With the introduction of the 2020 GT500 and the mid-engine Corvette C8 happening this year, it’s natural for the Chevy and Ford fans to talk about which car is faster. The gang over at Engineering Explained has a video up that looks at why the 2020 GT500 is slower to 60 mph than the Corvette C8 despite that the GT500 has significantly more power.
The base Corvette Z51 has 495 horsepower compared to the 2020 GT500, offering 760 horsepower. The quoted 0-60 mph time for the Z51 is 2.9 seconds compared to the 2020 GT500 time of 3.5 seconds. The most significant difference in the two cars, aside from power outputs, comes in weight.
The 2020 GT500 is a very heavy car tipping the scales at 4,225 pounds compared to the 3,577 pounds of the C8 Corvette. It’s worth noting at this point that the video calls these “freedom units,” which we assume means estimates. Still, the GT500 is pushing 5.56 pounds per horsepower compared to the C8 pushing around 7.23 pounds per horsepower.
The culprit, as many a modified Mustang driver can tell you, boils down to traction. The video concludes that the 0-60 mph time for the Shelby GT500 is traction limited. At speeds under 60 mph, it seemingly can’t get all 760 horsepower down. The Corvette, on the other hand, can use more of its power at low speeds. By the time the speed climbs to 100 mph or more, the GT500 can use more of its power, and a faster 0-100 mph time is expected.
The video gets more complex as it goes on, and lots more unknown numbers are plugged in, but it’s an interesting video that shows why a car with more power can accelerate slower to 60 mph. The maths also seem to indicate that Chevy is sandbagging on some numbers, like the braking performance the C8 offers. For the C8 to go faster, it needs more power, for the GT500 to go faster, it needs more grip. Watch the Predator engine of the GT500 being built.
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Comments
The new GT500 is definately a pig, closer in weight to a Challenger than a sports car.
Will there ever be an AWD mustang so that the rear end stays in place and people don’t end up crashing it ?
Rear end stays in place just fine. You can only do so much to make it idiot proof for inexperienced drivers. I can say though, my S550 rear stays planted and under control.
Far as I know there are no tests of either car. I wouldn’t doubt the Corvette might be faster, however this “engineering” video is based on estimates of magazines and manufacturer released ballpark, all patchworked together to give the most click bait worthy title. No conclusions reached have any merit. I have never watched a EE video of any value. I think I may have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the channel does, exactly. Seems like a lot of time I feel like I just watch a man read a brochure .
1/4 mile times should be close, and 1/2 mile run would probably be won by the GT500.
The GT500 will post a faster 1/4 mile than both the C8 and the ZL1 Camaro. 0-60 is a meaningless stat only quoted by magazines and non car people. The C8s quarter mile was a mid 11 at ~123mph. Which wasn’t very fast. Wait did I just type an 11sec quarter mile wasn’t fast? The times we live in….