Ford has finally released some solid numbers for their here-but-not-quite-yet all-new GT halo supercar. It was first unveiled at the 2015 Detroit Motor Show where it coincided with the launch of the Forza Motorsport 6 video game where Ford emphasised its innovative aerodynamics and EcoBoost turbo engine.
The public has known for some time that in order to keep pace with modern offerings and to best its supercharged predecessor, the new GT would need to extract quite a lot of its relatively small twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 engine.
Now we know for sure that those lucky buyers, handpicked by Ford, will get to experience 482kW and 746Nm of torque upwards of 3,500rpm. During the initial unveil, Ford also said it would have one of the best power to weight ratios of any production car.
“Our expectation has always been that the EcoBoost V6 would perform exceptionally well in the Ford GT – both in terms of power as well as aerodynamic efficiency,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “We tested and developed this powertrain through the Daytona Prototype race car that ran in IMSA for two seasons, last season racing with Ford GT. We are extremely pleased with how it performs, both on the track and on the road.”
Now we can conclude, given its weight of 1,316kg, that it stands at 354kW/ton. That’s not quite as high as some of us were expecting, but power-to-weight can only account for so much when unleashed on a track. It would have been nice if they had also revealed the car’s 0-100km/h sprint time, but alas, we’ll have to make due with only knowing its top speed of 348km/h.
“The Ford GT is all about performance,” said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, global product development and chief technical officer. “We achieved considerable weight savings with the carbon fiber architecture. We then reinvested some of that savings into where it counts most – performance, specifically, the active dynamics. The result is an even faster car.”
Ford, in developing the new GT, tested it against cars like the McLaren 675LT and Ferrari 458 Speciale. For a lap around the Calabogie Motorsports Park in Canada, the GT bested the McLaren by 1 full second while the Ferrari trailed by 3.1 seconds.
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