Why is the GT so heavy?

Orr89rocz

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yeah, idont care about gas mileage either.. thats last on my mind

i was answering this
Be Real, Ford has always had the myopic vision that seems to be, the heavier the better. Thats why all the others run away from them in a street race, and also why the vette's are getting 28+ mpg on the hiway and the fords are barely getting 22.
 

Formula51

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satx said:
I believe the 5.4 is about 150lbs heavier plus the blower, and supporting components........ok, maybe it's not just the engine, but most of the other weight is due to using quality components instead of plastic :-D

You would think they would save weight with those quality components because the GT has a fraction of the components the Z06 has, plastic or not. I dont think the interior is where the GT gains the weight. Does anyone know more about the GT to help us figure this one out?
 

ON D BIT

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Bracketbomber said:
Be Real, Ford has always had the myopic vision that seems to be, the heavier the better. Thats why all the others run away from them in a street race, and also why the vette's are getting 28+ mpg on the hiway and the fords are barely getting 22.

the vettes get 28+ mpg because of gearing. 6th gear is a true overdrive. my mach 1 produced 26 mpg at a steady 80 mph with spirited sprints above that on the freeway. still no where near 30 but way above 22.

those that purchase ferrari's, lambo's, and other exotics dont care about gas. they care about prestige, luxory, and performance. the gt40 exudes all that.
 

DBK

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The weight in the GT is from the supercharger and all the various goodies it takes to run it. You can assume an n/a motor would have weighed about 175 less than the 5.4 with the massive ass twin screw on it. Take that out and it's "light". End of story, as I heard from the horses mouth. Trade off weight for the tractability and utter ease with which the blown motor performs.

FWIW, the space frame is all-aluminum, so that has nothing to do with it.
 

Orr89rocz

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yep, balsa wood and carbon fiber composites really help lighten the car...

a GT at 3000-3200lbs would be pretty insane
 

03CobraBro

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lthlvpr said:
Of course, the power and torque of the car keep it in a high performance category, but you don't see too many 3600lb+ cars on the track.

No offence, but the Murcie with AWD weighs well over 3600lbs itself...
 

Orr89rocz

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3400-3500 seems to be the popular range for most cars out there from exotics to stangs to fbodies. lol
 

CincyFordman

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Here is a thought, its my thought but a thought. I think I would rather have the heavier body becuase if I was able to get my hands on one I will garauntee you that I will find some highway or road to open it up and hope I have enough pavement to reach 200+mph. And at that speed my mind tells me heavier is better to help the downforce keep the car on the road.

Just my thought!
 

fordification

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any great benefits in using a lighter n/a 5.0 cammer at 400-450hp, dropping 100hp and maybe 150lbs? making the 5.0 streetable is the other factor.
 

TRXboy

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fordification said:
McLaren F1 is stable over 200 and weighs in at 2500lbs. guess part of comes down to wind resistance.


I would love to know where you got this Information from. Personal? Or did you read it, because every single publication I have read (Road and Track, Car and Driver, Automobile) and TV show (Top Gear) have all complained and where surprised at how UNSTABLE and twitch the car is, and how unpleasent and uncomunicative it was. Road and track had an artical where the Test driver (Professional racer, I'll dig it up if you want) was actualy Surprised at how unstable it was and said it was the "scariest 200+ he has ever been". Mind you this was in a test where Hennessy Vipers and Ling. Vette's were breaking 200. Cars that where in no way designed to go that fast.
 

GTSpartan

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TRXboy said:
I would love to know where you got this Information from. Personal? Or did you read it, because every single publication I have read (Road and Track, Car and Driver, Automobile) and TV show (Top Gear) have all complained and where surprised at how UNSTABLE and twitch the car is, and how unpleasent and uncomunicative it was. Road and track had an artical where the Test driver (Professional racer, I'll dig it up if you want) was actualy Surprised at how unstable it was and said it was the "scariest 200+ he has ever been". Mind you this was in a test where Hennessy Vipers and Ling. Vette's were breaking 200. Cars that where in no way designed to go that fast.

Don't forget that car goes 240+, a huge difference compared to 205. I'm not sure how stable a street car could possibly be at those speeds. Sure, the Bugatti supposedly feels real stable, but it has tons of electronic nannies to keep it stable. There are trade offs when dealing with weight and personally I'll take light weight and a bit less power anyday over heavy and more power. Lightweight always wins in the long run, because every performance measure is affected in a positive way.
 

Fourcam330

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fordification said:
any great benefits in using a lighter n/a 5.0 cammer at 400-450hp, dropping 100hp and maybe 150lbs? making the 5.0 streetable is the other factor.


The car would be a dog by comparison, and you would literally be opening Pandora's box regarding durability. Did I mention how slow it would be? :beer:
 

50 BMG

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TRXboy said:
I would love to know where you got this Information from. Personal? Or did you read it, because every single publication I have read (Road and Track, Car and Driver, Automobile) and TV show (Top Gear) have all complained and where surprised at how UNSTABLE and twitch the car is, and how unpleasent and uncomunicative it was. Road and track had an artical where the Test driver (Professional racer, I'll dig it up if you want) was actualy Surprised at how unstable it was and said it was the "scariest 200+ he has ever been". Mind you this was in a test where Hennessy Vipers and Ling. Vette's were breaking 200. Cars that where in no way designed to go that fast.

Mario Andretti was the only person I ever saw give a bad review of the Mac in a publication...probably cause he was still pissed about LeMans 1995 :lol1:

I'd like to see all the other examples of bad reviews; after doing a online search of MT, C&D, R&T I haven't seen 1 bad review in their archived articles.
 
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TacticalKaos

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Orr89rocz said:
turbos u can stay out of booost.


Yup, you sure can if you have no idea what you have. I have to fight my foot from putting the hammer down around town. I think it's as addictive as blower whine if not more.
 

TacticalKaos

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I would think that a mid engine car would have a serious weight advantage due to the long driveshaft delete and the fact that is more compact. Perhaps it take more hardware to pull that off. On the other hand though, critics have revered the new Z06 as absolute genius engineering when it comes to weight saving so it's pretty hard to hold any other car up to that standard. You'll be dissappointed if you do.
 

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