Video: 1,300-HP Shelby GT500 Code Red is an 8-second car

When Shelby announced its crazy “Code Red” Mustang a few years ago, it didn’t reveal any dynamic performance figures. Now that the first proper tests have been conducted, it is official that the muscle supercar can do 402 meters in 8.59 seconds.

To put things into perspective, only four production cars in the world can boast the same – the Pininfarina Battista, the electric Lucid Air Sapphire, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 and the battery-powered Rimac Nevera. Granted, the Code Red isn’t a mass-issue car, but with 30 production examples planned, it isn’t a one-off, either. It’s also purely gas-powered, based on a production model and rear-wheel-drive - quite the unlikely contender, yet here we are.

To achieve this level of performance, Shelby takes the supercharger off the 5.2-liter V8 and puts dual turbos in its place. Manley pistons and connecting rods, reinforced timing chains, racing-grade injectors and a Motec ECU ensure that the setup performs consistently.

On pump gas, the car delivers 1,014 PS (1,000 hp / 747 kW) and 1,058 Nm (780 lb-ft) of torque. Pouring in E85 instead bumps the output to 1,318 PS (1,300 hp / 969 kW) and 1,356 Nm (1,000 lb-ft) of torque. By the end of the quarter-mile run, it hits a cool 259 km/h (161 mph).