Car Sight

Powered by an all-new, mid-engined powertrain producing 410kW of power and a gargantuan 678Nm of torque, Ford's giant-killing Ford GT made it's Australian debut at the 2004 AIMS.

The slinky supercar - based on the classic 1960s Le Mans winning GT40 - gets its huge power output from Ford's MOD engine family.

This includes performance powertrains like the 290kW 4.6-litre DOHC supercharged V8 in the SVT Mustang Cobra, as well as the 260kW 5.4-litre Boss V8 in the Falcon XR8 and the 290kW 5.4-litre quad-cam Boss V8 in the FPV GT, GT-P and Pursuit models.

"We're just starting to tap the performance potential of Ford's modular engine architecture," said Curt Hill, Ford GT powertrain engineering supervisor.

"This application really demonstrates its awesome potential. The 5.4-litre engine easily produces 410kW of power and 678Nm of torque, while meeting all the current emissions and durability standards. Those numbers are comparable to the race-prepared, blue-printed 427 (7.0-litre) big-blocks in the Ford GT40 race cars."

The Ford GT engine features an all-new aluminium block fitted with high-flow, four-valve cylinder heads and dual overhead camshafts. To bear the stresses necessary to produce 410kW, a forged-steel crankshaft, shot-peened H-beam connecting rods and forged aluminium pistons are used.

"In total, 85 percent of the reciprocating parts are unique to the Ford GT," Hill said.

Fuel is delivered via dual fuel injectors per cylinder, while a modified screw-type supercharger – blowing through a water-to-air intercooler – supplies sufficient airflow for engine output.

The GT's body is based on an aluminium space frame, which basically reduces overall weight while increasing rigidity and the aluminium body panels themselves are also quite advanced, as they've been manufactured using super-plastic forming (SPF).

"Super-plastic forming is fairly new for the industry," said Bill Clarke, Ford GT body structure supervisor. "It was a critical factor in producing the large sections, complex shapes and delicate accent lines of the concept vehicle. Large, intricate panels like the cantilevered doors simply would not have been feasible with traditional stampings."

To maximise passenger comfort, Ford GT chief designer Camilo Pardo and the engineering team made extensive use of a virtual-reality computer-modelling device called the digital occupant buck.

The device is a revolutionary step in CAD/CAM technology, enabling a virtual re-creation of the interior surfaces to be translated from the CAD data. With this 'immersive' tool the engineer can 'virtually' sit inside an interior buck.

A test engineer, wearing a video headset and fitted with magnetic target sensors on his body, can sit in any seat in a virtual car and experience the environment. Everything else – buttons, controls, pedals – is generated electronically as part of the virtual environment.

"The real advantage of the digital occupant tool is that it allows engineers to develop a comfortable interior for a wide range of statures," said Kip Ewing, Ford GT Package, Prototype and Launch Supervisor.

"As an example, I could sit in the Ford GT seats as a fifth-percentile female and evaluate her reach to major controls. Five minutes later, I could sit in the car as a 95th-percentile male and evaluate his outward visibility."

As a result of this testing, Ewing tweaked the occupant package for the maximum range of accommodation. This included obvious improvements, such as maximising seat travel and headroom. While such things may sound trivial for a passenger car, many buyers of exotic cars often find it hard to fit in such rare vehicles, and this was an area Ford was keen to get right, allowing a wider range of drivers access to the cockpit.

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