Stangmode from YouTube says S550 will be last Gen ICE GT500?!!!

[Mustang Tony]

On Stangmode’s recent video on 7.3 liter twin turbo Ford GT, he states he has sources that say the S550 GT500 will be the last internal combustion GT500.

immediately this got me worried. Anybody heard otherwise?

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[Twin Turbo]

And what sources might those be?

I'll credit him with the fact he does know Chris Stevens who designed the '18 refresh and the '20 GT500, so Chris could have given him a steer. But I suspect he's assuming. For all we know there won't be a GT500 for S650, although given Shelby's current close relationship with Ford, I suspect there will be a Shelby version of S650.

With all due respect to Mr Stangmode, I'll take anything he says with a large pinch of salt.

 

[zackmd1]

Well Dodge is going that way with the Hellcat line so why not? If the aim of the car is speed and performance, AWD electric is the way to go...

 

[Twin Turbo]

Dodge's platform will be all new, designed as an EV from the outset.

S650 is a heavy evolution of S550 and I'd imagine making one particular model (GT500) a pure EV would be full of compromises.

Perhaps the next GT500 will be the first model introduced on the 8th Gen/"S750". I can see a case for a pure EV Mustang Fastback (ie not Mach E) to be built alongside the traditional S650 for a couple of years, assuming production facilities can support this.

Or the next GT500 is a hybrid, which would make the current GT500 the last pure ICE GT500.

Right now, only Ford knows.


What bugs me is that even the low volume GT supercar has been spotted on the streets, supposedly with a new engine. Rumors suggest this with be a Twin Turbo 7.3 V8. Just about every new model due for production in the next couple of years has been spotted by the spy photographers....................except S650!!!

 

[IceGamer]

On Stangmode’s recent video on 7.3 liter twin turbo Ford GT, he states he has sources that say the S550 GT500 will be the last internal combustion GT500.

immediately this got me worried. Anybody heard otherwise?

I doubt that the source has reliable information regarding a S650 GT500. Main reason is a potential release date of such a car. The GT500 was introduced after the S550 refresh as a “the best we can do” for that generation. A S650 GT500 would therefore be released in 2027 or so?! (S650 potentially pushed back to 2023, facelift in 25/26 and the GT500 in 26/27)… Highly speculative especially in these times… Maybe there will be no facelift or they scrap the entire program, who knows?!

In addition, why would they brand the car as a Shelby? The name is expensive. Brand recognition is almost priceless but Shelbys are sold exclusively in the US (and in some low unit markets)… If there will be a S650 GT500 I would brand it as such. However, if they scrap the car and decide to go for a full EV “GT500” I would use a different name and save the royalties.

 

[DrumReaper]

With all due respect to Mr Stangmode, I'll take anything he says with a large pinch of salt.

Don’t forget to throw that over your shoulder!

 

[zackmd1]

Dodge's platform will be all new, designed as an EV from the outset.

S650 is a heavy evolution of S550 and I'd imagine making one particular model (GT500) a pure EV would be full of compromises.

Perhaps the next GT500 will be the first model introduced on the 8th Gen/"S750". I can see a case for a pure EV Mustang Fastback (ie not Mach E) to be built alongside the traditional S650 for a couple of years, assuming production facilities can support this.

Or the next GT500 is a hybrid, which would make the current GT500 the last pure ICE GT500.

Right now, only Ford knows.


What bugs me is that even the low volume GT supercar has been spotted on the streets, supposedly with a new engine. Rumors suggest this with be a Twin Turbo 7.3 V8. Just about every new model due for production in the next couple of years has been spotted by the spy photographers....................except S650!!!

We all are assuming the S650 still exists..... It honestly might not.... A refreshed S550 (think 15 dodge challenger refresh) with new front and rear sheet metal wouldn't require extensive testing a year or so before launch. They could be going the route of dodge and keeping the S550 alive for many more years instead of transitioning to a "new" platform that wound necessitate S650 branding.

S650 program might have transitioned over to a BEV platform with a release around MY 24-25 for all we know...

 

[zackmd1]

Didn't John Hennessey say that a v8 simply wouldn't fit in the bay without messing with bodywork/aero?

I think people really want the 7.3 to go in something other than a truck, so they imagine it in everything.

The 7.3 in the Ford GT makes sense though as the limiting factor is width instead of length. They can just remove what little trunk space it had to make room for the increased length of the 7.3. Can't exactly increase the width though to fit a DOHC V8 in there.

The twin turbo 7.3 rumors never really made sense to me until this GT was spotted. Always struck me as overkill to twin turbo a 7.3 for truck applications but for performance applications it makes total sense.

 

[MikeyV]

Wonder if we could see the rumored (or not, some union said they were building it) 6.8 aluminum version. Lighter for the GT, and a shorter deck...sounds neat.

I've always thought that the GT was a bit lame with the V6. I'm a V6 hater, I'll just say it. Don't care how much power it makes, just like I don't care how much power an electric car makes. To me, that stuff us not interesting and I don't like it.

So, the GT is bad ass, despite it's minivan engine. Love the looks, the fact that it was raced, etc.

Imagine how happy a TT V8 would make me. This would right a huge wrong, IMO.

And I know they chose the V6 for the racing homologation purposes. Still, it's lame.

That photo of the GT testing, sure as hell looks like two wrapped turbos there below the bumper. Drool.

 

[Ace]

I highly doubt that the S650 platform will be able to pull of a pure EV. There's simply no place for enough batteries. At least what Darren Palmer (head of Fords electric stuff) told me was that in his opinion (so not fact, just opinion) the V8 could survive in cars in low volume performance cars lke the GT500 when the base models are going for other engines.

Also Stangmode went full Clickbait mode since what seems like he went being a fulltime Youtuber instead of doing that as a hobby, every headline is a huge exaggeration of some minor things. So I wouldn't take what he says for granted

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

We all are assuming the S650 still exists..... It honestly might not.... A refreshed S550 (think 15 dodge challenger refresh) with new front and rear sheet metal wouldn't require extensive testing a year or so before launch. They could be going the route of dodge and keeping the S550 alive for many more years instead of transitioning to a "new" platform that wound necessitate S650 branding.

S650 program might have transitioned over to a BEV platform with a release around MY 24-25 for all we know...

I wouldn't mind this at all. If they stuck with the S550 for a little while longer though, do you think that would affect the theoretical "Mustang Sedan" from being produced/released?

(still wondering if a Mustang with a Boxer-4, NA or turbocharged, would sound better than the EcoBoost, with or without active exhaust...)

 

[Carbide]

I honestly don't know what or who a stangmode is.

 

[zackmd1]

I wouldn't mind this at all. If they stuck with the S550 for a little while longer though, do you think that would affect the theoretical "Mustang Sedan" from being produced/released?

(still wondering if a Mustang with a Boxer-4, NA or turbocharged, would sound better than the EcoBoost, with or without active exhaust...)

Oh I absolutely think the 4 door is coming. Would make sense for it to be on the Mach E platform (the platform refresh in mid 23). That’s why I’m thinking the S650 does not exist in the way we are expecting….

Crystal ball….

MY23 S550 refresh with hybrid powertrains and a lifespan stretching into MY26-28. Introduce the 4 door BEV as a MY24 model and then transition the 2 door over to BEV in the late 2020’s.

The 2 door IMO is simply not Ford’s priority at this point so it doesn’t make sense to spend a ton of R&D on a new platform when the old one with a few tweaks and new styling would satisfy the vast majority of its customer base.

And it’s not the boxer that would be required, it’s the unequal length header that is usually included with boxers that give it the sound.

 

[Twin Turbo]

We know S650, in terms of it being a pure CD6 architecture, was canned. S650 then became a heavily modified S550 with CD6 elements. I don't believe they'd be able to offer hybrid powertrains without significant reworking of the the S550 architecture.......hence the mix of both architectures.

If an any doubt, search for posts from @amk91

This is why we need to see some proper S650 prototypes. Only then can we be comfortable a new generation is coming!

 

[Ericc B]

I have been looking at a lot of Sandy Munro videos lately, especially about their detailed dismantling of EVs and the Mach-E in particular. Not just because it brings me great pleasure to see one less Mach-E on the road, but it is actually really interesting to see how these cars are designed and constructed. And even though the Ford is clearly quite a few miles behind Tesla in their technical design architecture, the way Mach-E is set up already shows there are so many things that are different between an ICE and a BEV car that it basically requires a clean sheet design to build something that can be outfitted as a BEV or an ICE in the same body. Large volume manufacturers like Hyundai/Kia and Stellantis have done this recently with compacts and super minis that are now being sold in the Asian and European markets, but the majority of manufacturers have chosen to set up a separate model range for their EVs. In all honesty I don't see Ford creating an S650 or S750 generation Mustang that will be available with both ICE and BEV. The required investments to do that would bankrupt the Mustang line.

What I do see happening is an S650 with regular and hybrid ICE engines, because that is the only thing that makes sense now in the markets that buy these cars and it will enable Ford to keep the model alive for the next 5 years. That S650 being a major overhaul of the S550 platform instead of a ground up new development also makes total sense and it is supported by the fact that we have seen zero mules so far.

Parallel to all this Ford will most likely develop a next gen Mach-E platform that will be able to host both a coupe/convertible and a minivan version. I doubt they will also do a 4-door Mustang sedan as has been rumored, although technically that would simply be a third variation on the whole Mach-E gen 2 theme. The BEV Mustang coupe will be introduced as a separate model next to S650 instead of replacing it, probably in about 4-5 years. This way they are fully prepared for any scenario in terms of transition speed, because let's face it, noone has a freaking clue what things will be like 5 years from now.

Also Stangmode went full Clickbait mode since what seems like he went being a fulltime Youtuber instead of doing that as a hobby, every headline is a huge exaggeration of some minor things. So I wouldn't take what he says for granted

This is why I unsubscribed from that nutcase last year already. Watching his shit is just a waste of precious time. The contrast to youtubers like yourself who make well researched and serious content is day and night.

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