Rising Force

Ford Performance unveils a next-generation supercar that sets the tone for the future

By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy by Steve Turner and courtesy of Ford Motor Company

The rumors were true, but the car was more than we could have imagined. Today Ford pulled back the covers on a new Ford GT supercar. Codenamed the Phoenix, this halo performance car will not only raise the blood pressure of performance enthusiasts, but it makes a bold statement about where Ford is headed in the future.

Built to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the GT40’s 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans, this supercar will go into production next year and will feature the highest performance production EcoBoost engine to date, cranking out over 600 horsepower.

“As we at Ford drive innovation into every part of our business, it’s worth remembering that our first innovation as a company was not in a laboratory, but on the racetrack,” Mark Fields, Ford president and chief executive officer said of Henry Ford’s win of a 1901 car race that inspired financial backers to invest in his company. “We are passionate about innovation through performance and creating vehicles that make people’s hearts pound.”

If you follow sports car racing, you know that Ford’s Daytona prototypes have successfully fielded the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine. Well, this is basically a production version of that engine, which has been beefed up for street durability but still retains racy features like dry-sump oiling.

“The GT is the ultimate execution of an enthusiast supercar,” Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development, said. “GT includes innovations and technologies that can be applied broadly across Ford’s future product portfolio – another proof point that Ford continues raising the performance bar while ultimately improving vehicles for all of our customers.”

You can learn more about this amazing car right here:

Accentuating the performance of the 3.5 EcoBoost engine, Ford seeks to create one of the best power-to-weight ratios around by relying on carbon fiber, which foreshadows the company’s mainstreaming of composite materials. While the subframes are aluminum, they are mounted to a carbon-fiber passenger cell and surrounded by carbon-fiber body panels.

And, do those body panels ever look good. Though the front end clearly hints at the car’s historic lineage, the rest of the car is thoroughly modern.

Under those stunning good looks, the GT is brimming with suspension gear bred on the racetrack. It runs on a torsion bar and push-rod suspension with an adjustable ride height. That suspension plants 20-inch wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 tires. Braking is courtesy of carbon-ceramic stoppers.

It’s not just the braking that makes you stop and think. That Ford sees a business case in innovating on a performance level like this and trickling that technology down to its mainstream vehicles bodes well for the future.

Ford GT Gallery

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