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Autoweek's 10 best cars


durward1

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Great article and i noticed a Ford GT on the list . I owned one for 7 months and traded for my 08 KR with 1027 miles on her. I bought it new even thought it had 5000 miles on her. I was lucky to make a little money on the FGT and put $ 81K back in my investments. Let me tell you the KR is easy to live with compared to the FGT. Parts,repairs. insurance,tag renewals and you can't drive it hard below 65 degrees cause it has no traction control. There have been a lot totaled so far, they will just snap and your in the other lane or ditch . Don't get me wrong it's a super car but unless your Jay Leno it will cost you a fortune to own .I will take my KR as the most fun to drive HARD and FAST anyday. At my age the FGT was a heart attack waiting to happen, trust me.

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Great article and i noticed a Ford GT on the list . I owned one for 7 months and traded for my 08 KR with 1027 miles on her. I bought it new even thought it had 5000 miles on her. I was lucky to make a little money on the FGT and put $ 81K back in my investments. Let me tell you the KR is easy to live with compared to the FGT. Parts,repairs. insurance,tag renewals and you can't drive it hard below 65 degrees cause it has no traction control. There have been a lot totaled so far, they will just snap and your in the other lane or ditch . Don't get me wrong it's a super car but unless your Jay Leno it will cost you a fortune to own .I will take my KR as the most fun to drive HARD and FAST anyday. At my age the FGT was a heart attack waiting to happen, trust me.

 

 

 

"At my age the FGT was a heart attack waiting to happen, trust me." Yaaaa, but what a way to go!!!! :yahoo:

 

Ford had three cars in the top 10! :yup:

Very Cool :read:

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Very neat that the KR made the list of top 10 with cars of that caliber. That article is a keeper. Great find.

 

As to Mach 1's comment on the FGT, I agree to a degree. The FGT is a VERY fast car. Faster then the KR. No contest. But it does not have traction control and because it's a mid engined car its handling dynamics are different then what most are used to. Combine gobs of torque and hp, no traction control, Goodyear tires that need to be warm to provide any degree of grip capable of handling what the FGT dishes out and it can be a volatile combination for the novice or uninitiated. There has been a very high rate of attrition with the FGTs due to this fact. Guys with more money then brains taking the FGT out for a spin and thinking they can handle what it can do have accounted for about 600 totaled FGTs leaving approximately only 3000 left in the States.

 

If you are going to drive the FGT hard and tap its potential you better know what you are doing. If you do then the FGT is world class. If you don't, very simply it will kill you....and I am talking about a STOCK FGT. Start with mods like pulley, tune, Whipple, TT you can be putting down as much as 1100 hp. Then you must know what you are doing unless you have a death wish.

 

But.....if you are just going to drive the FGT without looking to tap into its huge performance reservoirs, use common sense, just cruise around then its just like any other car with gobs of torque and hp and very tractable. Handling is amazing. Just don't be stupid and you'll be fine.

 

Parts, they are expensive but available.

 

Service is not that bad a problem. Many Ford dealers have at least one tech certified on the FGT but you do have to make sure the dealer has one and ask if they have worked on them before. It is definitely not a Ford Focus. Many good performance shops also have guys that can service the car. A very important key is to make sure any service tech knows the correct lift points on the chassis. IMPORTANT!!!!.

 

All in all they are GREAT cars. Very durable, reliable and the sense of occasion when you drive it is like no other car and it garners attention like no other. Which can be fun and can also be a pain at times. As proof of what a good car the FGT is and a testiment to its engineering and design and build quality a freind of mine has about 60,000 miles on his FGT, drives it hard and puts it away wet. He's tracked it at VIR, Pocono, Watkins Glenn, Lime Rock and drives it home. He even takes it to Shop Rite. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, he is a little nuts. :confused: He has had very few issues with his FGT.

 

I love my KR. Love it to death and IMHO it is world class too and a very special car. But...the FGT is at the top of the food chain. No question.

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Well, and Top Gear named Ford the best manufacturer ever...kind of a surprise the way Jeremy kisses up to the ARs

 

Jeremy bought a Ford GT one of only 18 available but sold it and don't know why. From what i understand he loved the car but ran into some issues later. Not sure what happened .

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The YouTube episodes of Top Gear testing the Ford GT are some of the best. They are classic and very entertaining. I still watch the episodes from time to time.

 

From my understanding Clarkson's FGT had some nagging warranty issues that he lost patience with and sold the car such as the alarm system which apparently malfunctioned a number of times. Being that his FGT was one of only 18 imported to Britain IMHO he should've exercised more patience until those issues were ironed out. There were no major issues just a few annoying ones which is way out of the norm as the FGT has proven to be a very reliable and well built car.

 

He did love it though. Thats for sure.

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I have continuously stepped up in the hierarchy of Mustangs starting with my 93 lx to 93 vert and 93 Cobra with 9000 miles on it. Then 06 GT to an 08 Shelby GT vert, then 09 GT500 and now my 09 GT500KR. I can honestly say I think I cannot or would not go any higher in the food chain. And forget the SS. But I always wanted a FGT from the day they came out and because of this commercial (below). If the opportunity ever arose that I could own this car which is a staple for this company it would be very hard to part with my car. This KR is truly amazing and the best car I ever owned, but man.........FGT blue with white stripes :drool:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ18DkQTRuY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very neat that the KR made the list of top 10 with cars of that caliber. That article is a keeper. Great find.

 

As to Mach 1's comment on the FGT, I agree to a degree. The FGT is a VERY fast car. Faster then the KR. No contest. But it does not have traction control and because it's a mid engined car its handling dynamics are different then what most are used to. Combine gobs of torque and hp, no traction control, Goodyear tires that need to be warm to provide any degree of grip capable of handling what the FGT dishes out and it can be a volatile combination for the novice or uninitiated. There has been a very high rate of attrition with the FGTs due to this fact. Guys with more money then brains taking the FGT out for a spin and thinking they can handle what it can do have accounted for about 600 totaled FGTs leaving approximately only 3000 left in the States.

 

If you are going to drive the FGT hard and tap its potential you better know what you are doing. If you do then the FGT is world class. If you don't, very simply it will kill you....and I am talking about a STOCK FGT. Start with mods like pulley, tune, Whipple, TT you can be putting down as much as 1100 hp. Then you must know what you are doing unless you have a death wish.

 

But.....if you are just going to drive the FGT without looking to tap into its huge performance reservoirs, use common sense, just cruise around then its just like any other car with gobs of torque and hp and very tractable. Handling is amazing. Just don't be stupid and you'll be fine.

 

Parts, they are expensive but available.

 

Service is not that bad a problem. Many Ford dealers have at least one tech certified on the FGT but you do have to make sure the dealer has one and ask if they have worked on them before. It is definitely not a Ford Focus. Many good performance shops also have guys that can service the car. A very important key is to make sure any service tech knows the correct lift points on the chassis. IMPORTANT!!!!.

 

All in all they are GREAT cars. Very durable, reliable and the sense of occasion when you drive it is like no other car and it garners attention like no other. Which can be fun and can also be a pain at times. As proof of what a good car the FGT is and a testiment to its engineering and design and build quality a freind of mine has about 60,000 miles on his FGT, drives it hard and puts it away wet. He's tracked it at VIR, Pocono, Watkins Glenn, Lime Rock and drives it home. He even takes it to Shop Rite. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, he is a little nuts. :confused: He has had very few issues with his FGT.

 

I love my KR. Love it to death and IMHO it is world class too and a very special car. But...the FGT is at the top of the food chain. No question.

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