2019 Ford GT Carbon Series
After having already expanded the GT鈥檚 production run, Ford has now pulled the covers off a special edition version, dubbed Carbon Series. This is a track-focused model, said to be 18 kg lighter than the regular street-legal versions. The decrease in weight has been made possible by applying a polycarbonate rear hatch with extra venting, but also carbon fiber wheels with titanium nuts and a titanium exhaust system. Despite the weight loss, this car still retains important comfort features such as air conditioning and an infotainment system. Also, according to Ford, the 2019 Ford GT Carbon Series 鈥渨ill want to be driven home after time sheets are collected鈥?from the track, unlike its sibling racer. Compared to previous variants of the supercar, this special edition version features more visible carbon fiber, along with two exposed carbon fiber stripes that match the A-pillars, lower body panels and wheels. Also, customers can choose one of the four optional colors, including red, blue, orange and silver, for the center stripe, mirror caps and calipers. The carbon fiber trim is visible in the cockpit too, which also gets a unique seat pattern with silver stitching. The same layout is being used on the steering wheel and is complemented by the clear anodized paddle shifters and unique instrument panel badging. Ford says that approximately one 2019 Ford GT Carbon Series unit can be built each week, and that they鈥檙e only available for already-approved customer applicants. Additionally, Ford will also open the final owner application process on November 8, for select global markets.
Of course it has always been thus with 911s in general, and there鈥檚 nothing wrong with the quality, comfort or packaging. It鈥檚 just, well, a bit dull and lacking in imagination. Porsche would do well to sprinkle a bit of the Panamera鈥檚 interior design magic in the 911鈥檚 direction. Like the R8 Spyder, the Turbo is an easy and approachable car to drive on first acquaintance. Indeed, so long as you don鈥檛 stray into the zone where all 493bhp and 479lb ft of torque are unleashed, it鈥檚 a spookily docile beast. Switchable dampers (PASM this time) again impart an impressively rounded low-speed ride, while the 911鈥檚 tighter dimensions make it easier to thread through tight traffic than the low-slung Spyder. We鈥檇 do without this car鈥檚 optional 鈥榮ports shifter鈥? which has succeeded only in making the manual gearshift feel uncomfortably heavy. Despite its lack of cylinders there鈥檚 real character to the Turbo鈥檚 engine, even though Porsche has softened, smoothed and massaged the power delivery of this new direct-injection motor.
You get a real sense of it filling its lungs and then there鈥檚 this terrific, dragon-like roar as it exhales, which is quite different to any other 911 in character and delivery. In my mind the 911 Turbo has always been the supreme Jekyll and Hyde character: happy to mooch or do the motorway thing, yet uniquely visceral and hot-headed when roused. There鈥檚 no denying it鈥檚 quicker than ever as a result, but there鈥檚 now a degree of remoteness and isolation from the process of making the Turbo go quickly. The numb and slightly glassy steering doesn鈥檛 help either, for it separates you further from the action, as if to suggest the Turbo simply requires you to sit still and shut up. There remains something undeniably awesome about this surreal, almost disdainful delivery, but it鈥檚 impossible not to conclude that after the R8 Spyder the Turbo Cabriolet feels like a supremely quick fairground ride. Swapping into the Jaguar is a huge culture shock. The auto 鈥檅ox has an intuitive sense of what gear you want, not to mention a satisfying ability to execute rev-perfect throttle-blip downshifts, so the XKR is a keen and responsive partner.
Using the steering wheel paddles brings another level of control, and when used in conjunction with Sport and Dynamic modes the Jag really comes alive. Up on the challenging moorland section of the test route, the XKR鈥檚 poise pays dividends, soaking up the punishment without being deflected from its trajectory, and carrying great speed without ever feeling ragged. What鈥檚 really impressive is its ability to maintain its composure, yet also display tight body control and sweet progression. With such power and torque and only the rear wheels to transmit it to the tarmac, traction can be at a premium in the Jag if you get back on the gas early. But far from feeling untidy, or spinning an inside wheel, the XKR (complete with electronic 鈥榙iff鈥? shifts seamlessly into the most natural oversteer. Not a big-armfuls-of-lock showboating powerslide, but a poised, balanced and exploitable stance that needs subtle correction and feels brilliant.