Aaron Brzozowski
As if the current Shelby GT350 Mustang weren’t potent and all-capable enough, the folks at Hennessey Performance Engineering have concocted not one, but two strategies for boosting the output of the factory flat-plane-crank V8. One of them – the HPE575 package – retains the 5.2-liter Voodoo engine’s natural aspiration, making appreciable gains through the use of exhaust, intake, and engine mapping revisions.
The other package – the HPE800 – produces a claimed 808 brake horsepower with some help from a 2.9-liter supercharger system.
In this video, we get to see (and hear) the 2016 Shelby GT350 HPE800 in action as it lays down some numbers on the dynamometer and engages in some acceleration testing. Running about 7.5 to 8 pounds of boost pressure with forged rods and pistons and a slightly-lower (11:1) compression ratio, this Hennessey HPE800 Shelby GT350 makes 734 peak horsepower at the wheels, along with 516 lb-ft of rear-wheel torque. Those numbers are some 260 and 115 higher, respectively, than what was measured with the stock motor.
Skip ahead to around 1:18 in the video above to see the dyno plot.
According to Hennessey’s website, only 50 Shelby GT350 HPE800s are planned for the 2016 model year, so if you’re looking for what might be the most terrifyingly potent Mustang available today, you may want to give them a call.
