McLaren 765LT versus Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 3x races at Hennessey Performance in Texas, US How much of a headstart does the Shelby GT500 need to be able to beat the veritable weapon that is the McLaren 765LT on the drag strip?!
After quickly clocking up some miles in my Shelby GT500 on the Where's Shmee: US Edition tour, it has now had the oil change service, been on the dyno, raced a Corvette C8 and we can say officially broken in, so it's time to put it to the test. To do so, on the strip at Hennessey Performance in Texas, we have it against a latest McLaren 765LT, arguably the king of the drag strip for stock production supercars.
The McLaren 765LT has 765hp from a 4.0l twin turbo V8, almost matching the 760hp found from the 5.2l supercharged V8 of the GT500. Both cars have 7 speed DCT gearboxes with power to the rear but substantially different weights; 4,200lbs / 1,925kg for the Mustang and 3,000lbs / 1,350kg for the 765LT. We're talking about a race between a $100k track spec muscle car and a $500k insane supercar!
How will the 3 races go, let's find out with Alex from Hennessey Performance piloting the McLaren 765LT against my Shelby GT500!
Results:
As expected, the 765LT is brutally fast, with the first race demonstrating that an equal launch gives the GT500 absolutely no chance - a clear demonstration of what the extra money gets you for driving performance. Up next when I attempt to 'cheat' and jump the start, the GT500 bogs down which highlights the importance of traction in such a car and again the 765LT has no problem therefore whizzing on through and taking the chequered flag. For the final run, even with a rolling start for the GT500, the 765LT manages to take-off with a significant disadvantage and still come desperately close to pulling through before the end showing very clearly that it's really the king of this type of drag racing.
Thanks for watching, Tim
Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:45 Walkaround 03:06 765LT Test Drive 07:06 765LT Launch Control 08:11 Drag Race 1 10:27 Drag Race 2 12:22 Drag Race 3 14:37 Wrap Up
