2011 Ford Shelby GT500 — 2010 Chicago Auto Show

What is it?
2011 Ford Shelby GT500

What's special about it?
With a little more power, a less weighty engine and new performance upgrades for 2011, the folks at Ford's SVT performance unit continue to turn the once portly, push-pig Shelby GT500 into an ever-more-legitimate all-around performance car.

Like its V6 and GT brethren, the GT500, which the company is to unveil at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, gets substantial upgrades for 2011, only a year after a major overhaul for 2010. You can think of it as a preemptive strike against the Camaro Z28 that has long been rumored to be waiting in the wings at Chevy.

Not surprisingly, the 2011 upgrades for the GT500 begin with the supercharged 5.4-liter V8, which Ford describes as an evolution of the engine from the now-departed Ford GT. Yep, that means the GT500 now has an aluminum-block engine instead of the stout iron block it has used up to now. This little switch chops off 102 pounds from the burden carried by the front axle of the notoriously nose-heavy GT500.

Meanwhile, the cylinder bores of the aluminum block are not conventional iron sleeves but instead have been coated using a plasma-transferred wire arc process, saving further weight. It's the first time Ford has used this process in volume production. A composite coating some 150 microns thick is deposited on the cylinder bores, reducing friction and saving 8.5 pounds compared to conventional iron liners.

That the engine now makes 10 horsepower more than last year's supercharged V8 — now totaling 550 hp — ain't so bad either. The horsepower boost is thanks largely to a retuned exhaust, which Ford says also provides for a more aggressive sound than the old pipes. The new motor makes the same 510 pound-feet of torque as last year's version.

The engine also adds a larger two-row intercooler for the supercharger, offering 40 percent more cooling capacity to help the engine make more consistent power at high ambient temperatures. (This had been a weakness of the 2010 engine.) Oh, the GT500 no longer is subject to a gas-guzzler tax in 2011 thanks to a 1-mpg improvement in both city and highway cycles, now up to 15 mpg city/23 mpg highway.

The other big news on the performance front is the availability of a new Performance package for 2011. It includes new forged-aluminum 19-inch wheels up front and 20-inchers in the rear. These handsome wheels (pictured here) carry the next-generation of Goodyear's Eagle F1 SuperCar tires, now called "SuperCar G: 2." These tires are "as close as you can get to a racecar tire," according to SVT technical specialist Eric Zinkosky. The 265/40R19 front tires are wider than those of last year's 255s, while the 285/35R20 rears offer the same tread width but are larger in diameter by an inch. The Performance package also includes uniquely tuned dampers and front springs that are 20.5 percent stiffer than those of the base car. The rear springs are only 9.5 percent stiffer, so they're relatively soft to improve traction under acceleration. The ride height has been lowered 11mm in front and 8mm in the rear. The Performance package also brings a new 3.73:1 rear-axle ratio.

Besides the wheel and tire package, you'll recognize the Performance package cars by a unique Gurney flap on the rear spoiler, narrower "over-the-top" stripes on the body and the lack of stripes on the shift knob. And if you look close enough, you might see that the new shocks are painted red. Ford says that the new Performance package should result in 7 percent shorter braking distances compared to the 2010 car and a 3.0-second quicker lap time around its 2.3-mile test track.

The standard car — if a Shelby GT500 can ever be considered a "standard" car — gets some improvements for 2011 that make it a bit easier to live with. There's more acoustic insulation applied to the instrument panel, plus additional sound-absorption material behind the interior trim panels and rear wheel arch liners, all in an effort to reduce road noise. Like the V6 and GT Mustang convertibles, the GT500 convertible's structure has been improved. Stiffer crossmembers, added gussets, a front Z-brace (which connects primary and secondary crossmembers) and stiffer A-pillars have improved lateral stiffness by 12 percent, according to Ford. For 2011, the convertible also now wears standard 19-inch wheels.

Like the lesser Mustangs, the 2011 Shelby GT500 will have electric power steering in place of the 2010 model's conventional hydraulic boosted system. We have yet to drive a Mustang with electric power steering, but we're hopeful that it doesn't mess up what was pretty damn good steering.

There will be more optional niceties on the 2011 model as well. The optional glass roof is now offered on the GT500 coupe. All GT500s come with standard HID headlamps. And, should you be foolish enough to allow someone else to drive your GT500, the 2011 model comes standard with Ford's programmable MyKey system to limit the car's top speed.

Inside Line says: The 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 was already a winner in our books, and the changes for 2011 appear to make it only more righteous. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit