Watch Intense Footage of the Ford GT Snatching a Track Record From Porsche
This thing is for real.
We loved our test of the incredible Ford GT supercar at Utah Motorsports Park last year, but that drive didn’t provide the opportunity for true, hardcore, pedal-to-the-floor comparisons with other hot rides to see if it truly is the fastest.
However, our colleagues at Car and Driver have a mechanism for making that determination. They call it the “Lightning Lap,” a lap of the longest configuration of Virginia International Raceway, a track considered the Nurburgring of North America.
Ford’s new rocketship edged out Porsche’s hybrid-electric wonder, the 918, by a mere tenth of a second, to claim a record at 2:43.0. So far, C/D hasn’t yet tested Nurburgring record-holders, Lamborghini Aventador Super Veloce or the Huracan Performante, so we’ll have to see whether the GT can hold its title against the Raging Bull.
The GT is laden with aerodynamics that were specifically developed for racing when the car was designed, along with Formula One-style Multimatic Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve shock absorbers, so a race car-like performance was expected. However, in the video we can see that even the GT demands a lift off the throttle in VIR’s tricky uphill esses, where true race cars are commonly able to stay flat out.
But C/D‘s K.C. Colwell, who drove for the test, explains that the GT carried more speed (148.0 mph!) through the esses than any car they’ve tested, so maybe Ford’s rocket was going fast enough without the gas pedal being flat on the floor.
C/D hopes to get another GT for its multi-car test next spring, when it will have more time to get it dialed in for maximum speed. Colwell predicts it could yet go a couple seconds faster. It might need it if the Lamborghini Hurcan Performante makes an appearance.
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