Photo: screenshot from fueleconomy.gov
The 2017 Ford GT is starting to get a bit on my nerves. It’s been two years since the Ford Motor Company presented it, and in this time the Blue Oval has yet to reveal how powerful it is or if it can headbutt other supercars priced from $450,000 or thereabout.
While we wait for Ford to stop milking the hype machine, the EPA published the fuel economy figures for the twin-turbo’d supercar. Fed with premium gasoline, the 3.5-liter V6 matched with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission drinks fuel at an alarming rate: 11 mpg city and 18 mpg highway.
That’s 14 mpg combined or 7.1 gallons of high-octane jungle juice burned every 100 miles or so. In other words, the 2017 Ford GT is hit with the Gas Guzzler Tax. Mind you, I suspect that the typical GT owner won’t really care about spending a few grand on top of the suggested retail price.
What’s bugging me, however, is that the 2017 Ford GT drinks just as much gasoline as the 2005 Ford GT. I am well aware that the EPA changed its method for calculating fuel economy for the 2008 and 2017 model years, but then again, the combined rating for the old and new models is a bit uncanny.
It’s also worth noting that the all-new GT uses carbon fiber in its construction, which makes it far lighter than its aluminum-bodied predecessor. The much-adulated twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 is another marvel of mechanical genius that should have put the old model to shame, more so when compared to the supercharged 5.4-liter Modular V8 of the first generation of the supercar.
When all is said and done, the all-new Ford GT is a high-performance vehicle. And for such a vehicle to perform as the Blue Oval advertises it, gulping down fuel is the only way the V6 motor can produce the output expected from it.
Speaking of which, the Ford GT microsite still lists “600+ horsepower.”
That’s 14 mpg combined or 7.1 gallons of high-octane jungle juice burned every 100 miles or so. In other words, the 2017 Ford GT is hit with the Gas Guzzler Tax. Mind you, I suspect that the typical GT owner won’t really care about spending a few grand on top of the suggested retail price.
What’s bugging me, however, is that the 2017 Ford GT drinks just as much gasoline as the 2005 Ford GT. I am well aware that the EPA changed its method for calculating fuel economy for the 2008 and 2017 model years, but then again, the combined rating for the old and new models is a bit uncanny.
It’s also worth noting that the all-new GT uses carbon fiber in its construction, which makes it far lighter than its aluminum-bodied predecessor. The much-adulated twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 is another marvel of mechanical genius that should have put the old model to shame, more so when compared to the supercharged 5.4-liter Modular V8 of the first generation of the supercar.
When all is said and done, the all-new Ford GT is a high-performance vehicle. And for such a vehicle to perform as the Blue Oval advertises it, gulping down fuel is the only way the V6 motor can produce the output expected from it.
Speaking of which, the Ford GT microsite still lists “600+ horsepower.”
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