Ford Shelby GT500

The Ford Shelby GT500 is a sports car made by Ford in the Asphalt series.

Overview
Introduced at the 2005 New York International Auto Show, the Ford Shelby GT500 is a muscle car and it uses a 5.4 L (330 CID) Modular 507 PS (500 bhp; 370 kW) supercharged V8 engine. Features include the Tremec TR-6060 6-speed manual transmission, suspension tuning, a different rear wing, a body kit, and 18 inch wheels. Deliveries of the Shelby GT500 began in May 2006. The Ford Shelby GT500 has ended production in 2014 and Ford's future SVT range are the Focus ST, Focus RS, Fiesta ST, Ford GT, F-150 SVT Raptor and the Shelby GT350 which the cars will arrive in 2015 and 2016 to replace Ford's current SVT vehicles. The Ford Focus ST and the Fiesta ST will remain the same but they will go through a facelift.

A collaboration of Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) and Carroll Shelby, the GT500 was produced in limited quantity for three years (approximately 10,000 units per year) on the line at Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan (AutoAlliance) assembly facility.

Asphalt 7: Heat
The Shelby GT500 is incorrectly treated as the Mustang GT here, and is a Tier 2 vehicle. It requires 150 stars to unlock and costs 48,800 Cash.

Summary
The Ford Shelby GT500 is a mid-end Class B car. It is found among many higher-performing but far more expensive Class B cars like the Audi R8 LMS Ultra, Porsche Cayman GT4, Rinspeed zaZen, Honda Integra Type-R, and Shelby Cobra 427.

The GT500 was one of the original 46 cars in Asphalt 8: Airborne, slotted between the Ferrari 458 Italia, which remains one of its biggest rivals to this day, and the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Race Car of Class A. It used to be the highest-performing Class B car. This original positioning of the GT500 is partially the reason why a Ford Shelby GT500 vs Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Race Car event is present in Season 6: Adrenaline. Curiously, this Career Mode event is the only event which involves two cars from different classes, rather than two from the same class.

The GT500 has a starting rank of 1351, a MAX rank of 1504, and a MAX + PRO rank of 1602. With only a small difference between the starting and MAX ranks, the GT500 is a very poor choice for Multiplayer. This small rank difference results in a mediocre Tuning Kit bonus of +35.

Performance
The GT500 cannot properly compare with cars within its immediate vicinity. The Rinspeed zaZen, Honda Integra Type-R and Shelby Cobra 427, for example, all have much higher Tuning Kit bonuses, while having practically identical final ranks. These cars all also possess higher rates of acceleration and longer-lasting nitro boosts, making them all much more formidable in Multiplayer than the GT500.

In fact, the GT500 is so under-performing that the Mercedes-Benz Biome, another Class B car with a final rank 12 points lower, can easily outrun the GT500 when both are at MAX + PRO. Overall, the main cause of the GT500's relatively low performance is its inclusion in the original version of the game; other cars were added afterwards, with the GT500 essentially acting like a minimum stats-requirement that the cars were (and are) obligated to pass in order to be moved to high-end Class B. Of course, all of these cars outperform the GT500 as a result of this, and so, the GT500 is now mostly obsolete stat-wise.

The GT500's stats, based on an individual analysis, can be said to be quite well-rounded, nonetheless. The GT500 has a relatively high raw top speed stat, albeit slightly lower than that of the Ferrari 458 Italia, while possessing a relatively low nitro stat. The GT500 can be said to have a decent nitro efficiency of 7/13/17, though this is far outshined by the incredibly high nitro efficiencies of 6/8/11 and 4/8/12 of the GT500's two closest neighbors. The GT500's drifting radius and handling could use some improvement, with both statistics being inferior when compared to the Ferrari 458 Italia; however, the GT500 is certainly comfortable to drive regardless, with no real huge downside in both respective aspects. The GT500's rate of acceleration/launch is not the highest, but can certainly be said to be good.

Usage
Performance-wise, the GT500 can clearly not compete in any way with most of its neighbors. Both its usability in terms of the final performance, something that would be relevant to Time-Limited Events, and its usability in terms of Multiplayer, are inferior to the surrounding cars.

However, the GT500 still remains one of the most popular cars to date, and for a very good reason. The main reason is that its price is far lower than many of these formidable cars surrounding it. For a novice player, the GT500 can give them a taste of what some high-performing Class B cars can be like. The Rinspeed zaZen, which has now been removed from the game on some platforms, costs upwards of, as does the Audi R8 LMS Ultra. The Ferrari F40 costs upwards of, while the Mercedes-Benz Biome and Honda Integra Type-R both cost upwards of. Meanwhile, the Shelby Cobra 427 is practically impossible to obtain for novices, with game-time needing to be a minimum of roughly four months (real-time) in order for the car to be unlocked, as it is only found through Mastery Challenges as the reward for unlocking. Other surrounding cars can cost either Blueprints or(Tokens), making them relatively difficult to obtain as well.

Especially for a novice player, the GT500 can remain a top performing car for a good price, that is very appealing. It is useful for Career Mode, as an entry car into Time-Limited Events for Class B, and as a part of several Collections. However, it does suffer from an inefficient Season 9: Beyond race set in Tokyo Reverse.

Price
The Ford Shelby GT500 costs to purchase and  to max out, making it a cheap alternative to faster Class B cars like the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 2013, Mercedes-Benz Biome or Rimac Concept One.