Shelby GT500 delivers breathtaking performance with a touch of danger

If you love roller coasters, you'll love the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500. Really, there's nothing at Cedar Point offering as much fun as just driving to Sandusky in this car. Seat-of-your-pants cruising takes on a whole new meaning in this hopped-up, tricked-out Mustang that bears the name of the legendary racer and all-around Maverick Carroll Shelby.

It's a thrill ride without the rails and some teenager telling you where to sit. There's no first hill windup or clanky chain marking your click, click, click, climb to the top.

There's just a seat belt and a bubbling 5.4-liter aluminum V-8 that purrs until you mash the accelerator to the floor, pop the clutch and let out a thunderous roar in Top Thrill Dragster style.

Under that powerdome hood and well-sculpted body are 550 horses of pure Millennium Force waiting to be let loose. Push the rpm up high enough and you'll hear that supercharger's beautiful high-pitched whine and feel so much torque you'll swear there's a nitrous tank in the trunk. Or, you'll just swear: The GT500s hard acceleration can sprinkle a little salt in even a preacher's sermon.

While the GT500 may have old-school wooden coaster trappings -- hinting to its rough riding heritage -- there's not a Mean Streak in its ride or performance. Yes, it's fast, but it's not like you'll need your fillings replaced after a couple of laps around town. The independent front suspension and three-link solid rear axle provide a deliciously smooth ride. And while all of that power shooting back to the rear wheels will cause the tires to chirp like a lonely cricket after last call, the GT500 remains extremely stable.

Upgrades to tires, steering

Some of these improvements are found in the new Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar G: 2 tires as part of the SVT performance package. Goodyear improved these tires by making the name longer and the rubber stickier. The 19-inch wheels (on forged aluminum rims) turn the roads into Corkscrew tracks. (Though a word of advice, get the rubber warm before taking a highway entrance ramp at full speed, especially onto the Lodge at Congress Avenue in Detroit.)

Then there is the Wicked Twister steering. All new for the 2011, the GT500 features electric power assist steering, aka EPAS.

The steering system, which uses an electric motor to turn the wheels, provides some of the best feedback to the driver from any Ford vehicle. Ford engineers have dialed in the feel, return to center and weight that is nearly perfect. It holds brilliantly through big sweepers and tight corners but also remains light in around-town driving. Because the speed-sensitive steering no longer operates off a hydraulic pump, it can make the wheel easy to turn when parking and tighten up its feel when driving fast.

And driving fast is really what you want to do in this car. It's a Wildcat on the open road.

My Grabber Blue convertible test vehicle never wanted to slow down. When I drove downhill, I would have held both arms in the air if I felt brave enough to steer with my knees. But really, with this car you tend to hold onto with both hands.

On the road, you only reach over to the six-speed manual shifter when you need a different gear. There's a little fear in this machine.

This, of course, is due to the new engine in the GT500.

Ford has replaced the cast-iron block with an aluminum one, cutting more than 100 pounds from the car's weight and adding 10 horsepower to the engine's performance.

Ford also used some very high-tech features on this engine, such as the Plasma Transferred Wire Arc liner. This creates a very thin composite coating inside the cylinders to reduce friction without adding the weight of cast-iron cylinder liners.

It may sound a little too specific for some readers, but there's beauty behind the technology. It's also an example of how performance cars ultimately impact daily drivers as this patented technology is surely going to trickle down to other engines.

The end result of this supercharged engine is EPA gas mileage of 15 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. It's high enough to avoid the gas guzzler tax typically associated with big machines like this and if you drive this car tamely, you can reach those numbers.

Most of all, this V-8 brings a sound that reverberates through your bones. People hear it before they see it and when they do, they know this is not your typical pony car. That new sound arrives in part to the new exhaust put on the GT500 to let the engine breathe a little more (that's also where those 10 more horses came from).

Poised to attack road

The body looks compact and muscular -- just as a Mustang should. Add to that the cobra badges, the big air intake and those broad shoulders and you have a car that looks as though it's ready to pounce even when it's parked.

The GT500 on the sides only reminds people how special it is and the convertible looks even better. (It also has new reinforcements to help keep the body stiffer through cornering -- a problem many convertibles face to the roof sitting in the trunk.

Ford dramatically improved the Mustang's interior with more comfortable seats, a well-executed instrument panel and the improvements on Sync.

That infotainment system, which can do more than most personal assistants, continues to shine. There are all of those little things you like, such as the different color light settings and the aluminum pedals, as well as things like Bluetooth connectivity for your phone and a voice-operated iPod (though the voice recognition did not always work as well in the convertible with the top down).

Most importantly, when you sit down in the GT500, you feel like a pilot ready to blast off. And that's what every GT500 driver and passenger wants. You don't go to Cedar Point to ride the Big Wheel or the Kiddy Kingdom Carousel, you go there for Mantis and the Raptor for warm ups before hitting the big ones.

The wind in your face, the stomach-dropping acceleration, the screams around the bend -- the GT500 can leave your heart racing as you catch your breath and pull into your driveway. With this car, there's a thrill, a sense of danger and an exhilaration that so few others even come close to offering.

It may have a hefty cost of admission, but no one ever asks how much it costs to go on the rides, they only ask how you feel once you coaster lets you off.

And you feel great.

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