Ford GT Mk IV review

The Ford GT Mk IV is what you get when the shackles are removed. Ford Performance and Multimatic (technical partners on the GT road and racecars) felt like this third generation model deserved to realise the very best version of itself before it bowed-out completely. So, they set about building a car freed from racing rules, road-going concerns and, well, anything really. The only constraint was the load capacity of its Michelin slick tyres.

The result is a vast leap on from the Mk II (a mildly evolved track-only GT) and is considerably quicker around a lap than the car that contested and won the GTE class at Le Mans in 2016. The short version is the Mk IV has a longer wheelbase, a bigger 3.8-litre version of the Ecoboost V6 with around 820bhp in high boost, carbon-carbon brakes, a seven-speed X-Trac sequential racing gearbox, Bosch motorsport traction control and ABS and Multimatic’s Adaptive Spool Valve (ASV) race suspension system.

It is an aero monster too, producing 1,088kg of downforce at 150mph and 2,045kg at 200mph. The Mk IV weighs around 1,250kg, so if I was making an Instagram reel about it I could say something stupid about how it’s capable of driving upside down.

Photography: DW Burnett

Why Mk IV?

You remember Ford’s famous 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966, right? Well, in 1967 they returned with a radical development of the GT, new almost from the ground up. It had a new monocoque using aluminium honeycomb and bonded and riveted panels, greater aero efficiency (including a longer tail) and was lighter, too. It won the race by four clear laps.

So, when you’re building a radical GT with a beautifully stretched silhouette, more power, more performance, greater aero efficiency and a whole heap more attitude… what else are you going to call it? Just 67 will be made, also in reference to the original Mk IV.

Is it as good as it looks?

I’d love to string this out a bit. But there’s no point. The Mk IV is one of the most exciting, all-enveloping and charismatic cars I’ve ever driven. It feels monstrous and sounds like pure evil and yet melds that incredible sense of occasion with a genuinely exploitable and indulgent dynamic character. The controls are brimming with feel and consistency, the power, braking performance and sheer mind-scrambling grip are addictive and the car just sweeps you up and transports you to a new world where fear, excitement, intensity and joy smash into each other and create a new emotional state.

I’m babbling. But you would, too. The Mk IV is fan-bloody-tastic.

Okay, calm down. What’s so special?

It’s quite hard to describe, because despite all the incredible components and its wild capability, the Mk IV is somehow more than the sum of its parts. Yes, the light, clean steering feel is delicious. The brake pedal feel and progression is superb. The performance is incredible as you ramp up through the three maps. Map 1 is a polite handshake. Just 500bhp. In Map 2 it’s more like 600bhp and the final setting is somewhere north of 800bhp. Race circuits have a habit of diluting the impression of speed, but not in the Mk IV. It feels very, very fast. Always.

More impressive still is the chassis balance and the extreme mechanical and aero grip. The environment is pure racecar, which is intimidating. But almost immediately the GT breeds confidence. It’s so stable and composed and shrugs-off little mistakes with ease. So you push harder on the incredible brakes and barely trigger the ABS. Pin the throttle early and hard and the traction is untroubled. The Mk IV just devours the racetrack and goads you to try harder.

The ‘box is fabulous, too. There’s no clutch pedal or paddle at all. So stalling is not an issue. A great result when the Multimatic guys are watching on. There’s auto upshift, too. Which sounds criminal amongst those of us who crave engagement and connection, but actually works brilliantly and just adds to the impression that the Mk IV is a different experience working to different rules and rewarding in new ways.

Then there’s the grip in high-speed turns. My god, it’s outrageous. The sensation of just tipping the car into corners at a speed that seems way too fast only to feel the aero load squeeze the car into the surface and help provide millimetre-perfect accuracy is such an intense and exciting experience. With time you can really push into this zone and even feel the car start to slip into understeer or even a little flick of oversteer. There’s no knife-edge.

Mostly love. No. It’s all love. I love the Ford GT Mk IV. It’s expensive and perhaps many will gather dust in collections (or rather be endlessly polished and preened between bouts of doing nothing much at all), but the engineering behind this car is top-level motorsport standard.

It’s built alongside real GT3 cars and Le Mans Hypercar chassis for the likes of the Porsche 963, and it’s easy to feel that authenticity. Through every control, in the way the car behaves as you start to approach the limit. It also happens to look utterly gorgeous.

The Mk IV is a fine way for the GT to take a final bow and an unforgettable experience.