In addition to having a go on the very circuit the car was kinda made for, Ken Block got to pilot the new Ford GT on the road as well. In the French countryside an hour away from Le Mans, the Gymkhana star sampled how Ford’s new, 647-horsepower supercar copes on the public highway—the keyword here being “public,” as none of Mr. Block’s signature drifts or donuts occurred during this particular drive. Yeah, we were a little disappointed too.
With Ford GT engineering supervisor Nick Terzes riding shotgun, the Ford Performance factory driver/shoe salesman got to pick his brain on exactly how similar the road-going GT is to its Le Mans racing counterpart (Spoiler alert: the road car is more powerful) as well as whether or not the $450,000 supercar came with a “Burnout Mode.” For the record, it doesn’t. Considering it’s a feature now included on even the lowly EcoBoost Mustang, its absence here guarantees that I won’t be picking up a GT anytime soon. (C’mon Ford, step it up.)
The Ford GT is powered (slightly controversially) by a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, has a FIA-approved roll cage built into the body, and is one of the most strikingly designed cars in recent memory, but you already knew all that.
Here’s Ken Block pottering around in one in France.