Ok.. I am going to give it a go to a loose translation, to get the flavour of the article.
"After this test I am going to cut my hands and throw them away. I swear it. I doubt in fact I will be able to drive anything better in the future.. This is what I thought when I read Federico's SMS:<< Next Tuesday: 911 GT2. R u in?>>. Well for the next days my wife was destined to see me with a stupid grin on my face as if nothing else mattered... but who cares what my wife thinks.. I am gonna drive a GT2!
I am still a bit sleepy, days are getting longer but this morning it is still a bit foggy. No worries, the sun will come out soon and it is going to be a great day. The photographer is here already. <<Do you like this car>> he asks me? <<Do I? Look there are ugly cars and beautiful cars, then there are Porsches>> is my answer.
When u see the GT2 with the big wing, when you swoop your hand along the perfect lines, when you climb into the alcantara racing shells, when you look up at the dash nothing else matters. You are in a GT2.
I turn the keys and the sound is familiar... like a normal Turbo. I depress the heavy clutch and select 1st gear (heavy... tranny feels like a racing one) and start moving. The engine is cold and so are the tyres. The GT2 seems like it wants to go, communicating through the steering wheels every single imperfection of the road.
I need to warm it and myself up on the B roads before starting pushing a bit on the main roads...
But I cant't.. I am in 2nd, TC off, I press the throttle and as soon as we hit 3k the rear wheels get loose. The GT3 feels like a rocket but the traffic, cold tires and cold surfaces suggest me to wait a little...
So I drive towards the highway. I can try a 1st assessment to the daily driver capabilities of this car. It is really stiff (even with PASM in normal), too stiff for daily commuting. But I guess you could use it for longer journeys on the highway.
Anyway here I am. I collect the ticket from the boot toll and... 1st, pedal to the metal, and I nearly hit the rev limiter. 2nd and I am beyond 135km/h (83 mph). Quickly into 3rd. 4th, 5th.. The other cars look like they are standing still. Fastest accelerating car I can remember. This is probably what a Sputnik felt like.
I need to slow down for safety reasons. I hit the brakes. Unbelieavable. I am back to being Mr Smith. The GT2 brakes very effectively without pulling... it feels like we are on rails.
Unbelievable car, event though on the highway it becomes a bit frustrating as you can end up at jail sentencing speeds without realizing it very quickly.
The GT2 is very impressive. Very stable and controlled. The rear end stays planted. No tail swapping place with the front antics... It just stays there. If I lift the car car pulls in a little. If I hit the throttle it pushes... That's all.
The GT2 like all ultrasports cars follows the camber and imperfections of the road so you have to be aware of this behaviour of the steering wheel. The steering feel is very precise and wonderfully weighted. This car is very tractable.
Driving along I feel a little embarassed as this car's look is quite "loud" and I can dispose just of any impromptu challenge by just flexing my right foot. Ludicrous.
Anyway I was so immersed into the experience that I nearly missed the exit where I needed to meet up with the Ford GT owner... Oh did I forget to mention it? Yup. It's here.
Well we were scrambling to find a challenger for the GT2 so we looked back. Back to the past, to the infinite battles at LeMans between Porsche and Ford. So the GT was the best possible opponent for the GT2. Both use force induction, the price is quite similar... Well I do not need to say anything more abt the FGT as you can find a test of this incredible car in nearly every issue of EVO...
If you try and be rational then the FGT is just a marketing coup by Ford. Like VW, BMW and Fiat with the Beetle, Mini and 500, Ford decided to give a modern interpretation to one of its past models. Luckily for us they didn't go for the Cortina or Taunus...
Even though I know the FGT quite well I am very excited just looking at it. It is a real exotic car. In the flesh the Ford has an incredible physical presence and an ancestral beauty that makes the guys drool and the girls turn.
Our destination is one of the coolest roads in Europe, the hillclimb that goes from Lago di Garda to Caprino.
The FGT up close does not seeem so well put together like the Porsche. The latter has a German precision that is foreing to the American supercar that is built with the sport focus in mind.
This does nothing to detract to the fantastic and unrivalled appeal of the GT.
I climb into the perfect seat and again I notice the rev counter and the beautiful speedometer. The latter is in MPH and I willl realize that later, when travelling at 150 I felt I was going faster....
The steering wheel is nicely set in front of you (even if a little low) whilst the gear level feels a little too close to me.
I turn the key (straight from the Ford supermini catalogue) and press the red button. After a few second the huge V8 with 550hp and 700NM starts. The sound explosion is incredible, like a wild animal. It quiets down in seconds though, tickling at idle.... but the feeling is that an earthquake is just a few degrees of my right foot away.
As soon as you start driving this rocket with wheels you realize that the big engine loud introduction will be followed by a big delivery which will propell this GT to incredible speed in just a few seconds. If I kept the foot planted I would probably have the seats holes forever imprinted on my back.
Inside the cockpit though you feel like you are in the eye of the storm. The noise is contained (not so outside as the photographer following us will tell me later) and the visibility is quite good. The Ford is quite comfortable to drive.
The gearchange is precise but I am having difficulties in fiding 1st gear (I engage 3rd by mistake a couple of times)....
At a traffic light I press on the throttle a little too much and the GT starts sliding around happily. <<Look the only electronic nanny on this car is the ABS>> the GT owner reminds me....
The twisties are approaching and I decide to push it a bit. The chassis is wonderful, balanced and precised and it gives this big supercar an unnatural (for such a big car) agility. With every turn my confidence grows. The GT demands to be driven with your fingertips, rather than with brute force. The steering is a bit lighter than the GT2 but the feedback is just ever so slightly lower than the Porsche's one. You can say that whilst the GT2 one increases it's sensitivity the faster you go the GT one mantains it constant.
Basically the GT is a relatively easy car to drive fast. And my confidence keeps growing. The GT follows my steering and throttle inputs with neutral agility. And it feels like it eggs you to push. And so I start pushing and exiting turns with fantastic power slides. I am having the time of my life. The owner tells me that maybe the tyres are still too new. Who cares.. this is better than sex.
The photographer needs to take some shots, so I take the opportunity to climb back into the GT2.
I am pushing now and the Porsche does not feel like it is going to forgive any indecisions. You need to be on your game. But it does not betray you. With all the electronic nannies active you can acheive stupid speeds even amongst these tight turns.
I am quite fast, hard on the brakes, the feedback is perfect. Weight transfer is very good if not immediate. The steering is wonderful, no body roll. The 911 stays on the line I chose. Past the apex I open it, the turbo lag is there no matter the techno improvements. But then the kick in the back is sensational with huge mechanical grip.
The GT2 is wonderful The back can come out to play, but it gets in line in immediately. This is the 911 forte. Its stability is incredible. The driver needs (if they are capable) to leand on this to make the car fast.
I am breaking a sweat. The GT2 demands to be driven, you can't just let it drive you.
The sun is going down. I need a FGT fix. With the Ford I do not need to wrestle it. It is more docile and intuitive than the GT2. But it is still incredibly fast. It's like a bullet. The big V8 does not have the throttle response of the flat 6, but it's linear and progressive in it's huge power delivery. I feel like a golf ball hit by Tiger.
The GT delivers in an incredible way. It's not as much the initial kick, but the fact that it never diminishes, no matter what gear you are into.
On these roads its behaviour is wonderfully balanced. The suspension set up is more compliant than the one on the GT2 but the feedback is phenomenal.
You can take turns are silly speeds. If your inputs are clean and precise then the GT rewards with an incredible experience. If you push too much the big Goodyears will let loose gifting you with wonderful torque driven slides...
I do not think you can buy another car that can offer the driver a wider performance range. It gives you mind blowing pace and graceful staility. It's the analogue supercar, without any useless electonic nannies. A car built the old school way and perfectioned to the max. A car that is not aggressive and not too accessible. It makes you believe that nothing can come between you and the road. It has a wonderful set up, a huge engine and a drop dead gorgeous look. A masterpiece of a car.
It has been a long day but I have never been so happily exhausted. Just giving you the specs on these 2 cars would be so reductive that it would not be fair to these 2 wonderful supercars."
Ok so that's it. I will proof it later.. sorry for any typos.
To me it feels like he is in love with the GT...
