Ford’s new GT Supercar is a thing of beauty; with a hint of classic American style Corvette about its looks, it’s surely set to cause quite a buzz, as if it isn’t already.
Ford has just revealed further information as to what we might expect when the supercar finally appears. Most notable is that this car will be the fastest production Ford built so far with a suggested top speed of 216mph.
The tweaked 3.5 litre V6 twin turbo Ford EcoBoost engine will produce 647hp and 550lb/ft torque. Some thanks for the awesome power to weight ratio must go to the supercar’s aerodynamics and the way the car has actually been put together. The miracle of carbon fibre has made the GT a very light car weighing in at just 1,385kg.
The aerodynamics of the car is designed to push the car down onto the tarmac like a magnet as well as slicing through the air with minimal drag.
5 driving modes
The car will feature 5 drive modes: Normal, Wet, Sport, Track and V-Max. Normal is the everyday drive setting you are likely to have it set to the most with 120mm of ground clearance for those potholes, while Wet will give a tighter traction control for wet conditions, monitoring each wheel’s grip. Sport will back this off for a little more fun and feel and Track ups the ante giving more driver control and also lowers the ride height to 60mm. V-Max gives you the best speed and performance in a straight line.
On all of the above settings apart from Wet, there will be a Launch Function, giving you the opportunity to hold the brake pedal down, push the accelerator and wait for the LC to turn green on the dash. Lifting your foot of the brake at this point will, er, launch you. This will be tailored to whoever drive mode you are in.
As if this isn’t enough, Ford will also offer a Competition Series track car with even lower weight and improved aerodynamics. The model will sacrifice air conditioning, cup holders and a stereo in favour of improved performance and lighter carbon fibre wheels, reducing the rolling resistance even further. A carbon fibre strip running across the bonnet to the back of the car will tell other owners that yours is a bit special.
The race inspired dash features digital graphics that have been optimised for clarity and style and reduced eyestrain, with the promise from Ford that the technology will eventually trickle down to lower, more affordable Ford vehicles.
No figures for a 0-60 as yet, Ford have been carefully trickling the information out over the past year or two just to keep the car in the press it seems, so we can look forward to that information later.
Ford did recently put the car through its paces at the wonderfully named Calabogie Motorsports Park in Canada though, where it achieved a lap time of 2:09.80 – narrowly beating a McLaren 675LT.
Originally, Ford were to give the GT a 2 year manufacturing run with the window of opportunity for purchase closing on 12 May 2016, but interest and demand has been such that Ford have doubled the time to 4 years. The third year of production is to fulfil those who are now already on the waiting list, while year four will open for new applications. December 2016 saw the first Ford GT Supercar roll off the production line.
If you’re lucky enough to be one of the few, you will receive a rather tactile Unique Order Kit, which consists of hands-on parts showing the striping options, wheel options (with small replica wheels no less) and paint colours. Big boy’s toys indeed.
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