Not that I care about turning heads, but the GT turned way more heads in traffic than the F430. Not just by a little, it was downright amazing.

Performance on the street is similar, but a call to Whipple and the F430 is toast…and Enzos are next on the list. Caramba!

Yes, the Whipple is a 3.4L. I heard they are making a 3.8L too…which might give pause to the nutjobs (I kid because I love) interested in a twin-turbo conversion.

It still blows me away that the Whipple GT has a supercharger that’s about the same size as the displacement of most V6 family sedans. That’s just nuts, but it sure as heck works.

Perhaps I can briefly shine a light through a few of the apparently foggy areas…

I had an interesting conversation with Stefan Dunert (pres. of Opcon)ca. 2002 at a trade show about one of his cars. It was, yup, a Viper. With a twin-screw. 1000 HP Vipers are a straightforward exercise, and nowhere near the cutting edge.

Last time I was out at Art Whipple’s place (while ago), they were still manufacturing the units in-house, under license from Opcon. Not sure what the current scenario is, but they do (did?) have the required machines to manufacture them from scratch.

The Eaton/Lysholm thing is a slighty different kettle of Swedish fish. In a nutshell, Eaton is the Tier I purveyor of the Rootes blower -an adiabatic holocaust that was never really useful on any internal combustion engine, save for 2-stroke diesels. A Rootes is neat as a pump, lousy as a compressor. It is however, relatively easy to manufacture, and therefore the favorite OEM word – cheap.

Eaton getting Lysholm into bed a few years ago has yielded a much more functional Rootes. Still cheaper and easier to manufacture than a ‘real’ internal compression twin-screw (Lysholm), but not nearly the atmospheric Abu Ghraib that the classic Rootes is.

Meanwhile, back at the Whipple. I’m sure that forced induction really wakes that GT up, and a twin-screw supercharger is a really easy way to do it. Bet that was a fun drive.

I understand the current Whipple (prolly on that GT) is mid 3L displacement, which is Brobdignagian for a twin-screw. Makes me wonder if it really is true twin-screw, or some sort of modified unit to eliminate those pesky payments to Opcon. I’ll look into it.

Greg

Trust me. It is.

Rust on a new Ford GT? Unless it was on the brake rotors that is unacceptable

Arrgh! Absolutely – GT, not GT-40! My enthusiasm for the car got the better of me!

Probably the best thing I can say about a GT (esp. a Whipple’d one) is that it leaves me speechless: I can’t say a word when looking at it, driving it, or pegging the boost gauge in it. And I’m usually pretty good at talking about cars.

Welcome. And Amen. Best exotic I’ve ever driven. OK, there was rust in places and I’m not so sure about build quality. But charisma, power, handling and charm– the Ford GT (not GT40) has it all. Well, except for stability control…

I hope EVERYONE takes away that tuning doesn’t mean what you see in mainstream car mags. I might even be a tuner, but I get parts from junkyards, message boards, craigslist, etc. And with rare exceptions, I feel cosmetic modifications have no place on a “tuned” car.

USAFMech: can it be a great review if I told you the car never scared me? I only giggled like a 5 year old every time the wheels broke loose. But running this beast down the Texas Mile would indeed scare me shitless.

This is a mostly great review Sajeev. I would have thrown in the bits about how your nearly shat yourself just to get cave-man like in the explanation of primtivity of the power.

Thanks for the info. Now if only I didn’t have to chose between our Honda Fit and ‘94 Explorer for my motoring.

Thanks for sharing, Sajeev!

I guess someone has to do it, right?

I’m not a big fan of tuning (or tuning by any other name) when it comes to exotics and I guess most people don’t judging by resale values. Especially when it comes to Ferrari/Lamborghini, tuning is just wrong on many, many levels.

However, since the GT basically has a truck (F150) engine with a blower attached to it I don’t see why not. And…I learned something about Lysholm Supercharges so it’s all good.

All the more reason it puts big-dollar tuners to shame. I guess they are too busy ricing out Civics with hand-grenade engines and sticking chrome on Hummers.

2. Post review, adding K&N filters netted all of 4 horses on the dyno. If that’s all it did for a car with 20psi of boost, imagine what little it provides on most cars, other than a lifetime of use. And image me trying to explain what a Ford GT is (and why it needs two K&N filters) to the guy at the AutoZone counter. Good times!

It’s always interesting while discussing the “Ford GT” and they think you’re talking about the Mustang; you attempt to clarify and you receive a blank stare…

Roe Racing must get the blower from Lysholm, I’m pretty sure that’s where Eaton, Whipple and everyone else gets it. Mr. Dustin Whipple chatted with me via email about the scarcity of Lysholms when Eaton got the contract for the GT and Shelby GT500: apparently making the blowers to OEM specs (whatever that means) slowed down production rates and overall supply. But the problem solved itself once the GT bit the dust.

Moral of the Story: everything has a story, you just have to look hard enough for it.

Top Gear Love this car. Jeremy said it’s his size

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IOpuGVoyCk

BTW – Ford originally said the car would be 500HP, but later changed the rating to 550HP. Stock. In other words, all Ford GT’s sold (at least in the USA) are 550 HP.

With regard to Clarkson’s Ford GT issues, I recall him admitting that every problem that he had with the car could be traced back to after market retro-fitting (the alarm and parts needed to make it legal in Britain). He still bought the car twice. That should tell you something.

From the looks of it, the whole steering column is from a Focus, but its leather wrapped. And yes, its one of the worst parts of the car…not to take away from the overall 5-starness of the package.

The Ford Focus turn signal and wiper stalks are a little off-putting, but then again, Corollas and Lexuses shared the same ones for years.