the chassis is GREAT, I always bring diapers with me





​​​​​​​let's fix that for u.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MirageJHU

It should be noted I am not counting the halo F1, 250GTO, 275GTB etc in the list of achievable cars...

I had the chance to drive a 250GTO in past. the SOUND....

 

Yes you did. I agree.

As I've said before and this is my 2 cents, the NFGT is a cool piece no doubt but its drive train is controversial and will I believe always be a thorn in its side and eventually drive value down especially as they continue to make more. Its styling leaves people divided unlike the Gen II FGT's classic styling and when you scratch the surface of the NFGTs racing "pedigree" you see it only won LeMans once and that was in its first year in IMSA against outdated competition and with the LeMans cards stacked heavily in its favor. It never won at LeMans again. Not a success story IMHO for a car designed to win at LeMans. While the street version is said to be a race car the reality is like every car running in IMSA there are significant differences from the race version to the street version.

Many are unaware but the 05-06 FGT had a very successful racing career in the FIA with Matech Racing winning the GT3 class championship. The Matech FGT was even invited to LeMans in 2010 based on their success with the car and lead in class for 8 hours until hit by a car coming out of the pits. That's racing though. Ugh. This was all without factory support by a privateer team.

The technology that went into the gen II FGT is remarkable for its time. Stir friction welds, all aluminum panels, ship in a bottle fuel tank, bird cage chassis, dry sump engine oiling, overhead 4 valve 4 cam V8, all aluminum high strength race block Ricardo transmission, advanced aero including flat panel undercarriage etc...

As far as performance the NFGT is equaled or exceeded by cars costing far less like the GT3RS, GT2RS, Mac 600LT, 720S, Performante and Pista. I believe the Porsches and Ferraris are also built better.

There is no doubt in my mind the Gen II (05 to 06 FGT) is the one to own going into the future again assuming the world stops going sideways. Its styling is timeless, the story behind its development fascinating involving legends like Carroll Shelby and its the last truly analogue American Supercar with a V8 and 6 spd manual. Collectors will clamor for it in time. TT supercars will be a dime a dozen.

There are only approximately 2800 Gen II FGTs left WW at this point. About half of those are really "no story" cars.

 

Although I disagree with many of your points, I'll tell you a quick inside story about NFGT and LeMan. The NFGT finished first at last years LeMans and was disqualified the next day. But here's the story behind the DQ. I'm going to leave out names to protect people.

-The french Head of Tech Inspection for the LeMans was a good friends with the guy that involved with the FGT Team. They normally go out to dinner before the race. But this time the Head Tech wouldnt even make eye contact with him, let alone be friends or go out to dinner. The FGT guy told his team somethings bad is going on (this is before the race).
-The FGT finishes first in class. Instead of the normal post race inspection they kept going through the entire car, examining and re-examining everything. They cant find anything wrong so continued though the night into the next day. Finally they came up with it being 1/10th of 1 liter of gas tank capacity too much out of a 96 liter tank (3 fl oz over), the next day! Keep in mind race gas tanks are big cells and then you add plastic blocks to lower the displacement of the tank to get it to the BoP allotment. You also add foam sponge blocks to prevent gas from sloshing around. After all the gas is used and car runs out, you can always squeeze out some gas out of the foam sponge blocks if you want to (even though it is unusable). The hard plastic displacement blocks also contract and expand ever so slightly depending on temp conditions, so its never exact to the fl oz. But they were determined to find a way to disqualify the FGT's and wouldnt give up until they could find something.
-Why would they do this? Well as it turns out Ford announced they were closing their car plant/factory in France. That factory happened to be in the town whose mayor was the brother of Head of Tech inspections at leMans. That town was losing its biggest employer. The mayor had appealed to Ford saying ti was going to devastate the town.. Ford said sorry. The mayor was pissed. Separately it was also the last year Ford was participating in LeMans or Endurance Racing so it was considered to be abandoning racing.You can draw your own conclusion to why they FGT was stripped of its LeMans win last year. I am told the mayor told his brother who was head of tech inspection, there is no way Ford is winning LeMans. Both FGT's were disqualified post race.
-They were going to remove every screw and measure the tolerances until they found something to DQ the car from its first place at LEMans. The storybooks wont tell you that, but that is the reality.

disclaimer- I do own a NFGT but also Porsche's.

 

Yes, that was in the GTD class. Not a factory car competing against other factory cars. While I can't comment on the accuracy of your explanation for the Ford's disqualification last year it is clearly anecdotal. It was reported that the excess gas amount was sufficient to put the second place GT3R which was not far behind into first. Extra fuel can clearly put a second place car into first. According to the press the Wynn's FGT had almost an extra liter capacity. Capacity was supposed to be 98 liters and they apparently were found to be .83 liters over the limit. You tell me that doesn't give it a massive advantage over a 24 hour race. Seriously?

Regardless, what I can tell you as fact is that the first year for the FGT at LeMans it got a HUGE pass from the organizers on homologation which allowed it to compete without be homologated and to compete against outdated competition that year. I didn't hear anyone at Ford complaining about the scrutineers or the rules that year.

I'm not hating on the NFGT. Just pointing out facts. Do I like the car? Sure. It is a cool bit of kit. For sure. Before I'd buy one though I'd rather spend the $$$ on another FGT, a Heritage this time to keep my Mark IV red company.

 

as a NFGT owner, I can say that it is one of the best track cars I have ever experienced out of the box. I have had it at cota and laguna seca and when it was at cota, same weekend I had the P1 and Senna there, and a 570GT4.

the NFGT tires and mechanical grip are comparable to the 918, the steering is comparable to the CGT and 675LT. The brakes are good- but weakest part of car are the hyper soft pads. I will be replacing my brakes with Surface Transforms asap.

the wildest thing about the car is the ride height and the suspension. it is very trick and does not show up on paper, but back to back against similar cars or even hypercars it is a better car to drive through corners like Turn 2 at cota, or the esses or Turn 9/10 at Laguna Seca- this is where the lap times come in...huge grip allows you to roll lots of mid corner speed- and the lack of air resistance due to the buttresses- allows for super duper top speeds on long straights.

it is an incredible car. to me, it's very comparable to the CGT in that there are only 1-2 things you could hope for- most cars have 4-5 and that includes hypercars like 918.

 

Dont want to argue about it either but you are mixing up two different documented facts about 2 different cars. The GTE-AM (or GTD as us you refer), was won by Ben Keating, and documented to have a fuel capacity of .1 liters over (3 fl oz), not .83 L over as you stated. The GTE car that got 4th in the Pro category is the car that had 97.83 fuel capacity and was .83 over, which is clearly too much.

 

I stand corrected. Thank you. The overage on the Keating car was about 3 oz. Seems minor but over 24 hours adds up. Also seems they were not meeting the minimum pit time of 45 seconds. Also a difference maker.

Regardless it’s bush league to complain and whine (not referring to you but Keating and Ford) about the rules when they are enforced taking the win from you when you previously sought non enforcement so you could win.

 

Agreed.

For the reasons I mentioned in my first post due to the fuel blocks and foam blocks required in fuel cells there will be small variation in fuel cell capacities, literally from day to day. .1 L on a 97L tank is not at unusual -- the .87L of the Pro car is. In IMSA and SRO and we literally have seen this first hand (that fuel cells will vary slightly each time you measure them). In fact in our IMSA Porsche I have seen it vary more than .1 L in back to back capacity checks done on the same day, the variation gets bigger as time goes on. We literally ask to have our tank capacity checked by IMSA before EVERY RACE for this reason and have to alter blocks slightly because of the reasons I mentioned. And still after the race it will still vary slightly due to temp/environmental conditions. As such we put a buffer in each time so we are .5 liters UNDER capacity just in case (which is a lot). FGT should have put in a bigger buffer for this and they didnt.

 

Speaking of IMSA wondering if and when they will return and the crowds will return. What a chit show. I miss it. A lot. Miss the track a lot. Have two race cars prepped for the season with no where to go.

Happier times at Watkins Glen.

 

First race is still scheduled for the Glen June25-28, but i have my doubts.
Sweet cars. I used to race the GT4 'stang in GS

 

Thanks. No doubt yours are sweet too. I am praying things get back to some semblance of normal and we get our lives back.

Makes you appreciate things all the more.

 

Thank you! With 600 miles in the Ford GT I feel comfortable enough to comment. First, the FGT chassis is solid, the torque is addictively wild and the suspension is tuned for the street. In comparison the CGT suspension feels like it's setup up for the track. The sound inside the cabin of the CGT is not the greatest, UNLESS the top is off and you're next to a wall or in a tunnel, then there is nothing better BUT let's face it, most the time you're not in a tunnel. I have 20k miles in a CGT and the FGT just blows my mind so far. I don't know if it's because it puts down 700hp and has straight exhaust, I haven't driven a stock example. FGT has a superb gear box, steering is boosted, the brake pedal is a little spongy but the brakes are capable. Keep in mind I'm 'only' driving this car on the street, not the track. Like someone else commented on this thread, if I had to pick one it would be the FGT, and I never thought I'd say that.

 

That’s high praise. I miss my FGT sometimes. I’m curious to hear your opinion in 6mos; not because I think it will change; because sometimes I have cars that seem to get better with time and some that fade once the new-shiny-toy effect goes away. It’s an iconic car for sure.

 

I agree with you. I'm still in the honey moon phase here. Time will tell.

 

Interesting...I've known a lot of guys who sold their FGT but kept the CGT...keep us posted!