Of Fords and Ferraris – Working on the Ford GT Program

My good friend Bob Knox is a serious car guy, but not the kind who can recite articles from Motor Trend of why the F-150 is a better truck than the Tundra. No, Bob is a purist, he is the kind of man who can explain design and engineering choices that a manufacturer has to make in order to put a product on the market. For Bob function and purpose triumph form and design. He finds beauty in physical properties and is able to adequately explain their attributes. Below is a short story written by Bob telling of his experiences working on the Ford GT program. Enjoy.

Of Fords and Ferraris

My destiny solidified back at the eighth grade science fair.  I made a wind tunnel with clear polycarbonate tubing, my mother’s vacuum cleaner, and a Group C Sauber C9 Matchbox car. My report about how aerodynamics were going to change the world of car design, and how we would all be driving door stop wedges with a coefficient of drag around 0.05 won me first place.  That was back in 1986.  I guess that didn’t work out quite to plan, then again, no one is flying around with a jetpack either.  Now, having spend more than twelve years as a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry, and having been friends with few generous enthusiasts, I’ve been able to work on and drive some pretty impressive cars.

The Ford GT

Back in 2003/2004 I was fortunate enough to work on the Ford GT program with Roush, designing the engine mount system.  With the Ferrari 360 set as the benchmark and the iconic Ford GT40 to live up to, I absolutely knew that “good enough” engineering was not going to even come close.  My hard work and late nights paid off the day I walked into the garage at Roush to help track tune the engine mounts and drive the GT back-to-back with the Ferrari F360 for comparison.

The GT is achingly beautiful to look at, and an absolute blast to romp on wide open throttle.  The air will literally get forced out of your lungs from the ferocious acceleration.  The engine, body, and even the suspension setup were all lust worthy, but the problem for me was the general lack of steering force feedback.  The steering assembly was taken directly from the European Ford Focus which is supposed to be one of the most telepathic in the industry, but in the GT that was not the case.  If a 500hp tarmac missile takes no effort to turn and doesn’t feel like an extension of the pilot’s arms, there is something majorly wrong.  The GT does have a quick ratio (17:1 rack and pinion) and reacts fairly quickly to inputs, but I want some meat behind my steering wheel not only for slip angle adjustments but also so that I feel like the first and last line of contact between the tires and the road.  If Gordon Murray could build the F1 without any power steering boost, why can’t every super car maker?  We wrung out the GT, decided the medium motor mount setup was the best overall package in terms of NVH and dynamics, and moved on to the scarlet beast waiting behind door number 2.

The Ferrari F360

There is a real sense of ceremony when slotting behind the wheel of a Ferrari for the first time.  You absolutely do not “jump in and go”.  Forget the price for a moment.  There is so much history and lore behind the prancing midnight stallion that you have to soak it in very slowly.  Get comfortable in the bolstered seat.  Marvel for a moment at the design and finish of the interior that feels tailor made.  Get comfortable and grasp the steering wheel.  Put the perfectly weighted clutch in.  Set that chromed sphere in the palm of your hand and slot the gated shifter into neutral.  Firmly grip the key and give it a turn to light the fire of what should be your greatest moment of driving ever.  Keep the revs up a bit and slowly pull away while the engine and transmission warm up.  Come to the first bend in the road neutral on the throttle and get ready for… another feather light steering wheel with all the enjoyment and effort of an over boosted Buick.  What in the world are all those journalists around the world blathering on and on about!? The F360 is definitely scalpel sharp on its gumball sticky tires and turns in quicker than the GT with its 16:1 ratio, but mid/slow speed corners (i.e. where you would spend 95% of your time) are completely lifeless!  I think there is a major disconnect between what people perceive as direct steering; as soon as you move the steering wheel the car turns, and the actual steering feel.  The 360’s immediacy of vector changes was amazing, but the only hint of lost grip came sooner through the seat than the steering wheel.  That is ass backwards, excuse the pun.  My dreams were deflated and I may have actually shed a tear.  Well no, wait a minute, that was my tear ducts and ear drums exploding from the staccato shriek of five back-to-back WOT runs, which was the best stress/frustration reliever I have experienced to date. But steering feel was still a disappointment.

The Who and The Why

Now I am in no way shape or form unhappy with the day.  I still got to drive some mythological cars at ludicrous speeds on a durability track.  Mom always said I was good at breaking stuff.  I played a minor but important role in the character of the GT engine note and the stiffness of the rear corner castings, and I ticked off one of life’s top five boxes by even getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari.  With visions of GT40’s slipping sidewise in the rain down the Mulsanne and heroes like Nuvolari and Fangio wrestling Ferraris of old around every corner, I wanted to put myself in those shoes even if only spiritually.  Unfortunately, that dream is at polar odds with today’s antiseptic techno marvels.  The demographic for both the GT and F360 is either middle-to-senior-age men with yachts of cash who can’t be bothered to actually drive what they are sitting in or trophy-wives who want to be seen in something cute but can’t park to save their lives without two tons of power steering assist.  The current vehicle dynamics target for most car companies is drastically dampened down to the lowest common denominator who must have the arm strength of a five-year-old.  Cars need to be engaging and overflowing with feedback at 25mph when I turn into my cul-de-sac, not only at 100mph through Flugplatz on the Ring. Go drive a Lotus Elise and you will know what I’m talking about. Lotus does it right!

As a side note, I have to say that I have never seen a more professional and focused group than the team on the ground at Roush.  Mike Deneau in particular was an incredible program manager with a drive to get the job done right that is hard to find these days.  John Coletti and Chris Theodore got a lot of credit for the GT, as they should for pushing it at the top, but it was the guys like Mike and the mechanics toiling in the Roush garage troubleshooting and refining every day that made the car work.  The GT may not have been my driving “cup of tea”, but there is no denying that it was a technical marvel that was glued together in record speed by a dedicated group of people.