2005 Ford GT Official Max Velocity !!

[nthfinity]

Dearborn, Mich., June 7, 2004 (FCN) --It's official-- the Ford GT is the fastest production road car ever produced to wear the Ford Badge.

During engineering testing for high-speed stability and powertrain durability at Italy's Nardo test facility, the Ford GT supercar was certified for a top speed of 205mph. In 1966, the ford GT40 reached a top speed of 201 Mph on th eMulsanne Straight during th e24 hours of LEManns endurance race in France.

"The engineering team has once again outdone themselves, said John Coletti, director of Ford SVT programs. "this is a major accomplishment and pust the Ford GT among the ranks of the greatest sports cars in history."

the Ford GT engineering team took two cars to th eNardo test facility to conduct the high-speed stability evaluations to runa 400=-mile durability test. the team decided to pay careful attention to the aerodynamics of the 2005 version because th e1966 GT40 race car exhibited major lift at high speeds.

in order to not disturb the exterior desgn seen at the 2002 NAIAS, the engineering team made most of the aerod ynamic changes on the underside of the vehicle. as a result, the only difference between show car and production version i sa subtle rear spoiler extension, front and side splitters and venturi tunnels wrapped under the rear clip.

Mark Mcgowan, Ford GT vehicle dynamics supervisor, who drove during the Nardo testing said, "driving at speeds above 200 mph was remarkably uneventful, which is a very positive outcome."

How does it feel to drive at that speed?

"Fast!" said McGowan. "its quite the experiencee, , but th ecar is very stable. at 205 miles an hour its basically flat to the floor (with the throttle). you can leave it there; the only constraint on this car is how much fuel you have."

McGowen said the car, with its 550-horsepower 5.4 liter double overhead cam (DOHC) supercharged engine, really moves. The GT covers a quarter mile in approximately 11 seconds and achieves 128 miles an hour in that distance.

"but getting up to 205 certified high-speed limit takes about four miles, because of aerodynamic drag," he said.

the engine also was put to the test at Nardo. The engineering team required a 500-mile test at or near maximum speeds to prove-out the strenght and acceleration, but also passed the durablity tst without any significant problems.

"the Ford GT is performing at levels of super exotic sports cars that cost three and four times as much money, and it still meets all the engineering and qualtiy requirements of any Ford vehicle program," said Coletti. "thats no small feat, but a showcase of the passion and talent that resides within the company."

the 2005 Ford GT is being built at Ford's Wixom, MI assembly plant.
Production will begin this summer.

source-Ford Communications Network

i had to share this somewhat inside info; which will set the benchmark for production road tests in the magazines. i hope this excites everyone here as much as it does me.

and sorry for any bad grammar, i typed it from an article, no copy/paste ease.

[yg60m]

Thank you, very interesting information :D The Ford GT promises to be a great Supercar and i can't wait to see it tested on Top Gear track :wink: Isn't Jeremy Clarkson one of the european owner ?

[astonmartinandy]

Yeh Clarkie was approved as one of the few "European" customers. Doesn't it seem a bit pathetic that the original GT40 achieved a speed just 4mp/h less on the Mulsanne straight nearly 40 years ago?

[yg60m]

Yeh Clarkie was approved as one of the few "European" customers. Doesn't it seem a bit pathetic that the original GT40 achieved a speed just 4mp/h less on the Mulsanne straight nearly 40 years ago?
I think they don't have the same drag coefficient :wink:

[hemi_fan]

Also the original was done on an actual race course, not a high-speed testing course...

[tigerx]

wow, this car is getting better everytime i see and read about it.

[nthfinity]

Yeh Clarkie was approved as one of the few "European" customers. Doesn't it seem a bit pathetic that the original GT40 achieved a speed just 4mp/h less on the Mulsanne straight nearly 40 years ago?
doesnt it seem a bit pathetic that you are thinking 200mph is pathetic? :wink:
or mabey i should mark 200 mph as something most cars made these days hit...lol

im not sure how many europeans will be recieving one to begin with, but there will be more shipments after the run this fall.

and i can hardly wait for the JC test either 8) :D

[Evo]

Although I hate Ford build quality .. This is different.. I saw it at Dubai Motor show.. not a lot of people seem to be intrested in it though over here.. I was the only one staring at it like I saw a ghost.. It's beautiful.. The car got a very long wheel base.. and it's very wide..

Anybody know the price of the GT40.. :roll: I know it's cheaper than a 360 Ferrari. And out performce it. :lol:

[nthfinity]

Anybody know the price of the GT40.. I know it's cheaper than a 360 Ferrari. And out performce it.

under $150,000 USD is what ford says.
the Ferrari 360 is very near to $180,000, and im not sure about the CS model

[RC45]

So it goes 205 in a straight line... but how's it gonna do around the 'Ring? After all this hoohah it better lap quicker than the F360 or the truth will be "Americans go fast but can't turn..."... ;)

[blah]

O you know it will though. If i remember correctly ford bought a 360 as a benchmark for the GT, and it destroyed it around alot of the tracks, i think CD and MT and them said it walked the CS, and the GT3 around Leguna Seca.

[nthfinity]

O you know it will though. If i remember correctly ford bought a 360 as a benchmark for the GT, and it destroyed it around alot of the tracks, i think CD and MT and them said it walked the CS, and the GT3 around Leguna Seca.

actually, it was Gingerman Raceway just west of Kalamazoo, but the result would be the same regardless :D :) :wink:

and since my post, there has been some more articles, this one is short
Not shocking, but impressive nonetheless: The 2005 Ford GT is the fastest production Ford ever.

In early June at Italy’s 13-kilometer Nardo test facility, development engineers ran the 550-hp GT to a terminal velocity of 205 mph. That speed was independently certified 38 years to the month after the original GT40 hit the traps on the Mulsanne Straight at 201 mph, becoming the first car to crack 200 at Le Mans en route to the first of its four straight wins in the 24 Hour.

The first GT40s were technically production cars, and homologated for street use just about everywhere.

Later, evolutionary racing models went faster than 201 (or 205) mph, but with their infamous high-speed, front-end lift, the originals were terrifying at those speeds. The 2005 GT benefits from four decades of aerodynamic development. While true to the original’s look, the new GT has an advanced aerodynamics: an underbody tray and subtle front and side splitters, a small rear spoiler extension and venturi tunnels wrapped under the rear clip. "Speeds above 200 mph were remarkably uneventful, which is a very positive outcome," said Mark McGowan, the 2005 GT’s vehicle dynamics supervisor and driver for the Nardo testing.

~autoweek

[T-Bird]

O you know it will though. If i remember correctly ford bought a 360 as a benchmark for the GT, and it destroyed it around alot of the tracks, i think CD and MT and them said it walked the CS, and the GT3 around Leguna Seca.

Yes C&D said it was a better car than a 360CS(I think maybe just 360) and the GT3 around the track and in everything else.

[SFDMALEX]

I really would bring up C&D in this. C&D and a joke doesnt matter what they say, doesnt matter which way they go.

Ofcourse the GT will lap faster then 360M. 360 is what 6 years old already? Plus the GT has a quite good HP advantage. There is no doubt that it will lap faster.

[blah]

Im just answering that it will lap the ring well. It doesnt matter if you have power but cant turn, but the GT can turn, and will more than likely beat the 360CS laptime.

[Vansquish]

Yeh Clarkie was approved as one of the few "European" customers. Doesn't it seem a bit pathetic that the original GT40 achieved a speed just 4mp/h less on the Mulsanne straight nearly 40 years ago?

You forget, the Nardo High-Speed track is a perfectly circular autodrome...i.e. a long, circular test track...This means that the car won't be able to achieve it's maximum straight-line velocity because in effect it is cornering as it laps. The top lane at Nardo has a hands off limit of 125mph or so if I recall correctly from the bit that Tiff did with the Bentley Continental GT, so you can imagine that it must be something of a corner at 205. At any rate, the fact that the car hit 205 on a banked circular ciruit would tend to mean that it has a true, straight-line top speed of nearer to 215mph or even 220, given the right circumstances.


Is that Enzo really worth it? :wink: :D

[astonmartinandy]

Lol I appreciate the lower drag co-efficents and 200 mp/h is still an achievement for all car manufacturers, but I would still choose the original without a shadow of a doubt.

[blah]

I dont know about 200, once your going that fast drag becomes a bitch.

[Vansquish]

I dont know about 200, once your going that fast drag becomes a bitch.

Long, LOOOONG before you break the 200mph barrier drag is an issue hehe...hence the high-downforce wings on F1 cars and the pursuit of low frontal area, low Cd car design for mass market autos.

[nthfinity]

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/Images/drageq.gif
i think this image shows the eqation nicely. 200 is no skipper of a number on the ground :wink:

[SilverPhoenix]

http://www.topgear.com/servlet/tg?DEST=/content/jsp/individualRoadTest.jsp&EVENT=1010&MAKE=Ford:B4&MODEL=GT:XX&roadTestNumber=02.html

As the development cycle has moved on, the GT's big V8 has proven to be even more powerful than first predicted. "It now gives 550bhp," confirms GT Program Manager, Jamal Hameedi, here to chaperone me... and the car. "Once it passes 5,000 miles, we've been finding that it produces even more than that

[blah]

holy shit they hit 202 on the Autobahn.

[Garretts_turbo]

ahhhh...i love underrated figures. always makes the buying public feel all cozy inside after they find out that their ford really has 550 hp and can break 200 mph, you know, instead of just knowing that their ford went wicked-fucking-fast.

[FordGTGuy]

I geuss i'm the only one here that saw the footage of the Ford GT at Gingerman(whatever) raceway against the Modenas they weren't CS they were plain modena 360s. This test took place before they even put bigger wheels on the Ford GT actually they put them on after a test run before the Competition. Heres the thing the Ford GT had a 100 hp restriction taking it down to 400 hp. This Test run took place before they added the extra 50 horse power and took the rpm on torque down to 3750 and added 500 rpm to the hp so the Ford GT had these specs.
THIS IS THE 2002 FORD GT Concept Edition not the 2005
This event took place after the 6 months and before the Detroit Auto Show.
400 hp @ 6000 rpm
500 lbs-torque @ 6000 rpm

the Modena had its normal 2002 edition specs.

heres what happened in a nut shell. Ferrari got its ass kicked even wit Ford GTs restriction and non updated car.

A 360 Modena even broke its clutch trying to keep up and still fell seconds behind on every lap.

The Drivers did swap cars and yes the stats were the same Ford GT won over the Modena.

I love this spell check feature.

[FordGTGuy]

I'm going into auto mechanics next year how does it gain horse power the more miles is it sort of like breaking the car in the a baseball cap or something?

[mclaren_Gt]

WOW 205 MILES
great info

[nthfinity]

WOW 205 MILES
great info

212mph... they downplayed it, then later everyone found out...
212 for the silver/black gt, 209 for the honeybee gt