Ford GT Mk IV review

So, you’ve folded yourself into the car. Pulled the pedals and steering wheel in tight and the 3.8-litre twin-turbo engine is buzzing through the seat. The environment is claustrophobic compared to a road car, of course. Especially as you’re strapped in tight with a HANS device restricting your neck movements. But the driving position is fantastic.

The steering yoke has six buttons on each side, three rotary switches, more buttons on its rear face and, of course, carbon fibre gearshift paddles. It’s a lot to take in and most of it is superfluous for a short stint. However, to pull away you need to first hold the brake, then pull the paddle for 1st gear. The car lurches slightly. Now press a small yellow button marked ‘MRK’ to ready the automatic clutch programming and accelerate sharply. There’s no clutch pedal so you’re away and straining against the pit limiter easily.

Cold tyres. Green track. Any other excuses?

They really would be excuses because the Mk IV isn’t at all scary once you release the speed limiter and find the freedom of the track. It’s a really warm day so even ‘cold’ tyres don’t present a problem and come into their full operating window easily and quickly. So rather than feeling darty or nervous the GT immediately is on your side. The steering is light and responsive but also calm and well-matched to the way cornering load builds through the chassis and this most alien of things feels entirely natural.

The brakes are similarly reassuring. They require a good amount of pressure but respond in kind. No matter what you ask of them, they deliver. Stopping distances are condensed to almost nothing and the way you can sense just how much grip is left to exploit is slightly freaky. I have few frames of reference for a car of this potential, yet seem to innately understand how to unlock a significant amount of the retardation available. That’s the magic of the Mk IV, it’s a talent multiplier for the relatively inexperienced but would, I’m sure, continue to reward and reveal new layers for many thousand of laps to come.

How does it compare to a ‘regular’ hypercar?

In pure acceleration terms some of the big-hitting road cars would out drag the Mk IV. But not by much. And come the first braking zone and corner they’d be in the weeds. The grip, stability and on-track poise are of a different order of magnitude. It’s much closer to a full-blown GT3 car, only with even more aero grip, higher cornering speeds and much, much more straight line performance.

Ford and Multimatic claim that the Mk IV is already considerably faster than the GTE car that won Le Mans back in 2016 around any track. If it were possible to add the full ‘confidential’ Michelin slicks that are the reserve of top level race teams, that advantage would grow to the tune of another two or three seconds a lap. Already they say it’s close or ahead of LMP2 cars.

Can you really feel the aero?

Oh yes. In lower speed turns you’re relying on the plentiful mechanical grip and the lovely balance - just a smidge of understeer but easy to balance and correct. However, in the quick turns the real crazy stuff begins. Lap after lap your turn-in speed creeps up and up and it doesn’t take long to start really punching the car into corners even as your brain is screaming for more braking. The MkIV sticks and sticks and even as the grip starts to ebb away it’s progressive. High-downforce might conjure notions of a snappy, difficult to read ‘cliff edge’, but the GT belies such ideas. You can drive deep into the grip and even slide the car on corner exit with all that power.

The traction control is a great enabler here, of course. And the ABS is a lovely safety net. But the confidence isn’t electronically-reared. There’s such inherent rightness and communication that the Mk IV feels organic, gritty and entirely analogue. Funny word for a car with auto upshift and plenty of driver aids, but that’s what it’s all about. A spectacular slice of involvement and feedback and intense thrills.