A modern interpretation of the Shelby Mustang of the 1960s, the Ford Shelby GT500 uses advanced engineering to attain the performance that made the original GT500 the king of the road.
The Ford Shelby GT500’s supercharged 5.4-liter, 32-valve V-8 evolves from Ford’s experience with tuning its modular, or MOD, engines. Output is a brawny 475 horsepower.
Ford Mustang Shelby
The engine is force-fed an air-and-fuel mixture via a "Roots-type" supercharger providing 8.5 pounds per square inch of boost. The GT500 uses a cast-iron engine block. It borrows from the Ford GT program aluminum, four-valve cylinder heads, piston rings and bearings, adding a high level of performance durability to the drivetrain. "Powered by SVT" camshaft covers add the finishing touch to the engine.
Just as the big-block GT500 from 1968 was a step up from the GT350, the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500’s 475 horsepower, 5.4-liter V-8 is a step up from the 4.6-liter V-8 used in yesterday’s SVT Mustang Cobra. Not coincidentally, the 2007 Shelby GT500 sports the largest displacement engine installed in a volume version of the Mustang since 1973.
The 425-hp Dodge Charger SRT8 is a rockin’ muscle car. It would be easy to dismiss it as yet another twin to the Chrysler 300C SRT8 and the Dodge Magnum SRT8, but the Charger establishes itself as the sportiest of its brethren with the firmest suspension calibration of the bunch and look-at-me spoilers and scoops.
Just as the very first Charger-the original 1964 "Charger by Dodge" concept car-sported a HEMI V-8, the all-new 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8 gets its motivation from a HEMI, too. In this case, it’s a big-bore, SRT-engineered version producing 425 horsepower (317 kW) and 420 lb.-ft. (569 Nom) of torque.
Dodge Charget SRT8
Several features of the new 6.1-liter SRT HEMI recall the legendary HEMI engines of previous decades, including the namesake hemispherical combustion chambers that provide power and efficiency, orange-painted cylinder block, black valve covers, and the horsepower rating (with less displacement, the 6.1-liter HEMI’s 69.8 horsepower-per-liter rating exceeds that of the legendary Street HEMI of the 1960s and ’70s).
To create the 6.1-liter version of the Chrysler Group’s HEMI, SRT powertrain engineers applied tried-and-true engine-building techniques honed by generations of American hot-rodders. SRT engineers who developed the Dodge Charger SRT8’s engine achieved more horsepower by adding more cubic inches, increasing the compression ratio, and redesigning the cylinder head, intake and exhaust systems for better flow and increased engine speed.<