Need A Mitty review of the New Ford GT


nautoncall

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 6, 2014
1,093
Hey guys, by now a lot of you have the car and also have driven many other cars (old FGT, Huracan, 458, 488, Mac 675, 720, etc). I would love to hear a real life experience of the car. For me, I can live vicariously through these reviews. Before I every purchased my FGT a few years ago, I loved reading all of you guys true life experience of the car and of course, Mitty's very extensive review and comparisons. Since I don't have one and my not ever get one, I'd love to hear about it through you guys. I have watched all the "professional" videos but for me hearing from people who have put hundreds of miles on the car is so much better. I'm not looking for some pissing contest why this car is better than that car, etc, but from a personal experience what so special compared to other cars. Thanks.
 

nautoncall

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 6, 2014
1,093
Am I The only one that would like to hear from some of you fortunate owners?


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ROCK

GT Owner
Jul 10, 2006
412
Miami
Subscribed !
 

GTMD

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jan 4, 2011
957
NorCal
Am I The only one that would like to hear from some of you fortunate owners?


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Nope, you're not alone. Can't get enough of the description of this car...
 

partssmann

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jun 1, 2013
755
Scottsdale, Arizona
Agree, loved to read NGT owner experiences but don't call our cars old GT. CLASSIC GT or 05/06 GT would be preferred.
 
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Saint Ho

GT Owner
Feb 12, 2013
481
Paris FRANCE
......... but don't call our cars old GT. CLASSIC GT or 05/06 GT would be preferred.[/QUOTE said:
I agree !
The 05 / 06 Ford GT is not old at all.
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,773
Scottsdale, Arizona
Stay tuned.

Chip
 

Fasferrari

Active member
Sep 1, 2017
37
Avon, CT
Stay tuned.

Chip

I will.
Thank you.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,298
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Nah, don't do that. It will just make me more depressed!
 

Special K

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Aug 23, 2016
1,775
Franklinton, LA
After riding along with the professional driver at Miller, Joey Tribbiani was right. The acceleration is enormous! This was also the first time I got to hear a production car wind out. The engine and exhaust sound great. Also, the car stays so flat in the corners, you'd think it was on rails. But the most lasting impression in my mind is the braking. The only thing I can compare it to, would be catching an arresting cable on an aircraft carrier. The car gives an intense adrenaline rush just riding shotgun, I can only imagine what driving it is like!


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Ed Sims

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 7, 2006
7,853
NorCal
I was a passenger in the NGT & I can say is wow! An amazing car!

Ed
 

Tomcat

GT Owner
But the most lasting impression in my mind is the braking. The only thing I can compare it to, would be catching an arresting cable on an aircraft carrier.
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Don't forget to lock your shoulder harness just before you trap!!!
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
I would just read people's individual threads.

Honestly though, it's hard to describe the car until your ass is in the seat. Everything is fast now, so describing "feel" is more difficult.

I've got a fairly decent amount of seat time in most of what is available. You have the regular cars (GT3, 458/488, 650S, Huracan, Aventador) and the specialty cars (GT3 RS, Speciale, 675LT, Aventador SV, etc). The GT is definitely on the far end of the specialty car scale dynamically. I have not driven a 488 or 720S yet, but have lots of time in all their predecessors.

The biggest thing that will jump out to most people is that the GT, despite being a car with a lot of electronics, is a very "pure" and raw driving experience. The hydraulic steering, chassis behavior, braking, etc are all just phenomenally accurate and totally unflappable. On the track, it just does what you want, when you want every single time, in a controlled, predictable and outright joyous manner. It will reward you by making you a much better driver than you are because the chassis/suspension are just superlative. You feel everything, and partially that's because your ass is only about 3 inches off the ground and you're bolted directly to the floor. Everyone always says "race car for the street" and it's always bullshit. No really, with this car, it is truly a race car for the street. It feels like a giant 650 hp Radical and inspires that same kind of confidence when flogging it.

I literally can't believe how ferocious the braking on the car is. That is the most eye-opening thing about it. Even McGowan, who is certainly a better driver than essentially everyone here, says he still can't wrap his mind around the braking capability. And they never, ever go away. I certainly did not have the balls to brake any deeper at UMC on the main straight. If you drill the brakes at 160 mph in this car, it will tear off speed so fast you won't believe it, and it does it in a straight line, with no nerves. If you brake hard in a 675LT like that, it has a weird and unnerving shimmy in the ass end.

As for raw speed, last night I messed with the launch control in about 60* ambient temps. The car is massively fast and I LOVE the LC function. Sounds like a super aggressive two-step. Engine sounds amazing. I can't get over how gnarly the 3.5L is compared to the version in the Raptor. Between 3500-and 6k it's an animal, and I think on the LC the trans shifts well before redline because it's unlikely to be faster there. Doesn't have the top end rush like you get in a 675LT or Ferrari, but it will punch you in the guts long before they are making power. I would say last night in those conditions, I could see the car hitting 138-139 mph at a drag strip. Eventually I'll put it on a dyno, but I think it probably makes a little more than advertised. I've heard some have run in the 660s at MNV before leaving the shop.

I also like a lot of the little stuff. It has SYNC 3 and the shit just works. I know that sounds dumb, but I'm driving this thing around and I've got the nav running, tunes on Spotify, I'm answering phone calls, and it all just works. Leno said the same thing to me. Usually that stuff is poorly sorted afterthought in supercars, so it's nice to have it function since it's from the mothership. I had a 12C for a year and the nav never figured out it wasn't in Pennsylvania. :lol Suspension on the road is really excellent. I never even mess with the comfort setting because it's comfortable as it is.

Another big thing for me is the symphony of mechanical noises the thing makes. Lots of engine noise, fan noise, various clicks and whirs. Reviewers piss and moan about these cars being loud, then they get supercars that are glorified ultra fast daily drivers and say "oh no it's boring." To me, I don't drive this stuff often. I drive a quiet sedan most of the time. I want to see, hear and feel the whole shebang in a supercar. The GT does it. It has an incredible sense of occasion that a great many supercars that shall remain nameless today do not. I get out of a lot of modern supercars and think "meh, don't ever need to drive that again." GT is like "shit, how am I gonna keep the miles off this thing?" It's like a Murcielago SV vs. an Aventador. An Aventador is objectively better in every sense, but not in the one that counts; the feels. There is never a moment you are in the new GT where you aren't viscerally reminded that you are in a special machine.
 

jaxgt

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jul 12, 2006
2,795
Awesome right up.

Someone just needs to come up with a 'big man', wafer thin, seat for the tall guys!
 
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GKW05GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 28, 2011
2,755
Fayetteville, Ga.
With all the many reviews and opinions we have seen or read its nice to have an unfiltered write-up by someone that actually know what he is talking about.
 

THamonGT

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Great write up Dave which says it all! If your waiting for me to give you a fast line opinion of my 2017 New GT don’t! I am blown away by this GT but at my age I have no plans of tracking, setting freeway speeding records or acting wild in this GT. I am respecting its fantastic responses and ability at speed and plan on putting many miles on this car enjoying it with others at shows and displays and letting the young experience this wonderful vehicle.I would like to run it in a controlled mile run soon. I’ll save the track experiences to my younger friends on the Forum who have a lot better reaction times than I have , although while at Rally 12 I pulled a pretty impressive brake and acceleration move At 70 mph on a two lane highway in the mountains to miss a deer which quickly appeared suddenly in front of me and stopped. Again great write up Dave. We all learn something new every time we drive out Girls!
 

Sinovac

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 18, 2006
5,832
Largo, Florida
Nice Dave, and everything I had hoped to hear.
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
I would make a few other random notes.

The notion the car is unbearably loud from mag reviewers is really laughable. I guess if you hang the RPMs at like 4100 RPM and catch a certain frequency, the drone will be annoying. And I suppose most of us do the majority of our supercar driving at 4k RPM for huge stretches of time. Or not. The car certainly makes less noise than an 05/06 with a muffler delete cat back. I've had lots and lots of people in the car. It's plenty quiet enough to carry on a conversation at regular speaking volume.

The hydraulic suspension is one of the great party tricks of all time. Go to any car show and drop the car. It will make people gasp every single time. The front lift is an incredibly useful tool. Approaching any shoddy road element, hit the button and boom you've instantly gained clearance.

It would be capable from a comfort perspective, but lack of storage space renders it near useless as a tourer.

I was surprised to drive the car on a really, really tight mountain road to find the car hilariously fun. It's a huge car but it shrinks with speed, and the gearing is such that where an ultra tight road would be a tedious annoyance in the 05/06, it was really fun in the 17. On the other hand, I can see where long highway cruising in the 17 would be more tedious, while it's perfectly entertaining to ride the surge along in the 05/06.

I would rate the transmission highly overall, but nothing beats the PDK in a GT3 RS.

The car is significantly crazier looking on the road amongst other cars than it is on a show stand. It's a big, long and wide car. It's pretty imposing going down the road. That said, the other day I saw a new GT driving towards me. From 500 feet away, I thought it was an 05/06 for a minute. The new car is radical, but the familial DNA is strong.

I've never driven a car that inspires more lunacy. People literally freak out over this car because it barely looks like it should be legal on a public road.
 

DakotaGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 9, 2012
1,697
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
That was some fun reading, right there! Thanks!
 

dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit