Ford claims that the 2017 GT can hit a top speed of 216 mph (347 km/h). That’s extremely impressive, especially when you consider that the supercar has less grunt than many of its rivals.
However, can the 2017 GT actually hit 216 mph in the real world? To find out, one owner put his vaunted supercar through its paces on an airport runway.
The runway is 2.7 miles (4.3 km) long and we’ve previously seen a Bugatti Chiron hit 261 mph (420 km/h) at the same location. In other words, it’s the ideal place for that kind of endeavor.
The high-speed run starts off quite gingerly as the driver of the GT gently changes gears until about 110 mph (177 km/h). From there, the GT begins to speed up at an impressive rate until 180 mph (289 km/h), when the speedometer slows and starts creeping towards the 200 mph (320 km/h) mark. The driver was eventually able to push the supercar through to 210.4 mph (338 km/h) before deciding it was a good idea to start braking.
The driver wasn’t able to match Ford’s claimed top speed for the GT, but we think if the runway was a little bit longer, 216 mph would have been possible.
Of course, the GT is not about extraordinary top speeds. Instead, it’s designed to be blisteringly fast around a racetrack as, unlike its rivals, it was designed as a race car first and then turned into a street car, which makes it that little more special.