One of the great things about being part of the forum is the continued opportunities to hang out with Ford GT Team members. I had a great time doing that today.
Scott Ahlman, who was a Ford GT Chassis Design/Vehicle Dynamics and Development Engineer, has been hard at work putting together a new performance suspension package for the Ford GT. I know he's mentioned it here on the forum in the tech section. Mark McGowan, Mr 211 mph, recently acquired a beautiful stripeless black GT courtesy of The GT Guys. Of course it only made sense that Scott's work meet Mark's car and driving. I met up with the guy's this afternoon down at Cayman Dynamics down in Dearborn and took a few photos before we headed out to the Ford Motor Company Dearborn Development Center to thrash on the newly set up system.
I'll let Scott fill in the details, but I just wanted to say right off the bat that this is a truly impressive, fully engineered, data driven performance package for the GT. The sophistication and attention to detail here are really world class, and it's a privilege to have guys like this that care enough to still be doing this stuff all these years after the car was produced. Not only is the setup beautiful, but it's the culmination of the expertise, input and hard data analysis of the people who know the car best. I know it's not for everyone, but I love just being around watching the magic happen. Sorry, the pics aren't great but the light from the open bay door on an overcast day was overwhelming against the inside of the small shop.
Mark's new car getting ready for action, with additional Ford GT vehicle dynamics alum Chris White setting up for data acquisition:
Mark and Scott speaking in engineering:
It's always fun around Ford GT (and before you ask - Ford Time And Relative Dimension In Space):
The secrets:
Ooh:
Intense Preparations:
Wish this pic came out better! Super cool piece.
Installation time:
Looking good. A really clean (except for the literal dirt from testing) setup that requires no remote reservoir even on a 4-way adjustable.
Easy to adjust on the fly. 40 click low speed adjustability on this package.
Prepared for data acquisition at the Dearborn Development Center:
After we left Cayman Dynamics, we went out to the DDC and Mark put the set up to the test. My first thought was "Oh my God, that stripeless black GT looks incredible blasting across the VDA." It is just such a mean looking car, and the new ride height makes it even more angry. Mark put the car through a battery of tests, tossing the car violently from one direction to the other. They ran the car around the 200 ft circle. Pretty much exactly the type of vehicle dynamics engineering these guys were doing for the OEM Ford GT requirements, only with a much higher performance level in mind. Someone, and we'll never know who it was eventually spun the car. It definitely looked good doing it. In between runs, the car would come back, and Scott would utilize Mark's input and make changes. When they decided they had enough info to go on prior to analyzing the hard data, it was off for additional testing.
We then headed over to a series of ride lanes where Mark tested the setup against a number of different real world tests. Primarily these involve various levels of road quality that mimic what you see on a day to day basis. I went for a couple laps with Mark and one would make your chest and head bounce, one involved running over a series of steel strips at 10 mm thickness intervals, and other similar experiences. They skipped the horrifying huge rock course, but the OEM GT program didn't. If you ever want to cringe, see if someone can get you in at the DDC and look at the massive gashes filled with steel edges they ran GTs over. The worst one was a replica of a really, really, really awful condition railroad crossing. It was a huge mess of craters going over it. Again, Mark skipped it obviously, but they did that during the GT program. Oh, and they didn't just do it with a GT. Because of the inane requirements of FMC that apply to everything from an Escape to the GT, they did it to a GT being dragged by a wrecker, just in case it happened in real life. Painful.
I have some great video from the GoPro we put inside and out on Mark's car, but FMC has to view the footage first to verify nothing secret is involved, so as I get my memory card back from them I'll put it up. We had permission to film so shouldn't be a big deal.
******
My first take on being in the car with the Ohlins setup is that it's a very, very good improvement on the stock ride and handling. There was none of the noise you sometimes get with a high performance shocks setup. It was exceptionally stiff for performance and was actually really, really compliant on the ride handling roads we went on. That's definitely a best of both world's situation. I thought for sure it would be a lot more painful as we blasted down the ride roads, but it was actually quite nice. And then when we made a quick blast on the high speed test track, I said to Mark a) it's alot less scary when I'm a passenger in his car rather than Camilo's and b) wow did that feel good at speed. I can't wait to be a passenger on a track with one of these guys with this setup. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how much I love the way it looks. It just looks like a really high quality, clean setup, so if you're into the jewelry, here's another piece for the wishlist. Oh, and these things are LIGHT. I picked up the stock piece in one hand and Scott's in the other. It was an easily discernible weight difference that will clearly help at the corners overall.
So that's the story for today. Ford GT Team - still hard at work, making the Ford GT better everyday. Be sure to keep an eye out for more information from Scott and Ahlman Engineering. These guys know they aren't selling 100 sets of these things, so they are doing it for the passion for the car, in response to the passion the customers display for the performance. You won't get this level of interaction and support anywhere else. I doubt many Ferrari guys get to say they called the OEM engineers for track day or street setup advice on their adjustable shock setups. Hope we support them! And of course, come to Ford GT Rally 8 and buy these guys a drink for their continued work on our behalf.
Scott Ahlman, who was a Ford GT Chassis Design/Vehicle Dynamics and Development Engineer, has been hard at work putting together a new performance suspension package for the Ford GT. I know he's mentioned it here on the forum in the tech section. Mark McGowan, Mr 211 mph, recently acquired a beautiful stripeless black GT courtesy of The GT Guys. Of course it only made sense that Scott's work meet Mark's car and driving. I met up with the guy's this afternoon down at Cayman Dynamics down in Dearborn and took a few photos before we headed out to the Ford Motor Company Dearborn Development Center to thrash on the newly set up system.
I'll let Scott fill in the details, but I just wanted to say right off the bat that this is a truly impressive, fully engineered, data driven performance package for the GT. The sophistication and attention to detail here are really world class, and it's a privilege to have guys like this that care enough to still be doing this stuff all these years after the car was produced. Not only is the setup beautiful, but it's the culmination of the expertise, input and hard data analysis of the people who know the car best. I know it's not for everyone, but I love just being around watching the magic happen. Sorry, the pics aren't great but the light from the open bay door on an overcast day was overwhelming against the inside of the small shop.
Mark's new car getting ready for action, with additional Ford GT vehicle dynamics alum Chris White setting up for data acquisition:
Mark and Scott speaking in engineering:
It's always fun around Ford GT (and before you ask - Ford Time And Relative Dimension In Space):
The secrets:
Ooh:
Intense Preparations:
Wish this pic came out better! Super cool piece.
Installation time:
Looking good. A really clean (except for the literal dirt from testing) setup that requires no remote reservoir even on a 4-way adjustable.
Easy to adjust on the fly. 40 click low speed adjustability on this package.
Prepared for data acquisition at the Dearborn Development Center:
After we left Cayman Dynamics, we went out to the DDC and Mark put the set up to the test. My first thought was "Oh my God, that stripeless black GT looks incredible blasting across the VDA." It is just such a mean looking car, and the new ride height makes it even more angry. Mark put the car through a battery of tests, tossing the car violently from one direction to the other. They ran the car around the 200 ft circle. Pretty much exactly the type of vehicle dynamics engineering these guys were doing for the OEM Ford GT requirements, only with a much higher performance level in mind. Someone, and we'll never know who it was eventually spun the car. It definitely looked good doing it. In between runs, the car would come back, and Scott would utilize Mark's input and make changes. When they decided they had enough info to go on prior to analyzing the hard data, it was off for additional testing.
We then headed over to a series of ride lanes where Mark tested the setup against a number of different real world tests. Primarily these involve various levels of road quality that mimic what you see on a day to day basis. I went for a couple laps with Mark and one would make your chest and head bounce, one involved running over a series of steel strips at 10 mm thickness intervals, and other similar experiences. They skipped the horrifying huge rock course, but the OEM GT program didn't. If you ever want to cringe, see if someone can get you in at the DDC and look at the massive gashes filled with steel edges they ran GTs over. The worst one was a replica of a really, really, really awful condition railroad crossing. It was a huge mess of craters going over it. Again, Mark skipped it obviously, but they did that during the GT program. Oh, and they didn't just do it with a GT. Because of the inane requirements of FMC that apply to everything from an Escape to the GT, they did it to a GT being dragged by a wrecker, just in case it happened in real life. Painful.
I have some great video from the GoPro we put inside and out on Mark's car, but FMC has to view the footage first to verify nothing secret is involved, so as I get my memory card back from them I'll put it up. We had permission to film so shouldn't be a big deal.
******
My first take on being in the car with the Ohlins setup is that it's a very, very good improvement on the stock ride and handling. There was none of the noise you sometimes get with a high performance shocks setup. It was exceptionally stiff for performance and was actually really, really compliant on the ride handling roads we went on. That's definitely a best of both world's situation. I thought for sure it would be a lot more painful as we blasted down the ride roads, but it was actually quite nice. And then when we made a quick blast on the high speed test track, I said to Mark a) it's alot less scary when I'm a passenger in his car rather than Camilo's and b) wow did that feel good at speed. I can't wait to be a passenger on a track with one of these guys with this setup. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how much I love the way it looks. It just looks like a really high quality, clean setup, so if you're into the jewelry, here's another piece for the wishlist. Oh, and these things are LIGHT. I picked up the stock piece in one hand and Scott's in the other. It was an easily discernible weight difference that will clearly help at the corners overall.
So that's the story for today. Ford GT Team - still hard at work, making the Ford GT better everyday. Be sure to keep an eye out for more information from Scott and Ahlman Engineering. These guys know they aren't selling 100 sets of these things, so they are doing it for the passion for the car, in response to the passion the customers display for the performance. You won't get this level of interaction and support anywhere else. I doubt many Ferrari guys get to say they called the OEM engineers for track day or street setup advice on their adjustable shock setups. Hope we support them! And of course, come to Ford GT Rally 8 and buy these guys a drink for their continued work on our behalf.
