SRT vs Ford GT

[cratica]

Vic,

I think it would be ok as long as you aren't caught kneeling before it! LOL! I would do the GT in the blue/orange color scheme, it's just simply AMAZING! 2nd choice would be the with/blue stripes to match my viper!

I actually would like to build a GT using a kit such as ERA, but those are very expensive too. Maybe they will come down one day.

Sell a few more elevators!

 

[dirk989]

OK just thought I'd put my 2 cents in here. As the proud new owner of an ugly SRT-10, my tastes are different. I happen to like the style of the gen III better than I or II. I do not think the SRT-10 looks like anything else and I think the more subtle exotic style is beautiful. I'm sure there are several other GenIII owners who agree. I have heard the earlier Vipers knocked for years by people who didn't appreciate the styling. I happen to be a huge fan. Now that the SRT-10 is here, it is ironic how some owners of the earlier Vipers have turned on the new one in the same way that the unappreciative have turned on the earlier Vipers.

As for the Ford GT comparison: there is always the cost analysis, but that analysis can also be used against the Viper. These types of cars do not make financial sense.

The Viper seems like it would be a better driver, a more comfortable ride, and the ******* option is a major point.

Performance on either of these cars is beyond what you can use on the street. Seems like the GT, if they ever actually get them to the market, will end up being a better performer. However, on the street you'll never know it. Some of the advantages are so small that it seems driving skill or lack thereof would make the difference unnoticeable.

Styling is something that is personal taste. I think the GT is a beautiful car. However, after looking at it for very long it seems more like a toy. It seems like a style that you lust after when you are 15, but when you grow up it seems a little tacky. Sure the drive would be fun, but would I take my wife out to dinner at a nice restaurant in the GT? No probably not.

The SRT-10 is in my opinion a very beautiful car. While the GT is more of a 'dogs playing poker' print, the SRT-10 is more classical art in my eyes. While maintaining the brute force explosive look, the SRT-10 manages to look far more elegant than the GT

As you can tell, I love the new Viper. I think time will be kind to it. I understand that people will look at it differently than I do.



Dirk

 

[SRTJOE]

OK just thought I'd put my 2 cents in here. As the proud new owner of an ugly SRT-10, my tastes are different. I happen to like the style of the gen III better than I or II. I do not think the SRT-10 looks like anything else and I think the more subtle exotic style is beautiful. I'm sure there are several other GenIII owners who agree. I have heard the earlier Vipers knocked for years by people who didn't appreciate the styling. I happen to be a huge fan. Now that the SRT-10 is here, it is ironic how some owners of the earlier Vipers have turned on the new one in the same way that the unappreciative have turned on the earlier Vipers.

As for the Ford GT comparison: there is always the cost analysis, but that analysis can also be used against the Viper. These types of cars do not make financial sense.

The Viper seems like it would be a better driver, a more comfortable ride, and the ******* option is a major point.

Performance on either of these cars is beyond what you can use on the street. Seems like the GT, if they ever actually get them to the market, will end up being a better performer. However, on the street you'll never know it. Some of the advantages are so small that it seems driving skill or lack thereof would make the difference unnoticeable.

Styling is something that is personal taste. I think the GT is a beautiful car. However, after looking at it for very long it seems more like a toy. It seems like a style that you lust after when you are 15, but when you grow up it seems a little tacky. Sure the drive would be fun, but would I take my wife out to dinner at a nice restaurant in the GT? No probably not.

The SRT-10 is in my opinion a very beautiful car. While the GT is more of a 'dogs playing poker' print, the SRT-10 is more classical art in my eyes. While maintaining the brute force explosive look, the SRT-10 manages to look far more elegant than the GT

As you can tell, I love the new Viper. I think time will be kind to it. I understand that people will look at it differently than I do.



Dirk

I could not have said it any better! Dirk your the man.

 

[SoFlaSRT]

Dirk, your opinions about the SRT are exctly the same as mine. That's why I have one now for the past year, and yet never felt compelled to have a Viper before it.
Re: the GT, I think it's impressive. Whether I would tire of it or if it is too much of a toy, I'm not sure. I wouldn't mind finding out though!

 

[SnakeBitten]

However, on the street you'll never know it. Some of the advantages are so small that it seems driving skill or lack thereof would make the difference unnoticeable.

Ok lets give the GT its due now....On the street all you gonna be doing with these two if you are sane is highway pulls, so I do believe you will notice the GT BIG power advantage over the SRT10 stock for stock...131mph vs 123mph 1/4 is BIG..Not to mention the GT's insane top end acceleration. The difference between the two on the street would be anything but unnoticeable.

 

[Snakester]

The Ford GT's time has been steadily improving since they raised the boost in the various prototype cars. Remember that the first R&T test of the Ford GT did the 1/4 mile in 12.2 @121.6 MPH!
http://www.roadandtrack.com/assets/download/11132003105848.pdf

Whereas the Most recent Motor Trend test shaves off almost a full second and adds 10MPH in the 1/4 mile. So you can figure that around 100-150HP has been quietly added to the Ford GT by raising the boost and tweaking the car.

The big question that I have is how much of that additional tuning (and power) will make it to the production Ford GTs?

Unlike the test mule prototypes, the production Ford GTs have to have a reasonable level of reliability, which means that most likely the boost will be turned down a ways.

I'm sure that it will still be underrated, and have more than 550HP, but it should be down from the 650HP level of the tweaked test mules.

The proof will be with the first actual dyno tests done of real cars, followed by the performance that the production Ford GTs get out on normal dragstrips.

 

[Viperfreak2]

In my opinion, Ford will not tune down the final cars. They had such a bad rap from the Cobras a few years ago, they know that GT owners will raise hell if they can't run a 1/4 in basically the same time as the latest mag tests. Mustang owners generally aren't super rich and they forced Ford to mod and even buy back the faulty Cobras. What kinda clients are the GT owners, who can afford upwards of $250K for a ride?

 

[01LightningGal]

Early preproduction GT's didn't even have the production cars S/C 5.4, they had the '03 Cobras S/C 4.6. Also, the increase in performance, all around, is a product of tuning the engine and chassis to final production specs.

The car used in the lates MT article was a preproduction pilot car. If you don't follow automotive manufacture, let me enlighten you. A preproduction pilot car is a production spec car. They are called pilot cars because they are used to check the manufacturing processes in the plant. These cars are rung through the ringer to check that all of the production spec pieces are working as they are supposed to. These cars also allow the line to "fine tune" itself for fit and finish........... and to see if there are any manufacturing difficulties that need to be ironed out.

The ramp up of the manufacturing of the Ford GT is very slow. There are many processes being used that Ford has never used before (nor anyone else as proofed by all of the patents that Ford has gotten on them). Also, I would imagine that the parts suppliers are being rather slow also, as Ford is being extremely picky with these cars.

BTW, according to a person who worked on the electronics for the car......... the stellar performance of the pilot car is due to the tuning of the electronics. This has been a work in progress, with these latest test cars being the first of those tested with the production tune. Boost was not turned up on the engine at all, over the course of preproduction.

I think the thing that people here are not looking at is that this car has been completely developed in the public eye. Journalists have had access to the car at all stages of development. They have tested the car at all points of development also. Also, this car has had a very short development period. From concept to production was only 18 months. Thus, the slow ramp up makes even more sense.

Just as a FYI for those who have a SRT-10.......... according to all tests of production spec cars, the ride and daily driveability of these cars is amazing. As my latest R&T stated "But it's also a car that is comfortable to get into and out of, that has very good ride control, excellent seats for two and all the amenities you could wish for. As Ellida and I sailed up Pacific Coast Highway, we both grinned and agreed that this was one supercar in which you could easily drive for hours on end without turning into a pretzel."

Mind you, I'm not saying it is "better" than the Viper........ as better can be a pretty subjective word. Just that it is a pretty amazing car that does deserve respect, even if you would never buy one.

 

[Snakester]

Thanks for the information.
I'm still eager to see the production car's dyno numbers. And how well they do when the new owners start taking their Ford GTs to the dragstrip.
Understandably, (like the Viper) the Ford GT was not built as a drag car, but they both do fairly well anyway (as well as circuit racetracks of course).

 

[Autostream]

..... So you can figure that around 100-150HP has been quietly added to the Ford GT by raising the boost and tweaking the car.

The big question that I have is how much of that additional tuning (and power) will make it to the production Ford GTs?

Unlike the test mule prototypes, the production Ford GTs have to have a reasonable level of reliability, which means that most likely the boost will be turned down a ways....

I agree snakester. Its been known to happen before. In 93, R&T tested the new Supra against the 911 Turbo and Testarossa. They clocked the Toyota at a screaming 13.5 in the 1/4. The others were all in the 12's but for '93 and only $38k- that was amazing. But those Supras never did that at the track in customers hands. A few years later, the **** admitted they provided a special 'press' car to make those headlines and to put toyota on the world map. And it worked.
It'll be hard to prove too. If you go to the track and dont run anywhere near a 131mph. The last thing and hardest to believe is that there was foul play involved by the manufacturer.

 

[Snakester]

With a turbocharger or supercharger it's just too easy to silently change the boost. And it's certainly better to have the $150K Ford GT compared to the $$$ Saleen S7, Enzo, and CGT, rather than to the $85K Viper and $45K Corvette.

I had read an interview of one of the Ford GT engineers who had talked about raising the engine's boost, and doing subsequent power tuning on the prototype Ford GTs.

That was when the official power rating went up to 550HP (from 500HP), and he mentioned that the car really responded well to the tweaks. He only wondered how much power that they could retain while still maintaining reasonable reliability.

 

[Autostream]

He only wondered how much power that they could retain while still maintaining reasonable reliability

Dont we all!!!!!....

 

[SylvanSRT]

actually i think Ford has been under rating the hp of their cars since that Mustang Cobra isssue from a number of years ago. The Cobra R of a couple years ago(MT shootout) was supposed to have 390-400 hp and MT chassis dyno(also included were Vette and Viper) the rwhp was around 380, so that car prob had way more than 400hp. A person who took me for a ride in a GT a month ago told me that the 550+ hp is at the rear wheels, meaning that the hp is probably in 590-600 area at the flywheel.