Ford GT

[FIRE]

At the moment I am watching BBC's Top Gear and they show the new Ford GT. If am right this car is only sold in the USA .

Are there plans to build a racing version of this car? It would be nice to see this car race against Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Saleens, etcetera.

[JAG]

Isn't Saleen involved in this?

With the Aston Martin entering GT, eventually, I suppose there is a possiblilty the Ford GT could enter GTS if Ford so wanted.

[Andy Roberts]

Lovely looking car!

[pirenzo]

hmm, i'm not such a great fan of the new GT40 (as i am also not that impressed with the original) but it would still be great to see it on the track from a historical point of view. Astons at the same time if possible, would that be great. Still a recreation of the old Ford/Ferrari wars of the late 60s would be awesome too

[MulsanneMike]

I'm unimpressed with the Ford GT in that I find it a cop-out. Lets rebuild the same (nearly exact) car 40 years later...yawn. I would have much prefered a modern interpertation showcasing Ford's evolution and racing knowledge (start the designers with the same design brief handed to the guys 40 years ago). Instead what we have is a car clothed in 1960s aero with 1990s chassis and engine technology (at best). I really think if they go GTS with it they will have to modify it substantially to be competitive or it will frankly be eating dust. To simply put a large capacity V8 in a mid-enigne location isn't equal to instant success. I feel the same for Brock's Cobra-Daytona coupe retro car. Great looking car, but please don't bring it racing...we don't need any more Morgan wannabes chocking up the back end of the GT and GTS grid.

[JAG]

Have you heard anything on the Brock Coupe, as in Autosport he said ACO officials had already given the car the once over and given it the green light to race when enough road cars are produced.

Personally I really like the new Morgan, and its BMW V8 sounds really good.

With Ford making such a high profile model as the Ford GT wouldn't it have been the ideal opportunity to design a brand new high tech engine to compete with the best in Europe/Japan instead of relying on outdated technology (at least for a supercar).

[gsmith2424]

For everyones info the current setup on the Ford GT can't be raced in GT or GTS due to it engine which is a superchraged 5.4 liter V-8.

[gttouring]

I thought it was a shame that the new GT was built with a 5.4 Supercharged V8, why did ford go the really cheap route and supercharge a fat block? sure it is inexpensive for a 'supercar', a 6 or 7 litre v8 would've been been better but cheaper i don't know and the HP/Torque figures might not be the same.
they do have a 5.4 litre OHC V10 at their disposal, so why not bore it to 6 litres and try that? it could rev higher than the dodge pushrod 8L v10...or would that be too much praise for the viper? I think the suprecharger was a goofy way to make a world power car, turbos would have been better as it could have been converted to ACO/FIA spec easier- but as it stands what does ford do in International competition- put a 6 litre V10 or a 7 litre V8 like Saleen?
I still think ford should have been more unique with this one(although the 5.4 Litre supercharged Idea is plenty unique- but not world competition thoughtful is it?)

[JAG]

Originally posted by gsmith2424
For everyones info the current setup on the Ford GT can't be raced in GT or GTS due to it engine which is a superchraged 5.4 liter V-8.

I don't think theres anything in the regs to stop the Ford GT running without the supercharger to conform with the GTS regs. Just as the Mucielago R-GT only runs with 2wd and various cars have electronic aids disabled.

The Ford V8 could be run upto 8l if Ford so wished in GTS.

[gttouring]

running an 8L V8 is not in the spirit of the GT as it has been redesigned, and non of my engine options are either, which i see as a problem for the designers choices, they weren't thinking of racing it...but everyone wants to

[slicktsax]

ok the regs for GTS state that engines can be up to 4 liters capacity with turbos or a supercharger or up to 8 liters naturally aspirated. so the only way i can figure th enew GT to be eligible is to destroke the engine to 4 liters or take off the blower and bore the engine out

[JAG]

Remember the Lister Storm road car has a supercharger. The race car has this removed and fitted a TWR Group C V12 engine (which has since been developed further by Lister).

[thebear]

Originally posted by FIRE
Are there plans to build a racing version of this car? It would be nice to see this car race against Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Saleens, etcetera.

C'est une boulevardier, c'est tout Just a `Crumpet Catcher'.

[thebear]

Originally posted by MulsanneMike
I'm unimpressed with the Ford GT in that I find it a cop-out. Lets rebuild the same (nearly exact) car 40 years later...yawn. I would have much prefered a modern interpertation showcasing Ford's evolution and racing knowledge (start the designers with the same design brief handed to the guys 40 years ago).[

Not at all. The body is approximately 10 inches longer to compensate for `crash tested' front and rear ends. There is full road equipment including upholstery and air conditioning. As an example of the technology, by putting components inside, the Ford GT's fuel tank can be enlarged to use space previously needed for external components. Mounted on a stainless-steel carrier inside the plastic tank are the fuel-delivery system's working components (two turbine pumps, three jet pumps, sensors, valves and other controls). This design saves space and manufacturing steps and allows the blow molded tank to be larger and exactly fitted to the center of the car's Lotus Elan type backbone. An additional possible use of this type of fuel tank construction could also appear on the '04 Land Rover Discovery.

[i]Instead what we have is a car clothed in 1960s aero with 1990s chassis and engine technology (at best)[/B]

Not exactly, but then it was never intended to be a "competiton car".

[billnchristy]

This is funny...why is a DOHC supercharged V8 90s technology but an 8L pushrod a good idea? Are we chevy fans here?? What about the C5R??? A 427 cu in Big bore pushrod small block? Yeah thats modern technology?!?

What do you want a plasma drive with a photon gun on the front?

[917Addicted]

Originally posted by billnchristy
This is funny...why is a DOHC supercharged V8 90s technology but an 8L pushrod a good idea? Are we chevy fans here?? What about the C5R??? A 427 cu in Big bore pushrod small block? Yeah thats modern technology?!?

What do you want a plasma drive with a photon gun on the front?

Why can't FORD extract 540 horsepower from a non-supercharged 5,4 V8???? Maybe because their technology is not so modern
(and please, don't give the argument that Mercedes is doing the same thing with their supercar).

Why don't they follow Ferrari and Porsche's root??? Porsche's Carrera GT has 612bhp from a non-supercharged 5,5 V10

[917Addicted]

Originally posted by JAG
Remember the Lister Storm road car has a supercharger. The race car has this removed and fitted a TWR Group C V12 engine (which has since been developed further by Lister).

BTW, are you sure about this JAG? I thought lister's road-going V12 was not supercharged...

(sorry for being offtopic)

[pirenzo]

bear, no matter what has changed on the body of it, the overall impression is still that of a car very closely linked with the GT40 of old. What mike was suggesting is that it could have been a completely new design, retaining only mere hints of the old GT40.

[kdr]

i like it and wish it would race...at the end of the day it looks like a sportscar and not a bmw 3 series.

[917Addicted]

Originally posted by kdr
i like it and wish it would race...at the end of the day it looks like a sportscar and not a bmw 3 series.

But does it really look like a supercar???

I mean, this all project is nothing more than PR-stuff. Maybe I'm wrong, but I reckon that it is not such a fast car (when compared with the other supercars).

(And who knows, maybe a M3GTR would be faster at the ring than a hypothetical Racing-Version Ford GT )

[MulsanneMike]

pirenzo,

Exactely. Ford simply redid the car. What's the point in that (like Gus Van Sant redoing the movie Psycho shot for shot)? That seems to be a trend these days, taking what was old and redoing it. I would have preferred seeing Ford stretch their imaginations stylistically just a little bit.

[TuscanR]

Just to let you guys know Evo magazine (the best car mag in the world ) were invited to the USA to test drive the new Ford GT. Ford were so confident of the cars ability that they hired out Laguna Seca and a fleet of Ferrari 360's for a direct comparision, The Hacks left very impressed with the GT, they thought it was a more neutral and progressive car than the Ferrari. That though was the road car, I doubt Ford would ever commit to turning it into a racer, isn't F1 and rallying eating quite a large slice of the Ford racing budget already? I also can't see them outsourcing the project as Saleen are busy with there own project and who else would want to take on such a mamouth task.

[TuscanR]

I'm not knocking the car I just think it will be a great low volume production sports car, but it will never be a racer.

[thebear]

Originally posted by 917Addicted
Why can't FORD extract 540 horsepower from a non-supercharged 5,4 V8???? Maybe because their technology is not so modern
(and please, don't give the argument that Mercedes is doing the same thing with their supercar).

Why don't they follow Ferrari and Porsche's root??? Porsche's Carrera GT has 612bhp from a non-supercharged 5,5 V10

Because thaey are building a street legal car that will meet exhaust emission standards and sell (allegedly) for $150,000 all the while justifying it's cost of manufacture.

[JAG]

Originally posted by 917Addicted
BTW, are you sure about this JAG? I thought lister's road-going V12 was not supercharged...

(sorry for being offtopic)

Yes the Lister Storm road car had a supercharged V12, I think of 7ls.