Ford GT Specs: 638BHP & 216mph Flat Out
SOme of the stats for the new Ford GT are here; therefore, it's time to have a little wonder down comparison street...
A couple of weeks ago, I published a blog expressing my lack of excitement for the upcoming Ford GT. The reasons for my apathy were rather long and involving, so if you're interested, please go and read that blog on my tribe, Speed Machines (shameless plug). But one thing in particular that got me wondering was one of Ford's initial promises from when they first unveiled the car.
They said that the new GT would have, and I quote, "one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any car on the market". Without any solid performance statistics, we couldn't debunk this claim completely – no matter how unlikely it seemed. Well, now Ford have revealed some of the GT's stats, and I'm ambivalent to inform you, that I was right to doubt them!
The 3.5L Twin-Turbo V6 will produce 638BHP and 550lb-ft of torque. But given that the car weights 3,053lbs (1,385kg), that means the GT will have a power-to-weight ratio of 460BHP-per-tonne. That means that in supercars.net's "Top 50 Supercars Listed by Power-To-Weight" list, the new GT would list in last place. Meaning there's 49 cars better than it. But that's not the whole story, because the weight figure Ford have provided is a dry weight, not a curb weight. And I'm sorry to be pedantic, but there's absolutely no point in quoting the weight of a car when it doesn't have the liquids it needs to actually be driven. It's like saying "the car weighs this much without fluids, which means it's slightly easier to push than when you can actually drive it!".
Now the GT's performance figures are here, it inevitably inspires people to have a little wonder down comparison street – and this is where you may begin to feel somewhat deflated. After all, the GT is less powerful and heavier than both the Ferrari 488 and the McLaren 675LT – both of which are massively less expensive than the £400,000 GT. "Why is the GT so expensive?" I hear you ask. Well...Nigel fucking Farage!
Before Brexit when our economy was healthier than the Dutch Dope industry, Ford said the new GT would be sold in the UK at prices starting from £250,000, which would make it £9,000 less expensive than the McLaren 675LT. Since our vote however, our economy has been residing down in a ditch – probably with the hopes and dreams of the American people for company! And as a result, the GT's price has elevated massively for the UK market. So there you are: politics!
There are a couple of little bits of information that Ford has shared that do tangibly put the GT ahead of its competitors in a couple of disciplines. First one is the top speed: with a V-Max of 216mph, the GT is 11mph faster than the 488 and 675; and then there's the lap time it can extract. Apparently, the GT will get around Calabogie Motorsports Park in Canada 1 whole second faster than the 675LT. Feel free to let out a suitably sarcastic "wow".
I don't think there's any doubt that the Ford GT is overpriced. But let's not forget that 638BHP is a huge amount of power to have under your right foot; anyone who says otherwise doesn't have the first idea of what they're on about. I've never been particularly excited by the arrival of this car, and to be honest, I'm still not. It seems too soulless for me; too anodyne. And let's not forget the cherry on top of the cake: its engine has the word "EcoBoost" written on it, which is the automotive equivalent of a menacing superhero having "Cuddles" tattooed on their forehead. But all in all, despite my indifference, I predict it'll be a marvellous piece of engineering.
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Written by: Angelo Uccello
Twitter: @AngeloUccello
Tribe: Speed Machines
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