We test the 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR as part of Americas Best Handling Car comparison competition.
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00:00 Our next rear-drive sports car contender is the Shelby GT500KR.
00:09 Will 540 horsepower, big 18-inch wheels and tires front and rear, stiffer suspension really
00:13 earn the king of the road stripes?
00:16 Let's go find out at Laguna Seca.
00:22 Okay, Randy, now we've raised the horsepower yet again, 540 horsepower from the new Shelby
00:48 Mustang GT500KR.
00:49 What did you think?
00:50 Yeehaw!
00:55 What a ride!
00:56 I've got to say, that Shelby Mustang gives me the biggest surprise of any car I've driven
01:00 today.
01:01 Maybe that's a backhanded compliment because I think my expectations were low because it's
01:06 based on a very inexpensive Mustang chassis.
01:10 And it has, I think at this point, the highest fun factor.
01:16 What a rocking ride.
01:18 Not terribly sophisticated, but Carroll Shelby and his crew have done an amazing job of making
01:24 this chassis work.
01:25 I mean, I could just drive 11 daylights out of that car and it worked.
01:29 Now, every so often, a hinge would show up.
01:32 A lot of times, exiting the corner under power, I'd get kind of a wiggle from some suspension
01:39 or tire that was bound up and was releasing.
01:42 But really an enjoyable car to drive.
01:45 I don't think it likes the hot weather here at Laguna Seca today.
01:48 In fact, I think that several of the cars that I've driven today slow down a lot in
01:53 horsepower as well as in braking and handling in just a couple laps because, I would guess,
01:59 due to our track temperature and our air temperature, this Shelby Mustang is one of them.
02:04 It was rocking coming out of the pits and then by my second timed lap, it just didn't
02:10 feel that powerful anymore.
02:13 But what an enjoyable car to drive in kind of a Buck and Bronco kind of crude yeehaw
02:20 way.
02:21 It was a lot of fun.
02:23 That car works.
02:24 I've got to say the overall package is really, really fun and enjoyable.
02:29 I may not have been going that fast, but it sure felt like it.
02:33 It was a ball.
02:34 The shifter is terrific.
02:36 Super short throw, but accurate.
02:38 The gear ratios seem close together.
02:40 There's a supercharger whine that I find to be just fun.
02:44 Considering the size and weight of the car, what a fun, fun ride in the pony car sense.
02:50 So maybe not the best handling car here in a pure sense, but the most fun so far today?
02:56 Exactly.
02:57 I wouldn't call it the best handling car, but I would call it a car that you can make
03:02 do just what you want it to do in spite of all the rubber and the hinges and the different
03:08 dances the car is doing.
03:09 It's I think the most fun, and the exhaust note doesn't hurt either.
03:12 [engine revving]
03:15 [music]
03:17 (upbeat music)
03:19 (whooshing)