Advice needed: How to confirm that a GT is the right car?

[Nick_FL]

Hello all,

Here is my current dilemma and would like to hear from forum members. How did you determine that the GT was the right car for you?

Seen many, admired them for their look, engineering design and performance for years...but never got a ride in one of them, let alone drove one. I really don't know if it is the right car for me.

Few details: I am more into the driving experience there days and cherish high reving naturally aspirated engine (clownshoe S54 and 991.2 GT3 manual). Car will reside in California, expect to stretch its legs during week-ends in the Santa Cruz mountains. It would be the most expensive car in my small stable so don't want to be disappointed.

Due to confinement, I am currently in South Fl: 2 GT only for sale within 150 miles of me to get a feel of the car: a Hennessy 1000 (I don't think it would get me the feel of an unmodified car) and one at a Ford dealer with delivery miles (no ride obviously.

What is your recommendation? Ok to PM me if you prefer.

N.

 

[Art138]

The Garage in Miami has one for sale. Typically they don’t let you test drive them unless you put a deposit down. If you like a three pedal car,it’s the best. Sounds way better than my Pista.

 

[Empty Pockets]

"It would be the most expensive car in my small stable so don't want to be disappointed."

You won't be if you buy a "no stories" car.
Be sure to get a through PPI done BY A FORD GT EXPERT before you plunk down a dime. It could save you thousands of dollars down the road.



(I bought mine w/o ever having driven one. I'd sat in one, but, that was it. The Super Bowl commercial "The One" was all I needed to see. That was "all she wrote". The car stunned me when I took it out on the road for the 1st time [...and every time thereafter for that matter]. It exceeded my every expectation. [An aside: Plan to spend about three times as long refueling at gas stations than you've ever spent before. The FGT is a 'people magnet'.])

 

[Gary]

Hello all,

Here is my current dilemma and would like to hear from forum members. How did you determine that the GT was the right car for you?

Seen many, admired them for their look, engineering design and performance for years...but never got a ride in one of them, let alone drove one. I really don't know if it is the right car for me.

Few details: I am more into the driving experience there days and cherish high reving naturally aspirated engine (clownshoe S54 and 991.2 GT3 manual). Car will reside in California, expect to stretch its legs during week-ends in the Santa Cruz mountains. It would be the most expensive car in my small stable so don't want to be disappointed.

Due to confinement, I am currently in South Fl: 2 GT only for sale within 150 miles of me to get a feel of the car: a Hennessy 1000 (I don't think it would get me the feel of an unmodified car) and one at a Ford dealer with delivery miles (no ride obviously.

What is your recommendation? Ok to PM me if you prefer.

N.

You will love. Haven't met or heard of a person that didn't. You won't be the first.

 

[Nick_FL]

@Art138, I will call the Garage Inc. on Monday, no sign of a GT on their website or CarGurus.

Response have been positive so far but it is an enthusiast forum.

 

[dbk]

You won't be disappointed. After seat time in most of the performance cars on sale in the last decade and a half, I still think the 05/06 GT is an overall better or best driver. It just needs a set of modern tires and a pulley/tune, which is hardly considered a modification. It's great at many things, but good at everything. It's superlative on the street. Long gearing is the only thing some people aren't crazy about, but massive torque obviates that concern IMO.

 

[Shark01]

@Art138,
Response have been positive so far but it is an enthusiast forum.

You won't know if it is the right car for you until you drive it. You will find it is a different kind of car than your Porsche. The best descriptor I've found is the Harry's Garage review on youtube.

I first drove a GT in 2012, honestly it just didn't fit the need I had at the time so I bought something else and caught some big time flak here....LOL.

This last time (2019-20), I was looking for something more raw and hardcore....contenders like a GT3 and Scuderia, and the GT was the best driving experience. I found that the high rev, low torque cars were only fun above 6,000 rpm....where you don't spend much driving time. The GT can be fun everywhere.

And since you mentioned this costing more than your other cars, there are GTs in a wide variety of prices....I may have paid less for mine than your GT3, or certainly not alot more. And there is nothing wrong with buying a car with a minor story or two, as long as you do your homework.

 

[unotaz]

If you are coming from an european background, the Ford GT won't drive anything like it. I'm in a good position to describe to you my take on the Ford GT, as all of my cars with the exception of my 2006 FGT are Europeans. I bought my FGT because it looked beautiful and it filled my "itch" for an American Muscle. Does it drive as precise as some of the more prominent european example from the same era (eg. Carrera GT)? Not even close. But it does offer a very honest analog driving experience. It is a challenge to drive fast (even with the Bridgestone tires) but you won't be shifting as much thanks to super long gearings.

 

[Blue Moose]

Pure. Automotive. Entertainment.

 

[Art138]

@Art138, I will call the Garage Inc. on Monday, no sign of a GT on their website or CarGurus.

Response have been positive so far but it is an enthusiast forum.

Send me a pm ....if you are close by I will take you for a spin. I’m running the Torrie tune so alot of torque at the low gears and pops on down shifting.

 

[dreimer]

You will not be disappointed. I had never driven one before I bought mine 3 months ago. (and I've put almost 1000 miles on it already) I sat in one in 2007. Closest I came. Took a short test drive in the one I bought and it was a no-brainer for me.

I have a 1988 911 (very long time owner, street/DE) and a 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS and the Ford GT is another dimension. Very different driving experience. Totally different than my 911, which requires paying attention to weight transfer a REAL lot and maintaining momentum and not scrubbing off speed unnecessarily in turns. The FGT is more similar to the Ferrari in terms of balance, braking and turn entry, except the Ford has insane power and torque. It will be way different than your 991.2 GT3, especially if it is PDK of course. The Ford doesn't rev as high as the GT3 or your S54 BMW (my daily driver is a N55 BMW 135i), but it doesn't seem to need to. So far, I haven't seen the need to go to high RPM. Frankly, I'd like to, but I am still a bit afraid. The Ford GT has a great sound, so you don't need RPMs to tell you that you are hustling along. You won't miss the RPM's.

Drove yesterday with my daughter and I was trying to explain to her that under your right foot is the ability to be very stupid. In the 911 and the Ferrari I can blame the car..."if it only had more power, more grip", yada yada yada. Can't do that in the Ford.

Hard for me to imagine someone not liking it. But I may be biased, I wanted one from the first time I saw one.

Be careful, though. If you get a chance to drive one, you will likely be buying one. So free up space. I now need another lift.

 

[canibl]

For me, first and foremost was the brand, Ford. I used to be an hardcore Ferrari guy in Italy but when I moved to the US I quickly changed allegiance and as soon as I heard that Ford was going to have the new GT at Ford's Centennial event in 2004, I quickly jumped on the first flight and it was love at first sight. Yes, the Ford GT is a really good car, but it's more than that, it's part of a legacy, history. I don't think you can fully appreciate a Ford GT if you don't care much about the heritage.

 

[2112]

From a December 2004 Automobile Magazine article comparing the 2005 Ford GT, Lamborghini Murcielago, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and Porsche Carrera GT;

“In sum: The Italian car looks German, the German cars look Italian, and the Ford makes the dead rise up and walk the earth.”

.

 

[Shark01]

But for all the glowing reviews, these aren’t perfect, the views out of the car are a challenge, the gauge situation sucks, there is lots of scraping due to the low ground clearance, it takes forever to put in gas (I need to get that looked at), and parts will become hard to come by (the true sign of a collector car....LOL). And of course the doors combined with the width can make parking.....ummmm interesting.

The only other negative I can think of for the OP is that it might be too similar to the GT3 in type of usage, as both are manual transmission driver’s cars.

But the positives far outweigh the negatives over my short period of ownership. Very fun to drive.....

Once you get a ride, you will get a decent feel for the type of car it is.

 

[texas mongrel]

But for all the glowing reviews, these aren’t perfect, the views out of the car are a challenge, the gauge situation sucks, there is lots of scraping due to the low ground clearance, it takes forever to put in gas (I need to get that looked at), and parts will become hard to come by (the true sign of a collector car....LOL). And of course the doors combined with the width can make parking.....ummmm interesting.

The only other negative I can think of for the OP is that it might be too similar to the GT3 in type of usage, as both are manual transmission driver’s cars.

But the positives far outweigh the negatives over my short period of ownership. Very fun to drive.....

Once you get a ride, you will get a decent feel for the type of car it is.

Sounds like you’ve got a broken fuel filler flap. Easy, if tedious, fix, lots of posts on this. I’d never seen one or sat in one when I bought mine. 50,000 miles later I’m still in love.

 

[sr71]

You mentioned "positive response, but it is an enthusiast forum".
I've done a number of car shows, and I think all the owners who do have heard the comments:
''my favorite car of all time'', ''my dream car'', ''if I could have any car...'' And over the years (I bought new) repeated many, many times. Be prepared, I'm sure you will like it, but a LOT of other people do.
You will have slow fuel stops with fans and admirers, no other car you have driven will have received as many thumbs up, camera phones popping out, windows down at intersections for questions and comments.
Go see Ford v. Ferrari, you buy the car and the history comes with it. Not shown in the movie, 1967 Dan Gurney winning Le Mans in a GT40 mark IV, first champagne spray ever done from the podium, which has become a total tradition.
Oh, and it's fun to drive. If you have a passenger for a demo drive, you have to tell them that if they want to know how fast that was, they will have to remember the position of the needle on the speedo dial,
their brain will not process the numbers as fast as they are changing.

 

[dbk]

You should virtually never scrape the front end. The front clearance of a stock GT is significantly better than the class, as it was a (completed) program directive. Even if you lower the front of the car, it will have a similar clearance to your GT3, and you would still rarely scrape the inexpensive composite splitter.

 

[nota4re]

Agree with DBK - just common sense sports car driving with driveways at 45 degree angles, etc and the chin won't rub. However, there will be occasions when it happens - and who cares? The part is relatively inexpensive. I found that my mind was at ease when I had a spare in the garage and knew that I could put it on at any time.... but why would I? In daily driving of the car, the only accommodation that I've given is extra wide parking spaces to accommodate the 90-degree door openings. But, I kinda think I would prefer these locations even if *I* didn't need them.

 

[Shark01]

It will scrape occasionally, as it did this weekend even doing the right thing to maximize the approach angle. I agree it is no worse than my Diablo, but that has a lift when I can remember to use it.

 

[soroush]

Ive said it many times before... 05/06 Gt possibly the "best" car ever made... take that for what it means to you... for me, its that simple..

being disappointed when you buy and first drive a 05/06 gt is like being disappointed the first time you use a cell phone... I know you guys are old enough to remember a time before cell phones.. or changing your oil the first time after you bought a lift... if you were disappointed then dont buy a 05/06 GT

wondering if you are going to be disappointed after buying a GT is like wondering if you are going to be disappointed after hooking up with heather locklear (in her 20's or 30's),, well if youre steven tyler maybe....