What a fantastic day, but with a sad ending too.
First the good parts:
I drove the F430, the GT3, the Gallardo roadster, SLR and the venerable FGT. There were some cancellations so we ended up driving the entire day on beautiful mountain roads, switching cars about every 20-30 minutes.
I got to drive just about everything twice and came away with some distinct impressions:
The F430 and the GT3 placed second in my mind in terms of fun to drive. I can appreciate why so many love either car. Both really need you to get pretty high into the revs to feel much power, with the GT3 feeling like a slug down low.
Handling of course was dead on for both and I had a great time flinging them around.
The lambo was loud and powerful and fairly comfortable, but the E-gear was slow and pretty harsh during transitions up and down. What a great sound it made on downshift though! The interior didn't do much for me as even though it's a step up from previous models, it still is a bit dated. It was my least favorite car, which by no means should be interpreted as not liking it, but with the company it had that day it seemed the least put together.
The SLR was an incredible piece of hardware both inside and out but a bit twitchy on these roads and it required the most attention and the firmest grip on the wheel. It had some serious grunt once it made up its mind to find the right gear. The interior was beautiful and comfortable, with the exception of the single piece carbon fiber seats, which didn't allow any reclining of the seat back, rather the whole unit reclined, which didn't change the relationship of the seat bottom to the back. I found the angle wasn't optimum for me.
Finally, the GT. I climbed in thinking I would quickly discover something that bothered me about it. I've read about the visibility issue, but having low expectations I was pleasantly surprised that the pillar didn't block my vision as much as I feared. In the twisties I simply split my vision to either side. I can imagine if I was taller than 6' it might become too obtrusive, but it merely elevated to an inconvenience rather than a major problem. The wipers removed only my view of some of the hood, which was no big deal. I never back up in the car, but imagine that must be the worst of it.
Thanks to all of you, finding first was easy and I never started off in third.:cheers The moment I launched I fell in love. It was so smooth and effortless, and the shifter was like butter. Like many of you have said countless times, the positioning of the stick was perfect, right where it should be.
The power was there so low in the rev range that it instantly gave me a smile and I fell in love like I have with no other car. Truth be told, while I appreciated the other cars, once in the GT I never needed to drive any of them again that day. But, I was forced to share and knew that day that at some point in my future I wouldn't have to.
I spent most of my time marveling at how well it took the corners and how it really didn't matter what gear I was in on this particular stretch of highway, I always had plenty of power on tap. It was by far the easiest car to drive of the bunch.
I love the interior, what can I say? It just speaks to me and what I like in a car. The look, the feel, the ergonomics, you name it, perfect.
My only complaint (it's not really a complaint, more of a comment) is the sound. The inherent sound has a beautiful tone, I just want more of it. Now I don't like obnoxiously loud and ostentatious exhaust (I said I liked the sound of the lambo, but in more of an amusing sort of way), but just a bit more growl would seem to make it more worthy of the car. I can't figure out how they make a mustang gt sound so aggressive but this sound so subdued. It was still pleasant, but an aftermarket exhaust is definitely in the cards.
Now to the sad ending and a very strange coincidence. I was driving home on the Pasadena freeway and noticed busted up against the median was a yellow striped GT and another car. Both of the drivers appeared okay and the owner of the GT was on the phone. It was too surreal, I mean what are the odds? I felt deeply sad but it didn't look like it was totaled and both of them were okay. My condolences to the driver, if you are on this forum.
I'd better finish this book! Thanks to all of you for being dead on in your comments about the intricacies of this beautiful machine. I know love is blind, but I couldn't find anything I didn't appreciate. It's a pretty amazing testament to have driven some of the finest cars in the world and to find myself with even more desire than ever to own the Ford GT.
Thank you for keeping me hooked enough on this car to spend the cash to experience it, if only for an hour. It was worth far more than what I paid. I can't wait to be able to keep the keys next time.:thumbsup
