Ford GT '06 VS Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6) '06
Ford GT '06
COST AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Hmm. A midship, american supercar with a muscle car engine. Interesting. ON your first glance in the Ford dealership, you will be 'ood' and 'aahd' by the many potholes punched in the bonnet, and the side skirts, as well as that swooping rear with a slightly lifted spoiler-type thing, as well as those circular rear lights and those sticky-outty exhausts slap bang in the middle. Definitely looks tasty.
On the other hand, 149,880 credits is a LOT for an american horse. So, will it be worth your precious credits?
PERFORMANCE
This american abomination has a SUPERCHARGED v8 engine mounted mid-ship, spitting out 550 horsepower and having almost 70kg/fm of torque at maximum. Of course, it's easy to get carried away with the numbers, but those are pretty big, even for the hefty price. But numbers only tell half the story, so I took it to Nurburg, to see what's what.
When you start driving, you will be hypnotized by that familiar V8 growl at 5,000 RPM, and you can feel that massive power hammering the car forward. But that's where the good news ends.
The Ford GT weighs in at about 1 and a half tonnes, which makes it quite a heavy hauler for a mid-ship supercar, which means it has a tendency to oversteer and understeer. With this car, it doesn't seem to go where you want it to go- its soft suspension, and high weight means that it's not that snappy or sharp and you don't quite feel connected with it, like it's floating on invisible ice. On the Special Stage Route 7, I managed to top 210 mph, which is very good for a stock supercar.
But it has the X factor I look for in a high-performance supercar, which is it's fun to drive and master, because of it's uncertainty, and it will keep you entertained.
GEARING
Stock, the Ford GT has 6 gears, set to about 250 MPH- but it simply does not have enough oomph to get there on its own. It will need tuning and/or slipstreaming to reach that speed. The 6 gears is good, but the 6th gear is useless because it's got no power, aka it's like a 'cruising gear'. Basically, for top speed, keep it in fifth. It's also got a very high 60 mph 1st gear, which is useful for drag racing and makes the most out of early power.
BRAKING
Braking is easily one of the worst parts of the Ford GT. The brakes are rather slow and are similar to the Suzuki CERVO I reviewed earlier- good for a small car, bad for a supercar.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Ford GT has sidelights, low beam, high beam, and fog lights. It's lights are average (sidelights are a cool, orange glow though) and the cockpit isn't optimistic because it hasn't got very high visibility, front or back. The cockpit itself is cool though, you have a simple tachometer right in front of you and a speedometer to your right. The oil pressure also works (small dial to the right of the tacho) which is a nifty little feature.
SUITABLE OPPONENTS
The Corvette is a pretty close opponent. It has similar specs and also has a supercharged V8 as the main oomph. However, the SLS AMG is also fairly close, but weighs 150KG more. Ironically, both were made in 2006, which also the song "Speed of Sound" was placed on iTunes. Just goes to show how much power these things really have!
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6) '06
COST AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Like the Ford GT, the Vette has special shapes in its bonnet and scoops on the side. The corvette also has four exhaust pipes, slap-bang in the middle, but unlike the Ford, it costs an amazing over 50,000 cheaper, at just under 100 grand. So, what is the Corvette like as a cheap alternative?
PERFORMANCE
The Corvette is slightly under-performing in terms of power, compared to the mighty Ford GT. It's 7 litre V8 engine is mounted in the front, and creates 503 horse power and 64.90 kg/fm of torque at best, so it isn't as fast as the Ford GT when we look at the specification. It is slightly lighter though, as 30 kilos less. It isn't just the maximum power though- it's how the Corvette utilises these horsies on the track. I took it to the Nurburgring like the Ford GT to see how it handled with less power.
As soon as I started driving, I had the same bass from that V8 under the bonnet, and the subtle whine treble of that supercharger. You can feel all of those torques lunging the car forward, like the Ford GT, but there was a huge difference. In the corners, it behaved like a different animal. It had more oversteer, and controllable oversteer, and very little understeer, which meant I could pull off a drift. It felt much more responsive, much more connected to the road. The back end was lunging out of place telling me "You're pushing me too hard!" and it was a brilliant feeling. You just seem to have more grip and you get a sense of achievement and relief when you drift around a corner successfully. The body was beautifully composed, sliding round each corner, making mincemeat of the apex. It was an agile little mouse, whipping through each corner. More importantly though, it was even more fun to drive and master than the Ford GT. In pursuit for a top speed, I managed 203 mph- not bad, but was outdone by the more powerful Ford GT.
GEARING
The Vette gears reasonably, and, like the Ford GT, has 6 gears. And also like the Ford GT, has a useless, really tall 6th gear for cruising. With the gearing, it could reach 260+ MPH... but without enough power, it won't reach that stock. It also has a high 1st gear at about 56 MPH like the Ford GT.
BRAKING
Unfortunately, it's the same story with the Ford GT and Corvette; braking is still very poor and takes a long time to slow down.
MISCELLANEOUS
Like the Ford GT, sidelights, low beam, high beam and fog lights are present and functional, horn is included, and a cockpit view is included. Unlike the Ford GT, thanks to the engine being up in the front, visibility in the rear is better, as is the front view. You have a miles-per-hour head-up display so you know how fast you are going without having to squint at that hard-to-read speedometer. Overall though, the cockpit is uninteresting and nothing fascinating.
LAP TIMES
Here are the lap times for the Vette and the Ford GT on the Tsukuba Circuit and Curcuit de la Sarthe, resectively.
Corvette:
Tsukuba- 1.03.748
Sarthe- 4.30.051
Ford GT:
Tsukuba- 1.04.463
Sarthe- 4.30.579
CONCLUSION AND OTHER RIVALS
In conclusion, I think the Corvette is the one to go for because it feels so much more active to drive and much more frisky. And it's 50,000 credits cheaper.
Other rivals may include the Nissan GT-R '07, or the Mercedes SLS AMG '10, or the Ferrari 458 Italia '09.
But thanks for the heads up anyway!
I didnt even know this car "Suzuki Cervo SR" existed in GT5 
