Great write up Dave... love reading about the new GT. Can't wait until my time to put one in my Ga Raj Mahal. It really needs a big splash of Red in the middle of all the white cars. 
The hydraulic suspension is one of the great party tricks of all time. Go to any car show and drop the car. It will make people gasp every single time. The front lift is an incredibly useful tool. Approaching any shoddy road element, hit the button and boom you've instantly gained clearance.
I've never driven a car that inspires more lunacy. People literally freak out over this car because it barely looks like it should be legal on a public road.
People have tremendous affection for the Ford GT that's totally different from the disconnected admiration they might have for other super cars. When a hometown high school football team wins the state championship everybody in the town is proud. People who have never met the players or their families are still thrilled because it's "my town" and "our team". "We" are the champions. People who will never own one were proud of that Ford GT. It's American, it's a Ford, it's the coolest car ever built, and it's a product of "Our country".
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I would make a few other random notes.
The notion the car is unbearably loud from mag reviewers is really laughable. I guess if you hang the RPMs at like 4100 RPM and catch a certain frequency, the drone will be annoying. And I suppose most of us do the majority of our supercar driving at 4k RPM for huge stretches of time. Or not. The car certainly makes less noise than an 05/06 with a muffler delete cat back. I've had lots and lots of people in the car. It's plenty quiet enough to carry on a conversation at regular speaking volume.
The hydraulic suspension is one of the great party tricks of all time. Go to any car show and drop the car. It will make people gasp every single time. The front lift is an incredibly useful tool. Approaching any shoddy road element, hit the button and boom you've instantly gained clearance.
It would be capable from a comfort perspective, but lack of storage space renders it near useless as a tourer.
I was surprised to drive the car on a really, really tight mountain road to find the car hilariously fun. It's a huge car but it shrinks with speed, and the gearing is such that where an ultra tight road would be a tedious annoyance in the 05/06, it was really fun in the 17. On the other hand, I can see where long highway cruising in the 17 would be more tedious, while it's perfectly entertaining to ride the surge along in the 05/06.
I would rate the transmission highly overall, but nothing beats the PDK in a GT3 RS.
The car is significantly crazier looking on the road amongst other cars than it is on a show stand. It's a big, long and wide car. It's pretty imposing going down the road. That said, the other day I saw a new GT driving towards me. From 500 feet away, I thought it was an 05/06 for a minute. The new car is radical, but the familial DNA is strong.
I've never driven a car that inspires more lunacy. People literally freak out over this car because it barely looks like it should be legal on a public road.
Have I told you guys lately how much I love being a part of this awesome group?
It has a magic that no other car, at any price, can match.
Chip