Faster At Le Mans: Race Car or Street Car?


Xcentric

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...wonder what it would say about a street car that is faster than its racer counterpart!

It would say that BoP blows.
 

roketman

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ma.
You cant beat a race car on slicks!
 

roketman

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But I bet the New GT is faster around a lot of race tracks than a lot of race cars!
 

nota4re

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But I bet the New GT is faster around a lot of race tracks than a lot of race cars!

Agree. And few will look as good doing it!
 

KennethClay

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Well, here's another article to re-kindle the discussion!

Day of reckoning: Ford GT road car vs GTE LM racer

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture/ford-gt-vs-ford-gt-road-car-vs-race-car/
 

Xcentric

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^^^ That is a helluva great write-up.
 

GTJack

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Loved reading that. He basically agreed with all the things Ford said when the car was released, but reading about how road vs race did on the same track with same driver was enlightening.
 

Pro_GT_driver

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Jun 23, 2010
131
Well, here's another article to re-kindle the discussion!

Day of reckoning: Ford GT road car vs GTE LM racer

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture/ford-gt-vs-ford-gt-road-car-vs-race-car/

Thanks for sharing, great comparison!
Put slicks on the road car, remove one person from the cockpit and compare once again, it would be a much closer match:willy
 

Apollo

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Well, here's another article to re-kindle the discussion!

Day of reckoning: Ford GT road car vs GTE LM racer

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture/ford-gt-vs-ford-gt-road-car-vs-race-car/

Good find Kenneth! :thumbsup
 

shesgotlegs

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Great thread thanks
 

ENZO BTR

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Thanks for sharing, great comparison!
Put slicks on the road car, remove one person from the cockpit and compare once again, it would be a much closer match:willy

Yup. Pretty amazing street car.
 

KennethClay

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Good find Kenneth! :thumbsup

Thanks! We aim to please!
 

djs

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Thanks for that article. It makes me all the more envious and jealous of you guys that get the NGT. But... IMHO, that factory blue is the best color I’ve seen; no offense guys.
 

stuntman

GT Owner
Jan 15, 2015
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GT2RS vs GT3 Cup:

[video=youtube;GsPfnbk0DtQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsPfnbk0DtQ[/video]


GT2RS is faster than a Ford GT street car.

Ford GT racecar is faster than GT3 Cup

GT3 Cup is a lot faster than GT2 RS

--> Ford GT race car is a lot faster than Ford GT street car.
 

ENZO BTR

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Pretty telling for sure.
 

STORMCAT

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GT2RS vs GT3 Cup:

[video=youtube;GsPfnbk0DtQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsPfnbk0DtQ[/video]


GT2RS is faster than a Ford GT street car.

Ford GT racecar is faster than GT3 Cup

GT3 Cup is a lot faster than GT2 RS

--> Ford GT race car is a lot faster than Ford GT street car.

Test not at LeMans... The Post is titled " At Le Mans " way different track, Lemans favors higher speeds and lower drag set ups , different requirements.. not a valid conclusion but your math is interesting !! :biggrin
 
Last edited:

cobra498

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Jul 14, 2010
310
Central Ca;ifornia
Thanks for sharing, great comparison!
Put slicks on the road car, remove one person from the cockpit and compare once again, it would be a much closer match:willy

Give it a racing alignment too, that would help a bunch. One degree negative camber does not get the job done,
 

STORMCAT

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LeMans is a very long high speed track. Very few corners for the race car to take advantage of it's downforce, and while it probably is in a low downforce setup, the BoP limits the true potential of the car. Watching the interview with some of the drivers last year, they mentioned how focused they needed to be to due to the long straight's in the middle of the night.
At this track, I think a comp NFGT would be very close if not faster. Any other track with shorter straights and more turns- race car.
It would be great to see an unlimited GT race car out on the track, but I think its times would have it mixing it up with the next higher class. Cant have that!

Great post Brian:thumbsup

It's always fun to have an interesting thought Provocative topic about the new Ford GT..!!
 

Turn10 BigBoss

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Okay - I had to settle this, or at least give you all more to chew on. Anyone can do this test in Forza Motorsport (be nice, this is my livelihood!).

So... I am not a professional racer, I am a professional racing game maker. My laps probably favor the street car, not just the fact that I have some practice but the raw speed takes less talent to maximize. With the same race compound on both cars I am 4 seconds faster in the stock road car. No tuning on either car. The Street car is hitting 207 for me on the Mulsanne and that gains a lot of time. The GTLM is carrying tons of speed without much drama thru the curves.

But, as I said I am not the fastest so asked some of the fastest in the community -

2017 Ford GT (Street w/slicks) R817: 4.00.348 (333kph top speed)
2016 Ford GT LM (stock/no tune) R845: 4.02.710 (289kph top speed) = +02.362s
Race car is insane in the Porsche Curves but stock GT is a monster on the straights!

He agrees that the tuned race car can go faster but thinks that is true of the street car too. Obviously the race teams spend enormous amounts of energy doing just that.
 

ENZO BTR

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Very cool analysis. Thanks!