When Ford announced it’d be replacing the supercharged Shelby GT500 with the naturally-aspirated GT350 for the Mustang’s sixth generation, most car enthusiasts were, well, enthused. While the 662-horsepower GT500 was a straight-line hoot, its borderline-criminal amount of power made it quite the handful at the limit. The GT350, on the other hand, was made to massacre race tracks. Its 5.2-liter flat-crank V8 delivers 526 hp in oozing, linear fashion, letting drivers dial in the power with rheostatic precision.
But Hennessey Performance couldn’t give one whit about that. For the Texas tuning firm, absolute power will always trump everything else. See: The new 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 HPE800.
The upgrade package, available for both GT350 and GT350R models, takes that sweet Voodoo V8, slaps a 2.9-liter blower on top of it, then subs in 11.0:1 compression forged aluminum pistons with steel wrist pins and connecting rods to help handle the added power. Upgraded fuel injectors and a new fuel pump system help feed gasoline into the hungrier engine, while a carbon fiber induction system helps the supercharged motor breathe. And, as we’ve come to expect from John Hennessey’s creations, the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 HPE800 acquires a lengthy catalog of Hennessey-related badges, inside and out.
Put it all together, and you wind up with a supercharged Mustang making 808 hp at 7,800 rpm and 657 pound-feet at 4,600 revs. Hennessey claims the HPE800 will get to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds and knock out the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds at 133 miles an hour. Stupid fast, yes, but worth giving up the Voodoo’s all-motor tractability? That’s up to you. Only 50 examples will be built.