At Island Dragway in New Jersey, two American performance icons went head-to-head in a quarter-mile drag race that highlighted the stark contrast between brute force and precision engineering. The Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, armed with a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 generating 760 horsepower, lined up against the mid-engine Chevrolet C8 Corvette, which produces 495 horsepower from its naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8.
On paper, the GT500’s raw horsepower gives it a clear advantage, but the C8’s mid-engine layout and lightning-fast dual-clutch transmission even the odds. While the Shelby is known for its ferocious straight-line acceleration, the Corvette counters with lighter weight, superior balance, and quicker off-the-line response.
Ultimately, the GT500’s power advantage proved to be too much for the Corvette to overcome. The prepped track helped the GT500 to accelerate without losing traction, enabling it to finish the quarter-mile in 10.37 seconds at 137 mph, whereas the Corvette did it in 11.95 seconds at 118 mph.
