Shelby GT500 vs Challenger T/A 392 1/4 Mile

Ford Shelby GT 500

We have two blue cars for today, the first of which is this Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500. Now, granted that I said bone stock earlier, but come on, that is highly unlikely. Let’s just say its almost stock. Since I can’t confirm the exact mods, if there are any, let’s look at the baseline figures:

Under the hood lies a 5.2-liter supercharged V-8 mill that puts out 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet of torque. That V-8 makes use of a cross-plane crank and sends power to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The Mustang GT tips the scales at 4,182 pounds.

Dodge Challenger T/A 392

Meanwhile, in the adjacent lane, you’ve got a Dodge Challenger T/A 392. The T/A name dates back to the 1970 Challenger T/A 340, which was, in fact, a production car sold to customers that would allow Dodge to compete in the SCCA Trans-AM racing series that year. As only 2,399 were ever made, these have become very desirable Mopar collectibles.

The T/A 392 is the most extreme version in the T/A lineup that adds stuff like the Air Catcher, a cone-style Mopar air filter, and a computer-controller performance exhaust system. Under the hood lies Dodge’s 6.4-Liter HEMI V-8 that puts out 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. It tips the scales at 4,232 pounds.

Now, the odds are clearly in the GT500’s favor but can’t really say how things will unfold in the real world

The Races

On the first pass, both cars got off the line pretty well, but the Shelby soon took the lead and maintained it all the way to the finish line, with the Ford managing a 1/4 mile time of 10.94 seconds at 127.03 mph. The Challenger punched in a time of 12 seconds flat at 114.36 mph.

They turn round to do another pass. This time, the driver in the GT500 had a poor reaction time as the Challenger got the better launch, but its lead was short-lived as the Ford once again pulled a consistent 100.97 seconds ay 126.77 mph as opposed to the Dodge’s 12.06 seconds at 114.17 mph.

To Sum It Up

Well, you really got to witness what those extra horses on the Shelby can really do. From the onset, it looked like the Ford had the edge here and a Hellcat or a Demon would have been a close match against the GT500.