wcgman

Nailed it again. The Shelby is in a class of it's own. It really does feel like a different car to me. If every Mustang were built that way, there would be nothing to complain about. And you're totally right that this was a rare find. I have a friend who's at a bank and he called his buddy at an auto broker asking if there were any other GT500's like this around. The broker called me a short time later and asked the skinny on the car and I gave him the deets...less than 1200 miles, looks like it just came off the assembly line, original factory plastic on some things and the price...the guy said he could never find that car for me and he's never heard of a deal like it. That if I wanted it, I'd better buy it right then. I did go home and thought about it for like an hour, then pulled the trigger. I found out later that the broker had called that dealership asking about the car for himself. haha.

And without a shred of doubt, if it werent for this Shelby coming up, I would not be unloading my supercharged '10. I still have it for a couple of days and I get compliments at least a couple times a week from random people. I raced a BMW 335xi which is a 4.6 0-60 in stock form and he was modded (some can get well into the 3's!) and I beat him just yesterday. He pulls up next to me on the highway and was fully impressed saying how fast I was. He was genuinely surprised. I didnt blow his doors off, but it was one in the kill column for sure. I wish that I'd have been able to talk to him more, but he turned off somewhere behind me once we were off the highway.

PS - If there was something that I would change about my car...it'd be that glass roof. When it's cooler days, I love it. But I gotta say...when it gets hot like we've had this summer, even with the slider closed that gets like an oven in there sometimes!!

audioAl

I echo what Mudflap said, gears and that's about it. I am upgrading to a GT soon and
my V6 has the 3.31:1 gear. That is what makes it better than a base V6. Thanks for this post. I'm researching for my GT purchase, looks like I should buy an 09-10 GT.

Cardstang

When I started looking to buy a Mustang, the ‘10s had been out for just a little bit. There were still a couple of ‘09s on the lots, and there were some pretty decent rebates on them at the time. I was torn between the two body styles, and by the time I was ready to pull the trigger, all the ‘09s were gone.

Bought my ’10 on November 30, just weeks before the official announcement of the 5.0. For a while I kicked myself a bit for not waiting (I knew it was coming, so it wasn’t a surprise). But after a while I realized that the additional HP was not necessary for me to enjoy my car. What the 4.6 supplied was more than enough to get me in trouble if I so desired.

Mudflap summed things up nicely. I feel my car is bulletproof and the tried and true 4.6 is an engine I’m not afraid to tinker with (well, pay other people to tinker with it for me). There are literally thousands of folks who’ve modded these engines and it’s well documented what you can and can’t (or shouldn’t) do to these engines.

I feel as if I’m in an exclusive club. I go to American Muscle’s website, and I can filter by my year only.

I plan on keeping mine as long as possible or feasible. Any future ‘Stangs in my garage will sit beside this one. I have no regrets.

Mudflap

Yeah to be clear, I didn't trade my 2010 for the 2012. I had gotten rid of the '10 for a economical daily driver (MINI Cooper S) and that car turned out to be a big POS. It was in the shop 3x in 2500 miles or something stupid like that. Also, it had a massive "super knock" condition where if you got into boost lightly under load going up a hill (of which we have many here) it would shudder like it was going to explode. Dealer kept blaming me for putting "cheap gas" in LOL. Meanwhile, all it was ever fed was Shell and Conoco, "top tier" gas. The real answer was that MINI/BMW engineers didn't know how to tune the car right, and the community and dealers are so used to those cars being completely unreliable that its nothing for them to make excuses. I got to the point I'd do an "Elvis lip" each time I walked into the garage... I had disdain for the thing.

Anyway, that is why its such a burn for me... I had that MINI for like 4 months total. That is what pisses me off the most about ditching the 2010. The 5.0s are cool, they are just young right now still. When I decided I wanted a Mustang, I considered a few options including buying a used Shelby, but to get out from under the car I replaced the MINI with (a 2011 Maxima SV) I needed the rebates and the deep discounts on the 2012's to make it work without having to put out a bunch of cash out of pocket. They knocked nearly 8 grand off the MSRP of the 2012 (well, I grinded them for it, lol) making it relatively easy for me to purchase. I'd have had to part with about 6 grand to be able to buy a used car feasibly. Cars are never an investment, lol.

The 5.0s are very cool, but I just think one needs to consider a few things if they are thinking about trading into one from an 05-2010. I will point out that my car now with the intake/tune is likely putting out slightly more power than my Vortech standard supercharged 2009 was. That car put down something like 397rwhp / 362 tq... so the 5.0 is no slouch even bone stock. I'm just jaded, no car feels "fast" to me. The intake/tune was $700, the Vortech system plus install was $5000.

nj07

Mudflap your right I test drove the 5.0 an dit felt like my 07gt stock! But now im thinking of supercharging it with all the things I did to it, its paid off for awhile now but I cant help to purchase a used gt500? But I want to wish you luck with your shelby and this is my second gt I miss my 94 gt everyday these cars are all fun great cars!

JThor

Thanks for the great posts and confirming I made the right choice. I'm really happy with my 2010. Like you, I also like the fact of the "mature" drive train in it. It also has plenty enough power to get me in trouble too.