When Ford took everyone by surprise and unveiled the all-new GT at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year it said the supercar will have more than 600 horsepower.
Well, it appears that the maximum power was understated, according to a report from Car & Driver. At a recent media event, Ford revealed some new information about the 2017 GT, the most important of which being that the twin-turbo EcoBoost 3.5-liter V6 engine will produce at least 700 horsepower.
The engine will share bore and stroke dimensions (92.6mm x 86.7mm/3.64in x 3.41in) with existing applications including Ford cars and trucks and Roush Yates-built IMSA Daytona Prototype endurance racers.
Here are some other details. Ford Performance engineers are testing both carbon-fiber and forged-aluminum wheels for GT use, with five-bolt and center-lock retention schemes also being considered. What is certain though is that the supercar will get Brembo opposed-piston calipers and carbon-ceramic brake rotors.
The 2017 Ford GT will be much more sophisticated than its predecessor, offering an array of functions that didn’t exist before including four distinct driving modes (Normal, Sport, Track, and Wet), active aerodynamics, variable damping, and advanced traction and stability-control programs. To support all these technologies, the GT will be packed with more than 50 vehicle sensors, 28 microprocessors analyzing 300 megabytes of data per second and 6 CAN networks carrying 3000 digital messages distinct to the GT.
The supercar’s molded-carbon-fiber tub and exterior body panels will be manufactured by Multimatic Motorsports and Engineering – the same company which supplied lightweight materials for the 77 examples of the Aston Martin One-77 supercars.
The first production 2017 Ford GTs will be delivered by the end of 2016, with pricing expected to go as high as $400,000. Ford plans to build 250 units a year, but the total run will likely not exceed 1,000 vehicles.
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