Walter Raulerson

Some shots of the GT500 show a wild looking car that could compete with the ME

Walter Raulerson

It's BLASPHEMY but if Chevrolet dealers where I shop start dicking around with the ME and it has quality problems I'm looking at a GT500

tbrenny33

KnightDriveTV

I knew someone would pick apart that statement, I merely meant it as Ford isn't going to "respond to mid engine Corvette", and in the markets eyes it'll be presented as the opposite. In reality, clearly the mid engine Corvette is not a response to the FordGT. The car market is global...and I feel that the entire sector Corvette wishes to compete in required the move.







I'll just point out though, that modular construction could one day lead to a mid-engine mustang. There have been concepts built, GTSport (polyphony digital...i.e. Gran Turismo) has a mid engine Mustang in it (video games=marketing) and Ford's Project Silver, was essentially looking at making Mustang a contender in GTE/GTLM but it was found to be too costly with the current platform.

I wouldn't be surprised if Ford aims to do with Mustang, what Corvette will actually do with C7...use a modular construction to build a multiplatform car. That's how you make a Mustang spread from 30k to 130k bucks.

The FordGT could very well be the HALO to what really is an internal project to make a full production mid-engine car on the Mustang brand.

Trackaholic

I don't think Ford cares to compete with the Vette directly. The Ford GT has always been much more expensive and exclusive, and comes around for certain special occasions but then goes away for a while.

The closest thing they have right now is the GT350, but that really only competes with the "normal" C7. It is too heavy to really compete with the GS and beyond (in terms of raw performance - it is a very fun car and does compete well in that subjective area). Same goes for the upcoming GT500 (and good luck finding one of those at a reasonable price). It will be a beast, and given how well the GT350 is tuned, I think the GT500 will handle extremely well, but it will still be quite heavy. Obviously it competes more directly with the Camaro ZL1.

I think the ME Vette will pretty much be competing directly against the European cars.

Would love to see Ford do something to compete with even the front engine Vette (a two-seater that is smaller and lighter than the Mustang).

-T

jma242

Correct Answer!

Ford has pretty much refused to compete with the Corvette in it's own segment.

Not the overpriced Mustangs, Not the impossible to get Ford Gt, and certainly not any Thunderbird made in a long long time .....

If they were really interested in a 2 seat, true sport cars that compete with the Corvette in it's segment I would suggest they look into bringing the Daytona nameplate back.

They won't do that though because they have shown no interest in competing with Corvette. Instead, they play the game, wisely perhaps, of using the Shelby Mustang name to siphon off as many sales as they can. Saves production costs for the Mustang and is much cheaper than designing a new car in such a small segment.

Walter Raulerson

Seems like they would have by now I mean 65 years to come up with something

I'm sure of that but we all buy and HOPE

johnglenntwo

elegant

Ford will have no response to the 2020 ME Corvette.

vetteship

Bingo, you hit it right on the top of the nail. Biggest issue I see with FGT owners is parts availability and properly qualified dealer service (ask me how I know ).

tomlink

IMHO, the real question is "what is Ford's response to the C7 ZR1".

Didn't it just spank their $450K supercar at VIR?

sunsalem

Agreed.
Huh???

I doubt it will get a DCT; there is no need for one.
It's competition is the Camaro and Challenger and they have slushboxes.
Ford has a fine AT and it makes economic sense to use it for the Mustang.

Big Lebowski

We don’t KNOW the Price point of the ME C8.

Mcrider

Correct, any price range associated with the C8 is pure speculation here, but I don't believe for a second this thing is going to have an MSRP of a "base model" anywhere over $70k, and that's stretching it quite a bit. Too many players are in this sports car market now. Names like Porsche, Lotus, Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW, Cadillac and others are all fighting for a piece of this pie. GM has a tremendous amount at stake rolling out something this radical and especially carrying the Corvette wings.

I honestly hope they knock this baby outta the ball park. A mid engined C8 Grand Sport for under 70K would send a hell of a message.

roadbike56

Allow me to add the following:
Ford watched as Dodge discontinued the Viper. They know going against Corvette would be a hard economic challenge.
Ford would have to find room in its CAFE to come out with large number of high performance cars. Like it or not, regulatory considerations must be accounted for.
How much room is there in Ford R&D for another project in addition to their electrification program?
Finally, Would an affordable, high performance Ford sports car simply cannibalize Mustang Cobra sales? It's more a matter of how much, not if it will. You can take that one to the bank.

NotreOkc

Chevy is always ahead of the game (and Ford). They build Camaros that outperform the best Ford has. There is a reason Ford does not throw their hat into the sports car ring, they simple cannot hang (including Dodge.). They stopped production of the Viper because of one reason, no one is buying them! Vettes have been around and selling and dominating since 1953.
Ford sell trucks....and are great at it. The best they can do is 450K GT and Chevy already stomped on its neck at VIR. With a Engineer driving.
You just can't climb in the ring with Ali because you think you can box.

Shaka

What do you mean by 'Modular' chassis exactly? Can you give examples? GM was amazing with their modular engines designs. Detroit Diesel, Alyson engines and gearboxes, small block Chevys, Olds Quad 4. Ford had their modular dohc V8 engines. Tony Rudd screwed up his Etna LT5 Corvette engine design because GM wanted the same bore centers as the cast iron small block, thinking that the cylinder OHC heads would fit both. That's a little different to constructing chassis.
Can you make a mid engine chassis from the C7 chassis? Don't think so. From what I see on the C8, it hasn't been done before. I explored a ME C5 but could not modify the chassis successfully. You can do a lot with CAD systems but it can't defy physics. Porsche did a clever thing with the Boxter and the 911 chassis. The floor pan and windshield forward is the same, that's all. Even slight dimensional differences in wheel base and track and component placement, present massive global problems.



No similarities between C7 and C8 other than the perimeter hydro formed rails. I haven't seen a design like this before. Out the box thinking from the Corvette boys.









This can be considered a modular chassis if modular is defined by modifying existing structures to perform multiple duties.


917 tubular space frame. Can't alter a single thing.


McLaren MP4 single purpose chassis.


Mercedes Benz AMG GT can't be reconfigured.


Lotus Elise. Now this chassis can be made for relocating the engine.


This chassis is currently a rear ME but with slight mods it is been converted to a front engine for a special project that I will post on the forum.


Suspension geometry change. Can be considered modular designing but this is a simple design.


Ford GT. You may be able to make a front engine with this design.


Lamborghini Aventador. Energy absorption for front and rear engine consideration is vastly different for FE and ME cars. The trend is mild steel components for this duty.



Lambo Huracan shares a modified Audi A8 chassis.


You can't alter much here without altering load path loads thru the chassis drastically.


Singular design application. Put doors here and the car will weigh 400 lbs more and you will still loose essential properties.


The backbone modulus can save much weight. Sheet metal can replace tubes. I bet the C8 has a carbon fiber center tunnel like the Huracan.


Front and rear engine can't be made a FE chassis on this Evans LMP chassis.



C5 mid engine with original chassis. Impossible to do unless you want a 4200 lb sports car.


Duntov's SS chassis. Single application. A copy of the 55 Mercedes SLR.

meadowz06

The GT is a flop!

Shaka

Why do you say that?

sunsalem

I loved my old Gen 2 GTS, but it was a car that far outlived its expiration date.

Dodge eventually realized it couldn't ever compete with the Corvette in the marketplace and let it remain pretty much the same car for 20 years.
So many, many times it was brought back from the brink...it was amazing how long it managed to stay around.
Truth.