT500 tested produced a bunch of low-11 and high-10-second runs at close to 130 mph.
Here, Quinville swapped the...
Here, Quinville swapped the mass air sensor from the stock inlet to the FRPP unit.
As with any sensor, it’s important...
As with any sensor, it’s important to handle this with care.
The throttle body and elbow...
The throttle body and elbow are removed.
Next came the fuel rails and...
Next came the fuel rails and injectors…
… and then the blower was...
… and then the blower was lifted off the engine.
The FRPP 2.3L TVS blower benefits...
The FRPP 2.3L TVS blower benefits from a four-lobe rotor design with 160 degrees of twist and a 76mm pulley.
Underneath, you can see the...
Underneath, you can see the larger outlet on the TVS (left), along with a glimpse of the rotors.
Quinville was certain to inspect...
Quinville was certain to inspect and oil the gasket that seals the blower to the intake manifold.
The blower was then carefully...
The blower was then carefully lowered onto the engine.
Using a torque wrench set...
Using a torque wrench set to 18 ft-lb, he tightened the blower.
Next, the fuel rail and injectors...
Next, the fuel rail and injectors were replaced.
The stock throttle body was...
The stock throttle body was attached to the new elbow and the assembly was installed on the blower.
Air will now enter through...
Air will now enter through this FRPP cold-air inlet.
The FRPP TVS unit with the...
The FRPP TVS unit with the cold-air inlet looks way more impressive than stock, and we’re expecting it to be about 100hp better, too.
The stock log manifolds and...
The stock log manifolds and midpipe gave way to racier Kook’s 1¾-inch headers with an X-style midpipe.
We decided to retain the cats...
We decided to retain the cats to be smog-legal.
The headers and the X-style...
The headers and the X-style pipe system fit like a glove!
Back on the rollers, the GT500...
Back on the rollers, the GT500 spun out 601 rwhp and 574 lb-ft of torque.