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Pushing the performance envelope with the Ford GT Mk II [w/VIDEO]

When Ford Performance first developed the modern Ford GT, the focus was on giving customers a street-legal GT supercar which would also be capable on the race track. Now, with the GT Mk II, the full performance potential of the car is available – without any artificial performance limitations dictated by racing sanctioning bodies.

The GT Mk II is a limited-edition, track-only GT that represents the next stage in Ford GT performance. With a 700 bhp 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine, race-proven aerodynamics and competition-oriented handling, it has been co-developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic based on competitive learnings from Ford’s successful FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaigns with the GT racing car.

“It’s the closest GT owners can get to the Le Mans-winning performance and exhilarating feeling of crossing the finish line in the Ford GT race car,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford Chief Product Development and Purchasing Officer.

Only 45 cars at almost RM5 million each
Limited to just 45 cars, with a starting price of US$1.2 million (almost RM5 million), the GT Mk II joins the GT racing car that won the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Ford GT supercar.

“The true off-the-hook performance capability of the GT hasn’t yet been fully showcased,” said Multimatic’s Chief Technical Officer, Larry Holt. “The road car is obviously limited by the many global homologation requirements that it must comply with, and the race car suffers from the restriction of the dreaded Balance of Performance, resulting in it being 150 bhp down to the road car. The Mk II answers the regularly asked question of how would the car perform with all the limitations lifted: the answer is ‘spectacularly’!”

Originating from a standard GT
The Mk II begins life at the main Ford GT plant before being transferred to a specialist facility at Multimatic Motorsports where it is crafted into the Ford GT Mk II. The GT Mk II is focused around aerodynamic and engine improvements and shares key features with both the street-legal GT supercar as well as the GT racing car. Many of its components have been track-proven in the world’s most challenging endurance racing events.

The large dual-element rear wing exceeds what the Ford GT race car offers in terms of downforce. An all-new front racing splitter and diffuser have been incorporated along with new fender louvres and dive planes, which help balance out the extra rear downforce.

These aggressive aerodynamic changes enable the GT Mk II to generate over 400% more downforce than the Ford GT while fixed aerodynamic elements along with its race-proven suspension and Michelin Pilot Sport racing tyres enable the car to pull more than 2g of lateral grip.

The GT Mk II is also lighter and more agile. The street car’s adjustable ride height and drive modes have been removed, providing weight savings of over 90 kgs while 5-way adjustable DSSV shock absorbers work with a lowered and fixed ride height to improve handling and keep the Mk II as aerodynamically efficient as possible.

Unrestricted EcoBoost engine development
The 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine is not limited by any racing sanctioning body and is able to generate 200 bhp more than the racing car, making this the most powerful version of the Ford GT. The 3.5-litre EcoBoost is paired with the same 7-speed dual-clutch transmission from the Ford GT but specially calibrated for this track-exclusive application.

To add stamina to power, the GT Mk II adds innovative engine cooling technology, including a high capacity air-to-air outboard mounted charge air cooler with water spray technology. The water spray automatically activates in high temperature situations to provide cooling by applying atomised water on the charge air cooler allowing a consistent level of power at high temperatures.

A roof-mounted intake reminiscent of the race car engine air intake has been added for the Mk II to feed auxiliary engine, clutch and transmission coolers, giving the Mk II optimal cooling for the most extreme track day duty.

Increased engine power is paired with improved stopping power. The Mk II features braking performance beyond that of the GT race car by utilising the street car’s carbon ceramic brakes, including 15.5-inch front and 14.1-inch rear Brembo brakes. Unique forged aluminium 19-inch wheels cover the massive brakes with race-proven Michelin Pilot Sport GT tyres.

Joining a winning GT family member
The Ford GT production car, which made its first Goodwood appearance in 2017, is the most advanced and exclusive Ford road car ever, limited to volumes of no more than 250 a year, globally. Built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, the Ford GT racing car has been a great success for Ford, winning the GTE Pro class at Le Mans on its first attempt in 2016, exactly 50 years on from the first of 4 successive Le Mans victories for the original GT40 at Le Mans.

*The production Ford GT. Although the original plan was to make 500 cars, 1,350 cars will be produced over 6 years from 2017 to 2022.*

Topless Lexus LC confirmed for production this year

Lexus has confirmed that it will soon offer a convertible version of the LC flagship coupe. The open-top model was shown as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in January this year to gauge its potential as a production model.

When displaying the concept model, Lexus said the design goal was to express ‘Ultimate Beauty’, and it provoked an enthusiastic response from both industry experts and the public. Like the LC itself, the concept car was honoured on its debut with a prestigious EyesOn Design Award.

In action at Goodwood Festival of Speed
The first public viewing will take place this weekend in England. Visitors to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will be able to see a LC convertible prototype in action when it appears on the famous hill course. Nick Cassidy, who competes for Lexus in the GT500 class of the Japan Super GT series, will be behind the wheel.

Though camouflaged, the public will be able to see that the car is long, low and lean. It will share the coupe’s athletic proportions but project its own distinct identity.

Want A Totally Different Car Buying Experience?

Visit Lexus Malaysia!

Fuel prices for July 6 – July 12, 2019

Flying the Malaysian flag at races in China and Japan this weekend

Motorsports being what it is in the Malaysian context, news and publicity of our racers who compete outside the country tends to be limited. Their fans and enthusiasts will know about them but by and large, most Malaysians don’t realize that we do have some talented drivers winning races and championships.

Our new contributor, Gary Khor, talks about 6 Malaysian drivers and 1 Malaysian race team who will be participating in 3 race events spanning China and Japan this weekend. He also provides an overview of the races they will be in.

TCR ASIA : ZHEJIANG CHINA
Douglas Khoo with his all-Malaysian crewed Viper-Niza Racing team will be contesting in Zhejiang China in Rounds 5 & 6 of the 2019 TCR Asia Series (which will include the TCR China Series this weekend). This is the 4th leg in the series which has already visited Sepang (April), Zhuhai (May) and Shanghai (June).

Douglas is in his fourth season in TCR Asia and shown he has the pace to mix it with the best having out-qualified even Luca Engstler in TCR Malaysia.

Another Malaysian in the series is the winner of the 2019 Sepang International Circuit Talent Development Driver, Adam Khalid. 21 years old, Adam (below) will be in the Team Engstler VW Golf TCR. Adam came from karting, Formula 4 Asia and MCS.

The Zhejiang International Circuit, built in 2016, is in the South Eastern province of China and just South of Shanghai. It’s an undulating circuit made up of 16 corners with interesting elevation changes.

The news this weekend will also be the introduction of the latest addition into the TCR family albeit under temporary homologation. Chinese group SAIC Motor will be entering a pair of MG6 TCR’s with popular China-based racer Rudolpho Avila and Zhang Zhen Dong.

Points-leading TCR Asia and last season’s TCR Malaysia & Middle East champion, Luca Engstler with team mate Diego Moran will spearhead the TCR Asia contingent joined by WTCR campaigner Pepe Oriola, all in Hyundai i30N cars.

China TCR’s top contenders will be UK’s Daniel Lloyd, who races in TCR UK and once raced for Craft-Bamboo in the Aston Martin GT3. He will pilot the Dongfeng MacPro Racing Honda Civic FK7.

After this round, TCR Asia will head to the famous Bangsaen street Circuit in Thailand for the final rounds in late August.

BLANCPAIN GT WORLD CHALLENGE ASIA : FUJI JAPAN
A record 4 Malaysian drivers are entered in 3 race teams participating in what is arguably Asia’s best series for GT3 & GT4 cars. World-class racing cars in a world-class event with our very own world-class drivers.

After the first rounds run in Sepang and then Buriram in Thailand, the series goes to the iconic Fuji Speedway nestled in the hills. This circuit is famous for its long fast front straight and downhill section and often has changeable weather as fog and sometimes snow can descend.

Weiron Tan, who debuted last year in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) in a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), will be sharing an Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 with the very quick and seasoned Martin Rump and contesting in the GT3 PRO class.

Melvin Moh needs no introduction as he is easily Malaysia’s leading Endurance Race driver with several victories in 12 & 24-hour endurance races recently. In 2018, he was on the podium in all these races – the Dubai 24-Hours in a Leipart Lamborghini Huracan; the Fuji-Tec 24-Hours in an Audi R8; and the China Endurance Championships in a Mercedes-AMG GT.

He will partner Gentleman driver Daniel Au in a Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the PRO-AM category.

H.H. Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahim from Johor is making his debut in Asian GT racing in the Australian Triple Eight run Mercedes-AMG GT3. It’s his first year and he is proving to be a quick learner in these very difficult cars when driven at their limits.

*Australian Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG GT3*

Jazeman Jaafar, another name that needs no introduction, having raced many years overseas in F2 and other machinery, recently partnered Weiron in the JC Racing LMP2 car in the WEC. Jazeman brings with him enormous experience in many types of racing machinery and will partner H.H. Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahim in their Triple Eight GT3.

LAMBORGHINI SUPER TROFEO ASIA 2019 : FUJI JAPAN
This is a very high-speed one-make race featuring the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo which has a similar engine to the Huracan GT3.

*Afiq Ikhwan Yazid winning the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final in Italy in March this year.*

Afiq Ikhwan Yazid, fresh from winning the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final held at Vallelunga, Italy in March this year and podiums in the Suzuka round in June, will be contesting this round again. This is a PRO-AM class team and Afiq has shown blinding pace all season and has often been the fastest in qualifying.

Let’s cheer them on!

Brace yourselves, a new Lotus hypercar is coming!

This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed is getting more and more amazing by the day. The latest to join the hype at the iconic race event is Lotus as they’re planning to reveal their latest hypercar and guess what? It’s called the Lotus Evija and it is a full-electric beast. (more…)

Honda Malaysia sold 44,200 cars in first half of 2019

Honda Malaysia announced earlier today that they have successfully sold and registered a total of 44,200 cars for the first half of 2019. From January until June this year, it was the month of May which collected the highest number of sales at 10,500 units.

With that being said, Honda Malaysia retains its position as the leading manufacturer in the Non-National segment and second overall in the Total Industry Volume (TIV) with 15.3% contribution. (more…)

Lister LFT-C – for those who want an even more powerful Jaguar F-TYPE R

The Lister Motor Company is one of those British carmakers that thrived in the 1950s and it specialised in sportscars, becoming well known in motorsports activities. In 2012, the company was acquired by Andrew and Lawrence Whittaker who specialised in tuning Jaguar cars for enhanced performance.

Recently, the company unveiled the first example of its new LFT-C, of which just 10 cars will be built. Pricing starts from £139,000 (about RM723,000), making it the most powerful UK-built convertible on sale at this price point.

The LFT-666 coupe, launched in 2018 with production limited to just 99 units, has been universally well received with new cars being delivered around the globe. Requests for an open-top LFT-666 created the concept for the LFT-C, a car giving true supercar performance with the excitement and exhilaration of a convertible, and yet retaining the core Lister DNA of performance and driving precision.

666 bhp Lister-tuned supercharged V8
Based on the Jaguar F-Type R with a supercharged V8 engine producing 666 bhp after being Lister-tuned, the LFT-C becomes the most powerful open-top model in the 65-year history of the company. It can reach over 330 km/h and cover the 0 – 100 km/h sprint in just over 3 seconds, it is claimed.

Increased visual presence
Each LFT-C is manufactured with bespoke Lister carbonfibre body panels to give increased visual presence and a more aerodynamic profile. These unique additions comprise a new front bumper, front splitter, rear diffuser, rear lip spoiler, rear extended wheel arches and a new grille design with the improved aerodynamic qualities of each aiding the LFT-C to reach the very high speeds.

To give the dynamic elements drivers expect from a road-going Lister, the LFT-C uses the same bespoke wheels, exhaust, suspension and braking system as featured on the LFT-666, extensively tuned to suit the characteristics of an open-top supercar.

While performance is at the heart of any Lister, the new-generation of road cars also puts luxury high on the agenda. The LFT-C gets a handstitched Bridge of Weir Nappa leather interior, created to client specification, covering every element of the cabin, including roof-lining and dashboard.

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KiaSafe prevents thieves from hacking into your keyless entry system

In the days when you needed a key to unlock the car door and start the engine, the fear was that someone would copy the key and steal your car. Then came keyless entry systems which did away with the key so it could not be copied. But again, the thieves could still steal the car – by using special devices which could pick up the unlock codes and allow them to access the car as well as deactivate the immobiliser system.

Now, for Kia owners in the UK, there is an option that can give them security against such a vulnerability. Owners of models with a keyless entry system can purchase the KiaSafe case which has been developed to stop thieves using relay attack devices to obtain the frequency from the car key.

Faraday cage concept
The case acts in a similar way to a Faraday cage, eliminating this possibility with a layer of meshed metal within that blocks the device the thieves use from picking up signals. This idea is also used for wallets and backpacks to protect thieves from stealing information from personal documents such as passports and credit cards by blocking the ‘skimmer’ devices from accessing the RFID chips.

The KiaSafe accessory is the result of efforts by Kia’s R&D engineers to ensure find ways to ensure that keyless entry systems are rendered as close as possible to be impervious to such attacks. It is currently sold in the UK for £9.99 (about RM52).

“The security of our customers’ vehicles comes second only to safety and we are as concerned about the hacking of keyless entry systems as customers, the police and the insurance industry,” said David Hart, Customer Experience Manager at Kia Motors UK.

“Whilst our current keyless entry systems do not have ‘sleep’ buttons, our engineers are developing additional levels of protection for future vehicles and these will be applied as soon as is feasible given production schedules and new model introductions. We encourage owners to adopt protection behaviours as advised by the police – such as not leaving keyless entry fobs in the front door area of their home or close to windows – and to use the KiaSafe to ensure their key fobs are rendered safe from hacking,” he advised.

Volvo reports best first half year sales in 2019

Highly regarded as one of the top manufacturers at the moment with the best design and safety features known to man when it comes to cars, Volvo is currently on a sales surge as they reported their best-ever first half year sales figure in 2019. (more…)

Honda e to address environmental issues just as the original Civic did in 1970s

Back in the early 1970s, Honda launched a new car model called the Civic and although the company had already been making cars for a while, this new model was remarkable in many ways. It came at a time when the new regulations in the US forced manufacturers to introduce solutions to reduce toxic exhaust emissions – and the innovative CVCC system in the Civic could meet those demands without a even using a catalytic converter.

The Civic’s popularity also grew quickly because consumer preferences were shifting to smaller cars, in part because fuel prices shot up during the energy crises. The Civic’s fuel-efficient engine was just the thing and it also helped to draw more people to Japanese cars.

*The original Honda Civic launched in 1972*

Almost 50 years later, Honda is about to launch another new model that again addresses environmental issues. This time, it has done away with the internal combustion engine altogether so there will be zero emissions.

Another standard-setter
The new model is the Honda e, to go on sale in Europe later this year. It’s been engineered to set new standards in the compact electric car segment.

The Honda e is equipped with a high-power electric motor delivering up to approximately 100 kW (150 ps) and torque in excess of 300 Nm. The 35.5 kWh battery in the Honda e is one of the most compact in its class, contributing to an exceptional balance of low weight, fast-charging capability of 80% in 30 minutes, and a claimed range of over 200 kms, more than enough for daily urban commuting.

Honda engineers paid special attention to enhancing the driving dynamics to deliver a fun and engaging experience. With the battery located low under the vehicle floor, the car’s centre of gravity is approximately 50 cm from the ground. With a 50:50 weight distribution, wide yet compact size and short overhangs at the front and rear, the Honda e delivers an optimal balance of stability and handling performance.

To help deliver a sporty character, power is delivered through the rear wheels, which also enables a greater steering articulation for the front wheels. As a result, the turning radius is approximately 4.3 metres, giving the car good manoeuvrability in small city streets.

Only one pedal
The Honda e will have Single Pedal Control, enabling the driver to accelerate and slow the car using only the accelerator pedal. When the accelerator pedal is depressed, the car will accelerate as normal; when it is released, automatic regenerative braking will occur, and will slow the car.

The Single Pedal Control improves driving efficiency in urban environments and reduces the need to use multiple pedals, making the drive more engaging, exciting and seamless with maximum control for the driver. Older drivers may probably need a while to get used to this feature.

Having been originally developed to be an electric vehicle, the engineers started with a clean sheet and did not have to use traditional construction methods. High-strength materials used in the skeletal structure contribute to structural rigidity while also reducing weight. The lightweight chassis provides the ideal platform from which to fine tune suspension and steering settings for a dynamic driving experience.

It is unlikely that Honda will offer this model in Malaysia in the near future as the focus is on Europe where it aims to sell a large proportion of EVs and hybrids by 2025.

Piston.my

English

Pushing the performance envelope with the Ford GT Mk II [w/VIDEO]

Topless Lexus LC confirmed for production this year

Want A Totally Different Car Buying Experience?

Visit Lexus Malaysia!

Fuel prices for July 6 – July 12, 2019

Flying the Malaysian flag at races in China and Japan this weekend

Brace yourselves, a new Lotus hypercar is coming!

Honda Malaysia sold 44,200 cars in first half of 2019

Lister LFT-C – for those who want an even more powerful Jaguar F-TYPE R

KiaSafe prevents thieves from hacking into your keyless entry system

Volvo reports best first half year sales in 2019

Honda e to address environmental issues just as the original Civic did in 1970s

RM1.9 Billion Allocated for New Diesel and EV Buses

Government Announces 50% Toll Discount for Hari Raya

Nissan Confirms the GT-R’s Return, but Details Remain Unclear

Nissan Unveils New Models and Technologies for FY25 and FY26

Jaecoo J8 Previewed – Estimated Price from RM195k – RM220k

Tesla Bolsters Security Amid Rising Vandalism Concerns

Shell to Slash Costs and Boost LNG Focus in Strategic Shift

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante: The Ultimate Grand Tourer

Toyota Launches Upgraded Supra RZ Grade and Limited A90 Final Edition

Lewis Hamilton Eyes Ferrari Road Car Project, Inspired by the Legendary F40

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British Man Stranded in Malaysia Over RM7 Parking Dispute

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