Is The Mustang GT500 Set To Lead The 700HP Pony Car Club?

Shouldn't it have AWD to put all that power to use? 740HP in RWD is a waste of spinning tires. Making the car lighter does not help matters either (helps in handling, but not in keeping traction).

It would probably make it more efficient in putting the power to pavement... but AWD may also add weight.

@222max.....at 740hp, the weight of an AWD system is no longer a factor.

The chassis can handle 700hp without AWD.

I think quizz' concern is the rubber, not the chassis but I might be wrong.

Quizz has never driven at the track. AWD is notoriously numb in its handling and RWD will be more squirrelly, but is a better reward for a trained driver.

I hear you and can't disagree from my seat but some pros run AWD in LMP...

BTW, swapped cars w/ a friend at Palmer Motorsport recently. I was running my RS and he has a Turbo S and my take was you need a different line and, more importantly, a different modulation. Slower entry paid big dividends w/ the torque pulling you harder on exit.

I was running slower, to your point, but I chalk that up to experience... Only 30 min behind the seat of an AWD car for a non-pro racer isn't quite sufficient...

@ATrain Having driven AWD cars at the track, my assessment would be that--yes--they allow the car to produce good numbers, but there are tradeoffs. AWD can have dull steering because it's like adding in the deficits of FWD to an RWD car. FWD cars when pushed make it clear that the front wheels are doing two things and that there is a fight going on. I'd rather drive an RWD 911 than an AWD. The Nissan GTR is indeed very fast, but you can feel the software interacting with the AWD. With Audis, you need AWD to be comparable to a RWD BMW.

To each his own of course, but I'd rather have the unruliness of RWD in a high power car than the designed-by-attorneys feel that AWD can sometimes be.