The brand new 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 delivers 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft of torque thanks to its supercharged 5.2-liter V8. The Shelby GT350 and GT350R offer 526 hp and 429 lb-ft. Sure, the GT500 is more powerful and faster in stock form, but it lacks one key ingredient many enthusiasts crave: a manual transmission. While the GT350 and GT350R can be equipped with a six-speed manual, the GT500 has a seven-speed automatic only (for now). Fortunately, there's already a way around this issue.

The Hennessey Performance modified HPE850 Supercharged Shelby GT350 and GT350R program not only keeps the manual but adds more power thanks to a 3.0-liter supercharger system, among other Voodoo V8 modifications. There's now a total of 850 hp and 673 lb-ft of torque, hence the HPE850 moniker.

And yes, these modifications make the track-focused muscle car fast, obviously faster than its stock counterpart. To prove this, Hennessey pitted a stock GT350R against a modified one at the Pennzoil Proving Grounds. While the HPE850 is clearly faster, it's not considerably faster.

The stock car's 0-60 mph time of 3.9 seconds is already impressive, but the extra power makes a difference with the HPE850 shaving off a few tenths of a second. However, it's the HPE850's quarter-mile time that could be the deciding factor for prospective buyers: 10.8 seconds at 133 mph. The stock version? 12.3 seconds at 119 mph. The new Shelby GT500? 11.2 seconds at 122 mph. Again, compare the HPE850 GT350R against the Shelby GT500.

Those are very close figures and we'd love to see a direct drag race competition between these two but we're not so sure that'll be happening anytime soon. Hennessey has already announced plans for not one but three unique modification levels for the GT500, the Venom 850, Venom 1000, and Venom 1200, though there's still no manual option.