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Hennessey Camaro HPE650 vs SpeedFactory Challenger SRT8 vs Shelby GT500 Super Snake


calgaryshelby

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http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes...ison/index.html

 

Motor Trend rates the cars:

 

1. Hennessey Camaro HPE650

2. Shelby GT500 Super Snake

3. SpeedFactory Challenger SRT8,

 

then goes on to praise the stock gt500 again at the end.

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once again MT has proven they are idiots, biased, and cant drive.

 

Chris

motor trend is a complete disgrace from top to bottom.now muscle mustangs & fast fords october 09 got 11.9@120 on stock tires from the GT500!!thats from the 540hp motor.how in the hell could motor trend only get 12 seconds from 750hp???again for what ever reason the industry hates FORD,and they show it all of the time.they just hate the fact that the mustang is really faster than the CRAPMARO!! :headscratch:

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Guys, it sounds like the tires where just wrong here...as for bias, the article ends with "we'd rather have the keys to the Shelby GT500. Why? Because it's the most complete package: the right look inside and out, paired with a surprisingly refined combination of street performance and daily driveability the other two simply cannot match. St. Antoine put it best, "For the best blend of looks, performance, and driving enjoyment the GT500 is tops in its league" which to me sounds like then all things are equal, (i.e. the tires are right for the HP as they are in stock configuration) they rate the GT500 ahead of the other two.

 

Why not debate the tires and not the findings or the magazine?

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i forgot to add,after looking at hennessey performance.the numbers are as follows.

the SHELBY with its 5.4 with 750hp,690 torque 0-60 3.4,1/4mile 11.2@131!!

the hpe700,with its 6.2 705hp,717 torque 0-60 3.7,1/4mile 11.3@125!!

the challenger with its 426 sroker motor,725hp,750 torque,0-60 3.5,1/4mile 11.3@126!!

 

this clearly shows why motor trend sucks.they need to let other people test the cars to get the REAL NUMBERS!!the SUPERSNAKE wins!! :happy feet:

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COMPLETELY agree with Jeff here....when you read the WHOLE article, you see that they give Shelby the nod for producing the most "complete" package, and the GT500 is by far the best turnkey factory vehicle ever produced in a muscle car....I dont see this as a slight to us in any way.

 

The problem is what kind of performance tire are you REALLY gonna get on a 20" rim? It looks great, but when it comes to performance, the stock 18" tires are better than the SS, (if you keep the comparison of each cars own power v. its tires grip). When you add that kind of power, if you dont put better rubber on it, the whole effort is shot.

 

Plus, there is a launch program built into the stock tune of the GT500...I wonder if the SS tune has it also? If not, it could help explain the slow launch.

 

Is there a question of whether or not these guys know not to get into WOT on a super snake on launch? I doubt it. Surely the testers are seasoned drivers, and not the gumshoe internet dorks that showed up at Terlingua last year.....I hope anyway... :hysterical:

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COMPLETELY agree with Jeff here....when you read the WHOLE article, you see that they give Shelby the nod for producing the most "complete" package, and the GT500 is by far the best turnkey factory vehicle ever produced in a muscle car....I dont see this as a slight to us in any way.

 

The problem is what kind of performance tire are you REALLY gonna get on a 20" rim? It looks great, but when it comes to performance, the stock 18" tires are better than the SS, (if you keep the comparison of each cars own power v. its tires grip). When you add that kind of power, if you dont put better rubber on it, the whole effort is shot.

 

Plus, there is a launch program built into the stock tune of the GT500...I wonder if the SS tune has it also? If not, it could help explain the slow launch.

 

Is there a question of whether or not these guys know not to get into WOT on a super snake on launch? I doubt it. Surely the testers are seasoned drivers, and not the gumshoe internet dorks that showed up at Terlingua last year.....I hope anyway... :hysterical:

 

+1

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COMPLETELY agree with Jeff here....when you read the WHOLE article, you see that they give Shelby the nod for producing the most "complete" package, and the GT500 is by far the best turnkey factory vehicle ever produced in a muscle car....I dont see this as a slight to us in any way.

 

The problem is what kind of performance tire are you REALLY gonna get on a 20" rim? It looks great, but when it comes to performance, the stock 18" tires are better than the SS, (if you keep the comparison of each cars own power v. its tires grip). When you add that kind of power, if you dont put better rubber on it, the whole effort is shot.

 

Plus, there is a launch program built into the stock tune of the GT500...I wonder if the SS tune has it also? If not, it could help explain the slow launch.

 

Is there a question of whether or not these guys know not to get into WOT on a super snake on launch? I doubt it. Surely the testers are seasoned drivers, and not the gumshoe internet dorks that showed up at Terlingua last year.....I hope anyway... :hysterical:

 

Launch program? That's news to me.

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Launch program? That's news to me.

 

Apparently, that is what I heard from several guys out at Terlingua a few weeks ago, and they got that info from SVT...but I dont normally run my car at the drag strip, so my experience was I never just go WOT, or I would just sit n spin...when I tried it out there, I did find a significant difference in launch, but whether that is just the sweet spot for launching or actually a program I have no way of verifying that. Specifically Speedracer told me that. You could question him on the actual source of that.

 

The program is set for, at a stop, rev your engine to 2200-2500 RPMs and dump your clutch....Your computer should minimize your tires spin and maximize your torque...

 

Find a place to play with it in a large abandoned parking lot or somewhere you can tweak your launches...some cars do better at the low range and vice versa depending on what tires you have gone to and some small mods...once you have gone to a new tune though, Im not sure if that program is retained or not.

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Tires, man, TIRES. The writer was right - it doesn't matter if you have 75hp, or 725hp, you have to have the rubber to make it grip, and honestly that's where the Camaro won the battle. Seriously! That's it!

 

They didn't bag the Shelby SS. Imho, they stated a fair comparison.

 

Now.... put some different rubber on the Super Snake and let's get back to the track ;)

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Tires, man, TIRES. The writer was right - it doesn't matter if you have 75hp, or 725hp, you have to have the rubber to make it grip, and honestly that's where the Camaro won the battle. Seriously! That's it!

 

They didn't bag the Shelby SS. Imho, they stated a fair comparison.

 

Now.... put some different rubber on the Super Snake and let's get back to the track ;)

 

completely agree, alcoa rims looks nice with those tires, but with all that hp, you need some thick sticky tires!

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Shelby wins the pimp contest but loses the race. Feels like 1967 all over again.

 

Hopefully, they'll fit a real wheel and tire combination on this chassis before they are no more. All Alcoa needs is the blueprint and the green light to make a better rim...

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The only problem I have comes at 6:54 in the video when they state that the Camaro "absolutely destroys the others in the quarter mile, too."

 

Their Camaro ran 11.9 sec @ 121.3 mph

Their SS ran 12.0 sec @ 120.1 mph

 

So, a difference of 0.1 sec and 1.2 mph is "absolutely destroys" ?!?

 

 

I noticed that comment too...apparently, Hennessey had bought the voice-over editor breakfast....I noticed several "little"comments that were more opinion than actual fact in the description of the performance of the Camaro....if you watch the video over, you'll see that a little more time was given to describe little things on the Camaro over the other two....clearly MT was trying to give some good press to Hennessey who hasn't always had great PR in regards to how they treat their customers.

 

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting tired of everything wearing black wheels? :headscratch: They all simply look dirty to me!

 

Sudguy4

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Tires, man, TIRES. The writer was right - it doesn't matter if you have 75hp, or 725hp, you have to have the rubber to make it grip, and honestly that's where the Camaro won the battle. Seriously! That's it!

 

They didn't bag the Shelby SS. Imho, they stated a fair comparison.

 

Now.... put some different rubber on the Super Snake and let's get back to the track ;)

 

Have a 2010 GT500 so I am a Shelby guy. But examined the article carefully and don't think it is too off base. In particular, their problem with the skinny SS tires is right on -- the SS is an unbalanced car with respect to power and rubber size (it is not just the rubber compound that is the issue). I've had a SS owner tell me he had trouble getting out of the 12s in the 1/4 mile without drag slicks. In addition, remember that there are SS posts on this site that also state the brakes did not hold up to even moderate track use. I decided against the SS option for me until the tire size situation is resolved. This is even an issue with the GT500.

 

In the end will probably opt for mods including a Griggs option that allows up to 315s in the rear. I know one can create a much higher performing car than the SS for much less cost. Granted it might not have the same bling as a SS but to each his own. Hope Ford fixes the skinny tire issue with future GT500s. If there is wind of that it might be better to trade my '10 in for an '11 or '12 instead of modifying it.

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The article is a good article, we had the wrong tires, they gave us a list of approved tires, not the ones we sell with the package, and we picked the wrong ones for our car.

 

Overall, they liked our car and our issue is quite fixable, in fact the tires we have on the car already are much better then what we used for the testing. Their driver would not drive the SS the way it should have been driven he was afraid that it would lose control. We know the SS would have one, next time we will make sure

 

 

Amy

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I like the fact that we all benefit, having all the performance companies trying to keep us speed/Horse Power freaks happy.

 

 

Go technology go.

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I like the fact that we all benefit, having all the performance companies trying to keep us speed/Horse Power freaks happy.

 

 

Go technology go.

 

 

We are VERY lucky to be living in these times. We have cars now that nothing in the American past, with the possible exceptions of the old Ford GT and 427 Cobra, can touch. Just go review the old test articles.

 

That was then. Still want the Shelby to be on top in the present though.

 

That is what kills me. The GT500, Super Snake, or just a modified GT500 could in my opinion be unequaled in almost all aspects of performance were in not for skinny tires. These cars are that close to fulfilling their potential for exceeding I think anything anywhere near their price range.

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The article is a good article, we had the wrong tires, they gave us a list of approved tires, not the ones we sell with the package, and we picked the wrong ones for our car.

 

Overall, they liked our car and our issue is quite fixable, in fact the tires we have on the car already are much better then what we used for the testing. Their driver would not drive the SS the way it should have been driven he was afraid that it would lose control. We know the SS would have one, next time we will make sure

 

 

Amy

Amy,i love what SHELBY has done with the SUPERSNAKE!!you guys must win!!second is not good enough.you guys need to have tire options.with 750hp,you need the best tires that can be bought.i also understand that the hennessey used 109 octain.i am not suprised at all that hennessey would do that.on the up and up,they know they cant beat SHELBY!!motor trend as you know is a chevy mag anyway.i will say this,if the CRAPMARO z/28 comes out,make SURE SHELBY is on top OKAY!!

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The article is a good article, we had the wrong tires, they gave us a list of approved tires, not the ones we sell with the package, and we picked the wrong ones for our car.

 

Overall, they liked our car and our issue is quite fixable, in fact the tires we have on the car already are much better then what we used for the testing. Their driver would not drive the SS the way it should have been driven he was afraid that it would lose control. We know the SS would have one, next time we will make sure

 

 

Amy

 

With all due respect...and I mean that. I love my SS...I am a huge fan...I love you guys but I think we need to change your signature line:

 

"You can't grab the brass ring, sitting on 275's" :hysterical:

 

I am really sorry...I couldn't resist.

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The article is a good article, we had the wrong tires, they gave us a list of approved tires, not the ones we sell with the package, and we picked the wrong ones for our car.

 

Overall, they liked our car and our issue is quite fixable, in fact the tires we have on the car already are much better then what we used for the testing. Their driver would not drive the SS the way it should have been driven he was afraid that it would lose control. We know the SS would have one, next time we will make sure

 

 

Amy

 

Forgive me but... a better "tire" would be nice but... a WIDER tire needs to be retrofitted for a 750hp car. MHO. It doesn't at all make sense to me why you would fit 285's on a GT500 with 500hp, and skinnier tires on the SS with another 250hp, regardless of how sticky the tire is. Heck, I love how the alcoa's and the razor's look and I would contemplate putting them on mine... if I wasn't taking a step down in traction.

 

Again... IMHO.

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'SicShelby' wrote:

 

<<< a WIDER tire needs to be retrofitted for a 750hp car. MHO. It doesn't at all make sense to me why you would fit 285's on a GT500 with 500hp, and skinnier tires on the SS with another 250hp, regardless of how sticky the tire is. Heck, I love how the alcoa's and the razor's look and I would contemplate putting them on mine... if I wasn't taking a step down in traction. >>>

 

Something to note:

 

A WIDER tire gives you more side bite (i.e. lateral traction) and a TALLER tire gives you more forward bite.

 

For a good visual, take the top of a shoebox, lay it on the floor and imagine that it is a tire footprint.

Turn it sideways and note the WIDE footprint (a wider tire).

Turn it 90d and note the TALL footprint (a taller tire).

 

Where is the SS lacking in traction? On the skidpad or on the drag strip? (I already know the answer).

 

So would you want to put a wider tire or a taller tire on it? (SAI puts a *taller* tire on the SS, no?)

 

 

HTH,

Phill Pollard - Co. Springs, CO

2010 Kona Blue/White stripes GT500

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2010KonaBlueGT - with all due respect, try launching your car with 205 tire that is 28" tall. Should work great at the straight line according to your post...

 

Taller tire changes your gear ratio (makes it taller), lowering your wheel torque - less spin.

 

If you'd measure how much rubber is touching the ground at one moment, you discover that wider tire has more mutual space with ground - that makes more traction.

You need tire width both to accelerate and turn. That's a simple fact.

 

And the fact is, that even 285 from stock GT500 are not enough. It started to hook better when I changed to 305 with similar height. That's another fact.

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With all due respect...and I mean that. I love my SS...I am a huge fan...I love you guys but I think we need to change your signature line:

 

"You can't grab the brass ring, sitting on 275's" :hysterical:

 

I am really sorry...I couldn't resist.

 

 

lol cute, I have to change it anyway, as most are not old enough to understand it ....

 

 

Amy

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