Ford has seriously upped the ante in the performance and horsepower wars with new 2013 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 producing 650HP and top speed of 200MPH. Ford all new motor is a 5.8-liter, aluminum-block V8 with a larger and more efficient supercharger. The entire powertrain has been upgraded for 2013 model year, including a new cross-drilled block and heads, updated camshaft profiles, a carbon fiber driveshaft and upgraded clutch, transmission and axle.

With a curb weight of just 3,850 pounds, over 200 pounds lighter than the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, this new Mustang is setup to destroy Chevy’s pony car offering as well as many other performance cars. With the huge Ford aftermarket tuning arena, we expect 700-750+ HP Mustangs to be hitting the streets within weeks after the cars release.

Check out this video of a brand new retro-styled 2010 Chevrolet Camaro drag racing it’s past counterpart, a 1968 Camaro, looks like it was a pretty close race. The 1968 Camaro turns out to be quite a bit modified…

Car and Driver is the first to release a heads up battle between the new 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 and the current Chevrolet Corvette Z06. For the straight-line drag racers it’s a close call with the Viper pulling 0-60 in 3.5 seconds running through the 1/4 mile barrier in 11.6 seconds at 126 MPH. The Z06 did 0-60 in 3.7 seconds and pulled 11.7 @ 125 MPH in the 1/4 mile. While the Viper did win, we would have expected some higher trap speeds from the milestone breaking 600HP V10 Viper. Without knowing the exact test conditions we think quicker and faster times are sure to come from the the actual buyers when they start hitting the drag strips across the country with these monsters.

Not forgetting about the “twisties” (the unofficial Bimmer crowd mantra) the Viper outdid the Z06 around a 2 mile road course by 1 second. Even with the Viper winning the tests Car and Driver still choose the Corvette Z06 as the overall winner. With the prices of these two cars slowly converging to about $7,000 of each-other it makes for some interesting decisions for the buyers in this market.

We know the Z06 is very “mod” friendly with more horsepower and torque readily available with very simple bolt-ons and tuning. Will the Viper be the same? Will we be seeing 700HP Vipers with simple modifications? We’re looking forward to seeing how much power the new Viper is really putting down to the wheels as well as some real world drag strip times, so send in those dyno results and timeslips!

Take a look at this gorgeous blue first generation 1968 Camaro SS submitted by Brett running at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey. It’s running a 555 cubic inch BBC motor with a host of built up internals, including JE forged pistons, forged rods and ported aluminum heads.

Weighing in at around 3700 pounds this Camaro puts the power to the ground through a Turbo 400 transmission with a 10″ 3000 stall. There is no dyno sheet posted yet but we would estimate over 600HP to the wheels. Brett’s getting some amazing short times in the 1.5x range using polished weld wheels wrapped with Hoosier quick time pro slicks.

Running in 49 degree weather Brett’s latest run is a 10.6 @ 128.8 MPH with a 1.51 60′ time. Click on the picture below to view Brett’s record.

Did you know?
Every engine in every Chevrolet Camaro built by General Motors was a pushrod-actuated valve design. There has never been an overhead cam engine in a Camaro from the factory.