The Quickest-Ever Production Ford Mustang Can’t Touch Ken Block’s 1,400-HP Hoonicorn in a Drag Race
Drag Mode with a warranty from Ford against AWD and a six-speed sequential.
The current Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a 760-horsepower supercharged monster fine-tuned by a clever bunch to be a seriously capable track tool as well, all while remaining a loud daily driver muscle car with a warranty. The 5.2-liter V8 sends 625 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels at 5,000 rpm, helping this 4,171-pound Mustang reach 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds with a top speed limited at 180 mph. With the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, the quarter-mile mark comes in the tens, especially when drag mode works as well as Ford's engineers have intended.
The Hoonicorn V2 is Ken Block's custom Gymkhana Ford Mustang packing a twin-turbo V8 tuned to 1,400 horsepower, connected to a six-speed sequential gearbox and all-wheel drive, with a weight figure kept under 3,000 pounds. We know this car can easily smoke all four tires, as well as "the world's fastest donk" Chevy Impala at 1,500 horsepower, along with a four-rotor Mazda RX-7 tuned to produce 1,240 horses. However, is there a situation in which sending 760 horsepower to the rear axle of a new Mustang is a good idea against the Ken Block special that was once a 1965 Ford Mustang notchback? The Hoonigans decided to find out with NASCAR driver Chase Briscoe piloting the Shelby GT500.
With a Le Mans-style running start being out of the question, the race came down to giving the GT500 and its optional carbon fiber wheels a generous rolling start, hoping for its top-end power delivery near 7,300 rpm to hold up as the Hoonicorn's semi-slick tires hooked and made the most of nearly double the horsepower.
There's no going around how quick the Gymkhana Mustang is, banging through its sequential gearing like no DCT could. There's also the fact that when we tested the Drag Mode on the 2020 GT500, it may have stiffened the front and softened the rear suspension, yet it also produced a noticeable delay between releasing the brake and launching the car forward, defeating its sole purpose. Naturally, Chase Briscoe prefers rolling starts as well, so it's no wonder all Ken Block had to do was keep the Hoonicorn floored and in a straight line, for once.
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