2013/2014 GT500 - are they reliable?

So we all know they are amazing rides, and make over 700rwhp with bolts on, but how reliable are they?

I remember making 450-550Rwhp with bolts on terminators and you could beat them to death, race them all day every day and they never had issues. But how about the 13/14 GT500s? I am particularly interested in hearing about those have higher miles and have been put to test.

Thanks

I know a bunch of 13/14 owners but I'm not aware of many high mile modded cars yet.
Stock, they should run as long as anything. Modded, good fuel, not banging off the rev limiter, they should run as good around 750 HP.
Turn up the wick, stock bottom end, that's where it might get dicey.

Do the stock long block, bottom end isn’t as tough as the terminators, 11/12 GT500s?

What’s the weak link with them? With terminators, as long as you didn’t beat soak them, they took all kinds of abuse. What’s the case with these? I m considering to get one, but I did read a couple of horror storieey

Actually you are wrong about terminators. Just going to the next size smaller pulley the car will go into limp mode after a handful of hot laps. Bigger radiator, heat, exchanger, running the heater and even removing the thermostat the car still would get hot. I know I had two. Stock you could run the car all day and not have an issue with overheating. But wait we forgot to add a dif-cooler.

gfcobra04 said:

Actually you are wrong about terminators. Just going to the next size smaller pulley the car will go into limp mode after a handful of hot laps. Bigger radiator, heat, exchanger, running the heater and even removing the thermostat the car still would get hot. I know I had two. Stock you could run the car all day and not have an issue with overheating. But wait we forgot to add a dif-cooler.

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We are talking about weak links, stuff that breaks your car. Terminator would pull timing and you wouldn’t run as strong until the car cooled down. I owned two and have thousands of races under my belt with them, so when it comes to reliability, I couldn’t recommend them more. So, I want to know the reliability of the gt500s.

gfcobra04 said:

Actually you are wrong about terminators. Just going to the next size smaller pulley the car will go into limp mode after a handful of hot laps. Bigger radiator, heat, exchanger, running the heater and even removing the thermostat the car still would get hot. I know I had two. Stock you could run the car all day and not have an issue with overheating. But wait we forgot to add a dif-cooler.

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I recall a guy had overheating issues with an 03, and claimed it was solved by removing the cats.

I bet some would improve by putting the air filter in the fender. Kenne bell has an article on it.

I read the 11/12 GT500s are the more mod friendly car. It depends on how much HP you want to put down and how much you want to spend. If you have the means to replace a trinity motor, then that would be the better route. LOL

It's a 11-12 but might still apply to your question:

I put 70k on a 2011 pushing 630ish to the wheels and another almost 60k after that with a gen2 TVS and 2.4 pushing around 720 to the wheels.

Only thing it ever ate was the stock clutch around 50k miles....at least one blast up to 130ish daily...

I'm also interested in this topic. I to would like to hear about the "weak links" of the 13-14

although I will disagree that the 03-04 was reliable.i was pulley, exhaust and tune and stuff was always pooping up. Could the motor handle big power, sure, but the rest of the car crumbled around it. Hence why all the modded terminators have supporting mod lists a mile long.

Broken input shaft, frps blew, rear diff needed a brace always something needed upgraded.

So far, I know the rods are the weak link in the motor especially past 6500rpm. And the knock sensors are a bit aggressive.

Other than that, the car seems solid. I mean simple bolt ons gets you 700-750 reliable wheel hp. Most all the top cars now days past 700-800 require major mods.

musclefan21 said:

We are talking about weak links, stuff that breaks your car. Terminator would pull timing and you wouldn’t run as strong until the car cooled down. I owned two and have thousands of races under my belt with them, so when it comes to reliability, I couldn’t recommend them more. So, I want to know the reliability of the gt500s.

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As-engineered, you can generally beat the shit out of them all day every day. That said, the powdered metal rods are the weak link. Same goes for the 2011-2012 and 07-10s. Also, a lot of the factory rear ends start to whine after you put them on drag radials; some whine even before that. If you want to mod up past 750 whp and beat on one, i'd plan on an eventual 9" rear upgrade and probably a rod upgrade for peace of mind. Stock clutches can get overwhelmed pretty quick with heavy mods. Getting rid of the 3.31 gears helps that some. IMO, overall it is a tougher car than a terminator. It was basically built to handle 600 WHP all day long. The cooling system is very robust, the pistons have oil squirters, and the TR6060 can take a shithammering.

Respect RPM, give it a conservative tune, let it drink good fuel...you should be good to go.

My friend has a 2013 Super Snake with 850HP. He's got at least 60k on it and many, many, many track days. He seems to only really have repeat problems with the 8.8 rear. I guess he didn't pony up the 55k for the 1000HP option that includes among other things a 9" rear.

Thanks guys. So basically 700-750rwhp should be reliable and I can race and beat her and she would take it no problems with the rods ?

Assuming problems would start around 800rwhp and up then?

musclefan21 said:

Thanks guys. So basically 700-750rwhp should be reliable and I can race and beat her and she would take it no problems with the rods ?

Assuming problems would start around 800rwhp and up then?

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I think if you keep RPMs and the tune reasonable you will be okay in the 700-750 RWHP range. At that power level, I think you can make your gears whine permanently with nothing more than one dead hook on a prepped strip. Of course, there are guys making a million RWH on stock 8.8s with no whine. But it should not be surprising if it happens.

I have owned 3 13/14 GT500s, in stock trim they will neve let you down. If you plan on modding it to around 700whp than just keep your WOT shifts at 6k. The only somewhat weak link is the rods, but that goes for all GT500s. A lot of 13/14 Shelby's are well over 700whp with no issues.

i wouldn't describe a 550rwhp terminator as reliable

mc01svt said:

i wouldn't describe a 550rwhp terminator as reliable

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I don’t want this to turn into a terminator debate, but I owned 2. One pullied one ported. One made 455 and the other made 503. I raced them to death. Especially my 03 and ran low 11s all the time with them. I never had a single issue with them. My 04 had hesitation when power shifted but that was in the tune and got it figured out. The only thing I fixed was the alternator on my 03. They drove like factory stock the day I sold them both.

Anyways, back to shelby talk

When you facebook-ed me I said when I sell my house I'm going Supra or Terminator again, if you plan to garage the car through the winter I would sit down and consider more ideas, yet if it's DD then go after a 13-14 Shelby. It's a built machine.

I've admit, I've alway's wanted late 80's 911 built up but thats me

@musclefan21 why not a manual hellcat?
I'm impressed as hell with these cars considering how much they weigh and how they can beat 13/14 GT500s.

Serpent said:

@musclefan21 why not a manual hellcat?
I'm impressed as hell with these cars considering how much they weigh and how they can beat 13/14 GT500s.

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I think a 13 GT500 and a manual Hellcat are pretty evenly matched. But hey, I’m biased.

Serpent said:

@musclefan21 why not a manual hellcat?
I'm impressed as hell with these cars considering how much they weigh and how they can beat 13/14 GT500s.

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Honestly, when it comes to looks and reputation, GT500 takes the win everyday compared to Hellcat. I know they are very nice and impressive cars but I m not only after power and speed. I would like to have that shelby style and name. I remember the feeling I had every time I drove my 11 Shelby. Should have never sold it.