Fellow Ford GT Nuts,
I race a Spec Miata in SCCA (now don't laugh - I ran down a Porsche Carrera GT in the corners at the Pantera Club event. And the track record during an SCCA race at Willow Springs is 1:36 sec set by a 120 HP SM. A ZO6 with 400HP driven by my friend Rod - see below - does it in 1:32 sec), but I haven't taken my GT to the track yet. So I have wondered just how the car handles at speed.
Rod is a friend of mine and fellow racer. He is a very good driver and a very good instructor.
Yesterday he drove a Ford GT at Willow Springs. Below is his driving impression of the car. Since you are all Ford GT nuts, I thought you might enjoy a non-car magazine evaluation.
GT Bill
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 6:46 AM
To: Bill Nelson
Subject: Ford GT
Okay Bill, now I can finally comment on what a Ford GT is like on the track and generally. I'm out at Willow where you should be at the Cobra Club event. Yesterday, a Ford GT owner asked me to take him for a ride in his car. I told him I'd never sat in the left seat of a GT but that was fine with him. Danny and another instructor had taken him for rides and he wanted my perspective too.
After his ride, he insisted I take all his family and friends out. I got a fair amount of track time by the time I did all that. Both of us were impressed. The car is stock with stock tires. The ride caused him to ask a lot of good questions and he said he learned more riding with me that one time than he had all day.
What a wonderful car! It was really easy to drive. I got used to it right away. The limitation is the tires. As good as the GY F1 Supercar tires are, they give you a squishy feel at times. It's obvious that the car is a lot better than the tires (as with the Porsche Carrera GT) which introduces the only imprecision to the driving experience.
For that reason (and the fact that I was, of course, going to be careful not to hurt someone else's very fine car by going off), I didn't slide around all that much... just a little here and there when I considered it super safe. In fact, on those occasions, a quick correction was all it took.... no drama, ever. It became obvious to me how much the tires were really limiting the car when I couldn't easily get it down the the apex at 8 one lap. When that happened, I just drove a high line at less speed rather than force it to apex because it felt as though a big slide would result (no problem normally to experiment that way but I would only do that if I owned the car).
The car felt very solid and always controllable (again, despite the limitations of the tires) and very easy to balance in any situation. With some tires of the RA1 type, this car would be really formidable without any modifications. The tires would simply match the car's capabilities.
I was also very impressed by the ergonomics. The driving position, the controls, etc. And the car shifts better than any car I've ever driven. That's really saying something for me because the best shifting car previously (for me) has always been the Lotus Elan. That's always been my standard.
All in all, I think you're lucky to have gotten one of these guys. Great machine! Hope you'll try it out on the track some day. You'll love it.
Rod
I race a Spec Miata in SCCA (now don't laugh - I ran down a Porsche Carrera GT in the corners at the Pantera Club event. And the track record during an SCCA race at Willow Springs is 1:36 sec set by a 120 HP SM. A ZO6 with 400HP driven by my friend Rod - see below - does it in 1:32 sec), but I haven't taken my GT to the track yet. So I have wondered just how the car handles at speed.
Rod is a friend of mine and fellow racer. He is a very good driver and a very good instructor.
Yesterday he drove a Ford GT at Willow Springs. Below is his driving impression of the car. Since you are all Ford GT nuts, I thought you might enjoy a non-car magazine evaluation.
GT Bill
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 6:46 AM
To: Bill Nelson
Subject: Ford GT
Okay Bill, now I can finally comment on what a Ford GT is like on the track and generally. I'm out at Willow where you should be at the Cobra Club event. Yesterday, a Ford GT owner asked me to take him for a ride in his car. I told him I'd never sat in the left seat of a GT but that was fine with him. Danny and another instructor had taken him for rides and he wanted my perspective too.
After his ride, he insisted I take all his family and friends out. I got a fair amount of track time by the time I did all that. Both of us were impressed. The car is stock with stock tires. The ride caused him to ask a lot of good questions and he said he learned more riding with me that one time than he had all day.
What a wonderful car! It was really easy to drive. I got used to it right away. The limitation is the tires. As good as the GY F1 Supercar tires are, they give you a squishy feel at times. It's obvious that the car is a lot better than the tires (as with the Porsche Carrera GT) which introduces the only imprecision to the driving experience.
For that reason (and the fact that I was, of course, going to be careful not to hurt someone else's very fine car by going off), I didn't slide around all that much... just a little here and there when I considered it super safe. In fact, on those occasions, a quick correction was all it took.... no drama, ever. It became obvious to me how much the tires were really limiting the car when I couldn't easily get it down the the apex at 8 one lap. When that happened, I just drove a high line at less speed rather than force it to apex because it felt as though a big slide would result (no problem normally to experiment that way but I would only do that if I owned the car).
The car felt very solid and always controllable (again, despite the limitations of the tires) and very easy to balance in any situation. With some tires of the RA1 type, this car would be really formidable without any modifications. The tires would simply match the car's capabilities.
I was also very impressed by the ergonomics. The driving position, the controls, etc. And the car shifts better than any car I've ever driven. That's really saying something for me because the best shifting car previously (for me) has always been the Lotus Elan. That's always been my standard.
All in all, I think you're lucky to have gotten one of these guys. Great machine! Hope you'll try it out on the track some day. You'll love it.
Rod
