How much power does a Mustang need to outrun a Porsche 911 Turbo S? (Spoiler alert: plenty)

In its ultimate Shelby GT500 guise, the Ford Mustang has crazy acceleration dynamics, but still lags behind the legendary Porsche 911 Turbo S on a drag strip. Hennessey Performance set out to find out how much extra muscle it may need to match the German supercar.

The Venom 1000 tuning package helped the 5.2-liter V8 of the GT500 ascend to 1,000 horsepower (745 kilowatts) on E85 fuel and 900 hp (671 kW) on regular gas. The Porsche is weaker on paper with 641 hp (478 kW).

The first run saw the Mustang pulling ahead and utilizing its power advantage to win the race. The second one was not as triumphant: the Mustang still won, but only barely, and had struggled to keep up with the Porsche at times.

Note also that both attempts were made from a running start. A standing start would have given the Porsche an even greater advantage thanks to its AWD configuration.

The outtake is simple: always think twice before challenging a Porsche 911 Turbo S to a duel, even if you have a Shelby Mustang GT500 with a thousand horses under the hood.