The first wave of 2015 and 2016 Shelby GT350s have been arriving at dealerships and in owner’s driveways for a few weeks now, and the Mustang aftermarket has hit the ground running in its bid to squeeze more power from the newest Shelby. But that begs the question, just how much low-hanging horsepower did Ford leave in its track-ready Mustang?
Dennis Moore found out when he took his new GT350 to JLT Performance for a new tune and intake. The improvements didn’t free up a ton of power, but it was enough to bring the wheel-horsepower rating up from a hair over 450 to within spitting distance of 500, according to dyno sheets posted on Mustang6g.com.
For a baseline run, the 2016 Shelby GT350 laid down 451 horsepower, compared to the 5.2 liter Voodoo engine’s 526 horsepower rating. That’s about right if you figure a 15% drivetrain loss, and still makes it the most powerful naturally aspirated engine in America. JLT added a DTP tune to the Voodoo engine’s ECU, taking the wheel horsepower rating up to 464.5, an indication that while Ford did go aggressive with the GT350, there’s still respectable gains to be had.
The aftermarket JLT cold air intake woke the engine up even more in conjunction with the tune, adding another 20 ponies to bring the total up to 484 rear-wheel horsepower. A second run confirmed the results with a 482.7 horsepower rating, bringing total gains to just over 30 and bringing the Shelby closer to that magic 500 rear wheel horsepower number.
The GT350 is already impressing us, we’re curious to see how much more power tuners and the aftermarket can crank out of Ford’s latest creation.