The Ford GT is back. And then some. Taking all the headlines at the Detroit motor show - and confirming some tasty rumours that have been rumbling for a little while now - is the third iteration of Ford's supercar.
And gone is the supercharged V8 of old, replaced by an Ecoboost
engine. Fear not, though, as it still packs a proper amount of
cylinders. A twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 engine drives the rear wheels with
‘more than' 600bhp, and with motorsport development behind it, Ford is
claiming great efficiency.
Of course, it's performance we care
about. Nothing's confirmed in that area just yet, but a 0-60mph time
close to 3.0secs and a top speed north of 200mph ought to be very
feasible targets.
There's plenty to help it on its way too, with
lots of carbon fibre to keep the weight down. A carbon passenger cell, a
la McLaren 650S and P1, is joined by carbon in chassis components too.
"The GT will exhibit one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any
production car", Ford promises.
Aerodynamics play a huge role, as
you may be able to tell from styling way more intricate and involved
than the rather retro-tastic GT of ten years ago. Keeping pace with its
key rivals - and with Ferrari's spectacular 458 clearly in mind - there
are active aero elements, including a rear wing whose height and angle
react to speed and conditions.
Other goodies? There's racing-inspired pushrod suspension, adjustable ride height and upward-swinging doors.
The
old GT's manual transmission is gone, rather inevitably replaced by a
seven-speed paddleshifter, while the driver environment very much takes
its cues from what Ferrari's currently doing; a fully customisable
instrument display sits behind a steering wheel free of stalks but
festooned with buttons, while the seat is fixed, the pedals and wheel
adjustable instead.
You have to admit, it looks brilliant. It'll
land at some point in 2016, by which time the new turbo 458 and 911 GT3
RS will be here, as well as the new Honda NSX and McLaren Sports Series.
To
say that Ford absolutely crushed the 2015 Detroit auto show would be a
massive understatement. The automaker rolled its three marquee
debuts—the GT hypercar, Mustang Shelby GT350R, and F-150 Raptor—slowly
pulled the white gloves off of its hands, and absolutely slapped down
the competition like an 18th-century gentleman initiating a duel. Truly,
in a year packed with hot debuts like the Acura NSX, Alfa 4C Spider,
and more, Ford straight embarrassed them all. To commemorate this
occasion, we've compiled our hottest photos of Ford's big debuts and
other show-stand goodness. Enjoy!
The Ford GT
is back. And then some. Taking all the headlines at the Detroit motor
show - and confirming some tasty rumours that have been rumbling for a
little while now - is the third iteration of Ford's supercar.
And gone is the supercharged V8 of old, replaced by an Ecoboost engine. Fear not, though, as it still packs a proper amount of cylinders. A twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 engine drives the rear wheels with ‘more than' 600bhp, and with motorsport development behind it, Ford is claiming great efficiency.
Of course, it's performance we care about. Nothing's confirmed in that area just yet, but a 0-60mph time close to 3.0secs and a top speed north of 200mph ought to be very feasible targets.
There's plenty to help it on its way too, with lots of carbon fibre to keep the weight down. A carbon passenger cell, a la McLaren 650S and P1, is joined by carbon in chassis components too. "The GT will exhibit one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car", Ford promises.
Aerodynamics play a huge role, as you may be able to tell from styling way more intricate and involved than the rather retro-tastic GT of ten years ago. Keeping pace with its key rivals - and with Ferrari's spectacular 458 clearly in mind - there are active aero elements, including a rear wing whose height and angle react to speed and conditions.
Other goodies? There's racing-inspired pushrod suspension, adjustable ride height and upward-swinging doors.
The old GT's manual transmission is gone, rather inevitably replaced by a seven-speed paddleshifter, while the driver environment very much takes its cues from what Ferrari's currently doing; a fully customisable instrument display sits behind a steering wheel free of stalks but festooned with buttons, while the seat is fixed, the pedals and wheel adjustable instead.
You have to admit, it looks brilliant. It'll land at some point in 2016, by which time the new turbo 458 and 911 GT3 RS will be here, as well as the new Honda NSX and McLaren Sports Series.
For Blue Oval fans, 2016 looms large. That year marks the 50th anniversary of Ford's greatest racing victory, the first of four consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To commemorate and celebrate this glorious anniversary, several sources tell Motor Trend that Ford is bringing back the GT for 2016, though that might not be its name. Not just for the street, either. Looks like the company that Hank built is packing its bags and heading across the pond to France. Whispers in and around Dearborn indicate that Ford has a skunkworks team working on a mid-engine supercar that will not only show up on dealer lots, but also will return Ford to the top of the endurance car podium. What engine will power such a machine? Every car person on the Internet knows the old Ford GT can handle far more power than the 550-hp, 500 lb-ft of torque the Lysholm supercharger helped squeeze out of the 5.4-liter V-8 it shipped with back in 2005. After all, 1000-plus-hp GTs are still frequently used for events such the Texas Mile. As a matter of fact (and example), in 2013 a 2000-hp M2K Motorsports Ford GT went 278.2 mph at the big Texas event. That's nuts! Even if Ford kept the GT's chassis the same and only updated the engine to the last GT500's specs -- 662 hp and 631 lb-ft of torque from a blown 5.8-liter V-8 -- that would be a significant improvement. Add in modern materials, components, and current engineering know-how and Ford could quickly be back on top of the supercar pile. There is one major roadblock to that powerplant scenario: The 5.8-liter supercharged V-8 went out of production in November 2013 and it's never coming back. What engine could possibly power a new GT, then -- especially since the second-generation car simply has to make more power than the previous one? Look to the east, and then straight south. Ford recently started supplying engines to Daytona Prototype cars in the Tudor racing series. In March, a Chip Ganassi Racing/Felix Sabates Riley car powered by a Roush Yates-prepped 3.5-liter, twin-turbo EcoBoost engine making 600 hp won the 12 Hours of Sebring. That's the first time a Ford-powered product has been on the podium in 45 years, with 1969 being the year Ford left endurance racing. I remember years ago at the launch of the Taurus SHO -- one of the first vehicles to receive the 3.5-liter EcoBoost mill -- an engineer explained that while the SHO only makes 365 hp, the engine can easily produce 600 hp and still be reliable. If and when Ford returns to Le Mans, expect this engine to power its entry.
And gone is the supercharged V8 of old, replaced by an Ecoboost engine. Fear not, though, as it still packs a proper amount of cylinders. A twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 engine drives the rear wheels with ‘more than' 600bhp, and with motorsport development behind it, Ford is claiming great efficiency.
Of course, it's performance we care about. Nothing's confirmed in that area just yet, but a 0-60mph time close to 3.0secs and a top speed north of 200mph ought to be very feasible targets.
There's plenty to help it on its way too, with lots of carbon fibre to keep the weight down. A carbon passenger cell, a la McLaren 650S and P1, is joined by carbon in chassis components too. "The GT will exhibit one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car", Ford promises.
Aerodynamics play a huge role, as you may be able to tell from styling way more intricate and involved than the rather retro-tastic GT of ten years ago. Keeping pace with its key rivals - and with Ferrari's spectacular 458 clearly in mind - there are active aero elements, including a rear wing whose height and angle react to speed and conditions.
Other goodies? There's racing-inspired pushrod suspension, adjustable ride height and upward-swinging doors.
The old GT's manual transmission is gone, rather inevitably replaced by a seven-speed paddleshifter, while the driver environment very much takes its cues from what Ferrari's currently doing; a fully customisable instrument display sits behind a steering wheel free of stalks but festooned with buttons, while the seat is fixed, the pedals and wheel adjustable instead.
You have to admit, it looks brilliant. It'll land at some point in 2016, by which time the new turbo 458 and 911 GT3 RS will be here, as well as the new Honda NSX and McLaren Sports Series.
For Blue Oval fans, 2016 looms large. That year marks the 50th anniversary of Ford's greatest racing victory, the first of four consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To commemorate and celebrate this glorious anniversary, several sources tell Motor Trend that Ford is bringing back the GT for 2016, though that might not be its name. Not just for the street, either. Looks like the company that Hank built is packing its bags and heading across the pond to France. Whispers in and around Dearborn indicate that Ford has a skunkworks team working on a mid-engine supercar that will not only show up on dealer lots, but also will return Ford to the top of the endurance car podium. What engine will power such a machine? Every car person on the Internet knows the old Ford GT can handle far more power than the 550-hp, 500 lb-ft of torque the Lysholm supercharger helped squeeze out of the 5.4-liter V-8 it shipped with back in 2005. After all, 1000-plus-hp GTs are still frequently used for events such the Texas Mile. As a matter of fact (and example), in 2013 a 2000-hp M2K Motorsports Ford GT went 278.2 mph at the big Texas event. That's nuts! Even if Ford kept the GT's chassis the same and only updated the engine to the last GT500's specs -- 662 hp and 631 lb-ft of torque from a blown 5.8-liter V-8 -- that would be a significant improvement. Add in modern materials, components, and current engineering know-how and Ford could quickly be back on top of the supercar pile. There is one major roadblock to that powerplant scenario: The 5.8-liter supercharged V-8 went out of production in November 2013 and it's never coming back. What engine could possibly power a new GT, then -- especially since the second-generation car simply has to make more power than the previous one? Look to the east, and then straight south. Ford recently started supplying engines to Daytona Prototype cars in the Tudor racing series. In March, a Chip Ganassi Racing/Felix Sabates Riley car powered by a Roush Yates-prepped 3.5-liter, twin-turbo EcoBoost engine making 600 hp won the 12 Hours of Sebring. That's the first time a Ford-powered product has been on the podium in 45 years, with 1969 being the year Ford left endurance racing. I remember years ago at the launch of the Taurus SHO -- one of the first vehicles to receive the 3.5-liter EcoBoost mill -- an engineer explained that while the SHO only makes 365 hp, the engine can easily produce 600 hp and still be reliable. If and when Ford returns to Le Mans, expect this engine to power its entry.
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