- Dec 11, 2005
- 203
If Consumer Reports tested the Ford GT...
Highs: Acceleration, braking, emergency handling
Lows: Price, visibility, storage space, gas mileage, noisy, only two seats, dangerous ingress/egress, harsh ride, lack of an automatic transmission option, high insurance rates
The Ford GT is a sporty car with snappy acceleration, powerful brakes and responsive steering. As the car is new, there is not yet enough data to evaluate its potential reliability. We can say that some early 2005 models have been the subject of several recalls. We would have to say we have our concerns.
THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE
The ride is firm, making even the smallest bumps harsh. The body motions are quick with the car passing our emergency handling test with flying colours. The acceleration is probably the best we have experienced, but you will need a good chiropractor as the neck is snapped violently. The 550hp V8 is the only engine option. Braking is strong and progressive, but again a trip to an ophthalmologist is needed as emergency braking caused our eyeballs to momentarily exit their sockets. We have to rate this as dangerous. Gas mileage is poor, and filling up at the local gas station takes forever as everyone and their kid brother wants to talk to you about the car. We consider this rather inconvenient. Around town we wished for an automatic transmission, and on the highway the car lacks speed control and heated seats. In a $160,000 car, we find this abhorrent.
INSIDE THE CABIN:
To take advantage of its positive driving attributes, one must first enter the car. That’s where we learned to mind our heads. The doors have an awkward shape that includes about a foot of the roof that acts like a horizontal guillotine. This poor design also makes it impossible to park in normal spaces as there is no room to maneuver when exiting the vehicle. One has to be a contortionist and climb out on all fours to exit the car. One of our testers saw an advantage to this technique as she found a dime on the pavement. We have to rate this as a safety issue.
In normal driving the car is very noisy. This is probably due to the engine being mere inches behind your head. And speaking of things near one’s head, the large supercharger drive belt is extremely close to the driver. In the event of a failure, this could be dangerous.
The leather seats are very supportive, but lack an adjustable headrest. As it is a Ford, you can have any interior colour you like, as long as it is black.
The manual transmission can be balky when cold. An automatic is not an option. Selecting reverse takes two hands to engage. The entire shifter is angled towards the driver making it awkward to place the lever in the appropriate slot.
Visibility to the outside world is strained to say the least. There are wide a-pillars that hamper vision in certain turning situations. Visibility to the rear is virtually non-existent. We found ourselves asking our passenger to get out and help us navigate when backing up. Unfortunately, on numerous occasions, we forgot to remind our passenger to “mind your head” when exiting the car.
The gauges are clear, but the speedometer is set all the way to the right on the instrument cluster. This makes it very dangerous as the driver needs to take their eyes off the road to check their speed. We learned the importance of being mindful of our speed after our fifth speeding ticket. We have to rate this dangerous and expensive.
NOTES:
We took the car to the local supermarket only to find a crowd around the car when we returned. In this day and age of parking lot robberies and assaults we find this potentially dangerous. Once the crowd subsided we realized there is no room anywhere in the car to store even a handkerchief. The car attracts crowds like bees to honey. If you are in a hurry to get home, this could cause an unnecessary delay.
Driving around, we saw numerous occurrences of other drivers performing dangerous acts like hanging out of their windows taking pictures of us with their camera phones. We find this a serious safety issue.
Overall the car is very expensive, dangerous, impractical, and socially irresponsible. We can not recommend it.
Highs: Acceleration, braking, emergency handling
Lows: Price, visibility, storage space, gas mileage, noisy, only two seats, dangerous ingress/egress, harsh ride, lack of an automatic transmission option, high insurance rates
The Ford GT is a sporty car with snappy acceleration, powerful brakes and responsive steering. As the car is new, there is not yet enough data to evaluate its potential reliability. We can say that some early 2005 models have been the subject of several recalls. We would have to say we have our concerns.
THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE
The ride is firm, making even the smallest bumps harsh. The body motions are quick with the car passing our emergency handling test with flying colours. The acceleration is probably the best we have experienced, but you will need a good chiropractor as the neck is snapped violently. The 550hp V8 is the only engine option. Braking is strong and progressive, but again a trip to an ophthalmologist is needed as emergency braking caused our eyeballs to momentarily exit their sockets. We have to rate this as dangerous. Gas mileage is poor, and filling up at the local gas station takes forever as everyone and their kid brother wants to talk to you about the car. We consider this rather inconvenient. Around town we wished for an automatic transmission, and on the highway the car lacks speed control and heated seats. In a $160,000 car, we find this abhorrent.
INSIDE THE CABIN:
To take advantage of its positive driving attributes, one must first enter the car. That’s where we learned to mind our heads. The doors have an awkward shape that includes about a foot of the roof that acts like a horizontal guillotine. This poor design also makes it impossible to park in normal spaces as there is no room to maneuver when exiting the vehicle. One has to be a contortionist and climb out on all fours to exit the car. One of our testers saw an advantage to this technique as she found a dime on the pavement. We have to rate this as a safety issue.
In normal driving the car is very noisy. This is probably due to the engine being mere inches behind your head. And speaking of things near one’s head, the large supercharger drive belt is extremely close to the driver. In the event of a failure, this could be dangerous.
The leather seats are very supportive, but lack an adjustable headrest. As it is a Ford, you can have any interior colour you like, as long as it is black.
The manual transmission can be balky when cold. An automatic is not an option. Selecting reverse takes two hands to engage. The entire shifter is angled towards the driver making it awkward to place the lever in the appropriate slot.
Visibility to the outside world is strained to say the least. There are wide a-pillars that hamper vision in certain turning situations. Visibility to the rear is virtually non-existent. We found ourselves asking our passenger to get out and help us navigate when backing up. Unfortunately, on numerous occasions, we forgot to remind our passenger to “mind your head” when exiting the car.
The gauges are clear, but the speedometer is set all the way to the right on the instrument cluster. This makes it very dangerous as the driver needs to take their eyes off the road to check their speed. We learned the importance of being mindful of our speed after our fifth speeding ticket. We have to rate this dangerous and expensive.
NOTES:
We took the car to the local supermarket only to find a crowd around the car when we returned. In this day and age of parking lot robberies and assaults we find this potentially dangerous. Once the crowd subsided we realized there is no room anywhere in the car to store even a handkerchief. The car attracts crowds like bees to honey. If you are in a hurry to get home, this could cause an unnecessary delay.
Driving around, we saw numerous occurrences of other drivers performing dangerous acts like hanging out of their windows taking pictures of us with their camera phones. We find this a serious safety issue.
Overall the car is very expensive, dangerous, impractical, and socially irresponsible. We can not recommend it.
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