Three supercars.

In the October issue of Motor Trend, the magazine tested three supercars at Ford's Arizona Proving Grounds track: the 2003 Ferrari Enzo, the 2005 Ford GT, and the 2004 Porsche Carrera GT, all of which have been mentioned in passing in earlier posts. I thought I would post what I think are some important numbers that the folks at MT came up with for these incredible machines.

Enzo:
Price: $652,830 (BUT, see previous Post below)
6.0 liter V-12
6-speed "F1" gearbox
Engine redline: 8200 rpms
Compression ratio: 11.2:1
Curb weight: 3254
Horsepower: 651 (7800 rpms)
Torque: 485 lb-ft (5500 rpms)
Power to weight ratio: 5.0
Tires (f/r): 245/35 19 and 345/35 19
0-60 mph: 3.4 seconds
0-100 mph: 7.0 seconds
0-100-0 mph: 11.0 seconds
1/4 mile: 11.0 @ 133.9
top speed: 211.0
100-0 mph: 289 feet
60-0 mph: 106 feet
slalom: 71.0 mph
skidpad: 0.96 g
MT's figure eight: 24.5 seconds at 0.82 g

Ford GT:
Price: $157,095
5.4 liter supercharged V-8
6-speed manual
Redline: 6500
Compression ratio: 8.4:1
Curb weight: 3468
Horsepower: 550 (6500 rpms)
Torque: 500 (3750 rpms)
Power to weight ratio: 6.3
Tires (f/r): 235/45 18 and 315/40 19
0-60 mph: 3.7 seconds
0-100 mph: 7.4 seconds
0-100-0 mph: 11.7 seconds
1/4 mile: 11.2 @ 131.2
top speed: 200 mph
100-0 mph: 301 feet
60-0 mph: 110 feet
slalom: 71.8 mph
skidpad: 0.91 g
MT's figure eight: 25.2 seconds at 0.77 g

Carrera GT:
Price: $448,300
5.7 liter V-10
6-speed manual
Redline: 8400 rpms
Compression ratio: 12.0:1
Curb weight: 3258 lbs
Horsepower: 605 (8000 rpms)
Torque: 435 (5750 rpms)
Power to weight ratio: 5.4
Tires (f/r): 265/35 19 and 335/30 20
0-60 mph: 3.6 seconds
0-100 mph: 7.3 seconds
0-100-0: 11.3 seconds
1/4 mile: 11.1 @ 133.4
top speed: 201 mph
100-0 mph: 277 feet
60-0 mph: 101 feet
slalom: 73.2 mph
skidpad: 0.99 g
MT's figure eight: 23.8 seconds @ 0.86 mph

A couple notes: First, Motor Trend got Bryan Herta (IRL) to do the driving for them, so there can be no questions as to lack of driver skill and/or error; Second, Herta reported that he left a little top end out on the track for the Ford and quite a bit for the Porsche, but just ran out of room. The first thought that springs to mind looking at these numbers is the incredible (relative) bargain the Ford is. Yes, it gets beat by the other two, but it runs with them in all performance aspects...at 1/4 and 1/3 the price. Pretty impressive. An aside: I saw THREE Ford GTs driving westbound on I-94 in Michigan this past July (around milemarker 165, if memory serves), together in a convoy. That is one of the things that I loved about living in Michigan; I would often see cars that no one else in the world (or at least very few) had ever seen, being so close to Detroit. Those three Fords might be the most impressive automotive sight that I have seen (or ever will see) in real life. That leaves the Porsche and the Ferrari. What I am about to write reflects an ongoing argument/disagreement that my good friend, Nathan, and I have. He is a Ferrari guy, and I am a Porsche guy. Yes, the Enzo beats the Carrera GT to 60 mph, 100 mph, and the quarter mile by 0.2 seconds, 0.3 seconds, and 0.1 seconds respectively. The Ferrari's trap speed is 0.1 mph higher than the Porsche's. Oh yeah, and it has a 10 mph top speed advantage (possibly lessened or negated with a longer straight). To me, these numbers are a wash. In my opinion, what is really telling are the handling and braking numbers. The Porsche ran through the 600 ft. slalom 2.2 mph faster than the Enzo. Further, Herta reported that the Enzo was much more difficult to run through the course because the rear end was so twitchy and difficult to catch (this is coming from a professional, open-wheel race car driver). The Carrera GT pulls an extra 0.03 g on the skidpad. Perhaps even more importantly are the braking numbers: the Porsche bettering the Ferrari by 5 feet from 60 mph and 12 feet from 100 mph. The bottom line of these numbers is reflected in MT's figure eight performance numbers. The Porsche completed it 0.7 seconds quicker, translating to a 0.04 g advantage. Granted, you could argue that these numbers are a wash as well, but I really believe that if you took both cars to a track (road course) and ran them around that the Carrera GT would consistently put up better lap times than the Enzo due to its superior braking, better handling, and increased predictability at 10/10ths. I just hope that we're able to see those numbers again sometime. An aside here, I think that my hypothesis just stated is backed up by news from Germany that two weeks ago the Carrera GT posted the fastest time ever recorded around the 174 turn (!!!), 14.0 mile North Loop circuit at Nurburgring, generally believed to be the most difficult race track in the world. The car AVERAGED over 101 mph over the entire race track, setting the record of 7 minutes, 32.44 seconds. I don't know whether the Enzo has been tested there or not (Ferrari usually tests at Monza or Fiorano). But it would certainly be nice to see how these cars match up on the race track.