Faster than Ferrari: New Ford GT specs revealed

Having beaten the likes of Ferrari and Porsche with the racing version at Le Mans, Ford has finally revealed the capabilities of its production-ready GT supercar.

And it's safe to say the blue oval has built a belter.

Ford revealed the car's performance potential this week, and the numbers are staggering. The coupe's 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 offers up 482kW of power and 746Nm in torque - outputs that firmly establish it as a member of the supercar club.

It's enough to push the GT to a top speed of 346km/h - more than key rivals from Ferrari and McLaren can manage.

Ford staged a comparison between the new GT and two of the most focused mid-engine supercars ever built, McLaren's 675LT and the discontinued Ferrari 458 Speciale. It claims that the Ford is quicker than both around Canada's Calabogie Motorsports Park, where the GT was around one second quicker than the McLaren and three seconds faster than the Italian machine.

Weighing in at just over 1350 kilograms without fluids, the GT is considerably heavier than the McLaren, but lighter than Ferrari's latest 488 GTB coupe. It is also less powerful than the European duo, clawing back ground with innovative work in active suspension and aerodynamics shaped by Aussie designer Todd Willing.

Not to be outdone, McLaren will unveil its own successor to its current range of super series at the 2017 Geneva motor show in March, promising more power and better aero than existing models. Lamborghini will join the fray with a hardcore version of the flamboyant Huracan coupe in Switzerland, and Ferrari is said to be working on a beefed up, stripped out version of the 488.

The catch is that Ford has already sold out of its high-performance hero, a model that will only be made in left-hand drive. The brand's local arm isn't aware of any that are coming to Australia as track machines for private collectors, though there are rumours that the ultimate Ford could be headed for New Zealand.

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