As close as it is to launch, the all-new Ford GT supercar is still undergoing constant development and verification as it prepares to ship out to a select few lucky buyers later this year.
For instance, here’s a video Ford Performance just put out of the 2017 Ford GT being blasted in the wind tunnel so that the team can check the car’s aerodynamic properties and cabin wind noise.
The new Ford GT, like any proper supercar, wears a lot of functional aerodynamic elements. Many of them are active – like the grille shutters and rear wing, both of which we get to see actuated in this video. Many others are not, and provide a set amount of downforce or cooling at a given speed. To make sure that each of these pieces is working in concert and performing as intended, and to work out all the kinks with a deadline looming, tests like the one seen here are scheduled whenever possible – even at 2 am on a Monday.
“Being the GT program, we effectively test 24/7,” says Ford Engineering Supervisor Nick Terzes. “It’s a very compressed program, so whenever we can find time, we use it.” He went on to say that the team is in “a very critical phase in the program. Verification prototypes are our opportunity to kind of test the vehicle fully before we go to drive one… if we have to do any final tweaks, this is when we would [do them].”
But are the long, crazy hours worth it? Terzes seems to think so: “In the end, all these late hours, all these weekends that we work, are absolutely worth it to be a part of a program like this, and to create the ultimate GT.”
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