On this episode of Ignition presented by Tire Rack
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MotorTranscript
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00:32 Oh, hi.
00:33 Yep, it's me.
00:34 I'm back.
00:35 You see, Johnny and Jason have been having way too much fun
00:38 lately, so I figured it was about time
00:40 I got to drive something loud, fast, and expensive.
00:43 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:46 So they gave me a Ford.
00:48 The good news is this isn't just any Ford.
00:52 This is the new Ford GT.
00:56 It's got 647 horsepower.
00:59 It'll do 216 miles an hour.
01:02 And it costs $450,000.
01:06 So yeah, it's loud, it's fast, and it's expensive.
01:10 It's a race car for the road.
01:12 And it might just be the greatest performance car
01:15 Ford has ever built.
01:17 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:19 Oh, yeah.
01:20 [LAUGHS]
01:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:31 Back in the 1960s, total performance
01:33 was more than just an advertising slogan
01:35 for Ford Motor Company.
01:37 It was a way of life--
01:38 drag racing, stock car racing, Formula 1 rallies, you name it.
01:42 Ford was out there every weekend putting the blue oval
01:45 on the line against all comers.
01:48 But it was sports car racing that perhaps gave Ford
01:51 its finest hour of the total performance era.
01:54 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:00 When Enzo Ferrari pulled out of a deal
02:02 to sell his company to Ford in 1963,
02:06 Henry Ford, too, authorized the development of Ford's
02:09 own mid-engine sports car.
02:13 The aim?
02:14 To humiliate Enzo's blood-red racism where it hurt most--
02:18 at Le Mans.
02:20 And you could say the original Ford GT40 did exactly that,
02:25 winning the legendary 24-hour race four times
02:28 in a row between 1966 and 1969.
02:32 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:35 This car is the GT40's spiritual successor.
02:44 Now, it's taken Ford a long time to get here.
02:47 The last GT40 was built almost 50 years ago.
02:51 And yes, there was a second-generation Ford GT.
02:54 But that car was only in production
02:56 for a couple of years.
02:57 And it really was a loving homage to the original GT40,
03:01 with swinging '60s styling digitally remastered
03:04 for the 21st century.
03:06 This car-- this car is something completely different.
03:11 I mean, just look at it.
03:13 There is nothing retro about this Ford GT.
03:21 It's made from carbon fiber.
03:23 It has a twin-turbo V6 engine, seven-speed dual-clutch
03:26 transmission, and a suspension system
03:29 borrowed from a Formula One car.
03:31 Underneath me is an aerodynamic floor
03:33 that's designed to increase downforce at speed.
03:36 Behind me, an active rear wing that not only acts
03:39 as an air brake, but is capable of changing its profile
03:43 to deliver more downforce at speed.
03:45 All these systems are interconnected
03:47 and can be controlled via this controller on the steering
03:50 wheel to dramatically change the Ford GT's character.
03:54 Now, we're in normal mode.
03:55 And this is for normal street driving.
03:57 So the ride height is set at 4.7 inches.
04:00 You can access a comfort setting in the suspension
04:03 for rough roads.
04:04 And the rear wing deploys at 90 miles an hour.
04:07 Switching to sport mode activates the anti-lag system
04:11 for the turbochargers to deliver better throttle response.
04:15 And it reduces the traction control intervention
04:17 just to make things a little interesting.
04:19 To compensate, the rear wing now deploys at 70 miles an hour.
04:23 But we're at a racetrack, so of course we want track mode.
04:26 Check this out.
04:27 Pretty cool, huh?
04:40 Just like a low rider, the ride height's been dropped 2 inches.
04:43 The rear wing's now permanently deployed.
04:45 And the suspension's been stiffened.
04:47 We're almost ready to go.
04:50 [ENGINE REVVING]
04:53 OK, so here's what you're all going to want to know.
05:00 Can you really have a supercar with a six-cylinder engine?
05:03 Oh, yes, you can.
05:08 This car has more power than a Ferrari, more torque
05:11 than a 675 McLaren.
05:13 And both those cars have a V8.
05:16 So let's forget about counting the cylinders, shall we?
05:19 What's more impressive than the engine, though, is the chassis.
05:25 It's so agile, so responsive.
05:28 The way this car changes direction is utterly stupendous,
05:32 better than almost any other supercar in the business.
05:36 That's because it's so low and so light.
05:39 The steering is almost telepathic.
05:44 You can sense what's going on with every single tyre all the time.
05:48 And the chassis balance is delightful.
05:51 More importantly, it's a chassis you can trust.
05:55 This might be a mid-engine supercar,
05:57 but it's about as playful as a Mazda Miata.
06:00 Ford makes a big deal about this being a race car for the road.
06:06 Well, I've got to tell you, it's pretty good at this race car stuff.
06:10 So let's see how it goes on the road, eh?
06:14 (ENGINE REVS)
06:16 Well, the GT is arguably even more impressive out here on the road
06:28 than it is on the track.
06:30 The accuracy, the precision, the constant dialogue with the chassis
06:34 through your fingers and your toes and the seat of your pants, it's amazing.
06:38 This is a Ford like no other.
06:40 This is a supercar like no other.
06:43 In normal mode, the EcoBoost V6 is about as docile and tractable as it is in an F-150.
06:49 Dial in Sport mode and the anti-lag system
06:52 allows you to deliver surgically precise amounts of torque
06:55 right to the rear wheels, right when you need them.
06:58 But it's the ride that's perhaps the most impressive out here on the road.
07:09 The GT is surprisingly comfortable, especially for a car this light,
07:13 rolling on such low-profile tyres.
07:16 Yeah, there's a lot more mechanical noise,
07:18 but it rides smoother and quieter than a Porsche 911 GT3.
07:23 This cabin is pretty confined and there's not a lot of shiny toys on display,
07:28 though the GT does have sat-nav, it's got air conditioning, even cruise control.
07:33 The really cool stuff's all hidden out of sight, though,
07:36 like the approved roll cage, which is built right into the roof here,
07:39 or the fact that the carbon fibre on the dash is the real deal,
07:43 because the dash itself is a structural element of the car.
07:47 But even the stuff you can see has a cool story to tell.
08:05 When Ford designers started working on this car,
08:07 they had three themes in mind, referencing the original GT40,
08:12 designing for maximum aerodynamic efficiency on the racetrack,
08:16 and just creating something that looked gorgeous.
08:19 And as you can see, they've kind of combined all three.
08:23 Now, you can see a lot of the GT40 around the front of the car,
08:26 particularly this line across the nose and the general shape of the front headlights.
08:33 When you start getting around the side of the car, though,
08:35 it's all about aerodynamic efficiency.
08:37 And this vent down here is hugely important.
08:40 This enables an awful lot of air to bleed out from underneath the front of the car
08:45 and allow the foil-shaped front floor to develop maximum downforce.
08:50 Back here, the intercoolers are right out and in the cool, clean airflow,
08:55 and pressurised air goes up through tubes inside these flying buttresses
09:01 and directly into the engine.
09:04 Now, you can see how the cabin has been tapered and pulled right back,
09:08 right over the compact V6 engine,
09:11 and that's to allow the maximum amount of air to come through here to the rear wing.
09:16 OK, so what do we have here?
09:22 Well, we have a car that was actually designed to win at Le Mans,
09:26 just like the original GT40.
09:29 But that means you have to be prepared to accept some compromises.
09:33 That V6 engine, for example, drones annoyingly at cruising speeds.
09:38 And generously proportioned owners are going to find this close-coupled cabin a very tight fit.
09:45 And while it might have sat-nav and air conditioning and cruise control
09:49 and a remarkably compliant ride,
09:51 this is not a car for cruising the interstates from sea to shining sea.
09:57 And you know what? All that matters precisely this much,
10:02 because the Ford GT delivers an absolutely unique driving experience.
10:08 This is not a road car with race car parts bolted to it,
10:12 like track-wrapped versions of Porsches and Ferraris and Vipers.
10:15 No, this truly is a racing car you can drive on the road.
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10:40 [CAR ENGINE]