Ford's jet fighter for the road

Ford's latest GT supercar has hit the streets and it looks, well, insane.

A surprise reveal at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year, the Blue Oval's new supercar is now undergoing durability testing, as these shots from US outlet Motor Trend show.

The wild unpainted finish looks like urab camouflage, and more clearly displays the GT's radically sculpted bodywork.

Essentially shrink-wrapped around the passenger cell and engine, the tight-fitting bodywork opens up enormous channels in the car's sides, which should increase downforce massively without resorting to drag increasing wings, though the car also features active aerodynamics.

The 3.5-litre twin-turbo EcoBoost V6, based on the engine found in the Daytona prototypes, is now expected to produce in the region of 520kW, sent to a seven-speed dual-clutch transaxle.

The body is all carbonfibre to keep weight low, and the tricky pushrod-style inboard-damper suspension has high-tech features like active ride-height adjustment.

In fact, the whole car is likely to be a technological tour de force; with 50 sensors and 28 onboard microprocessors, the GT requires more lines of code to run than a Boeing 787 jet.

Unlike the last Ford GT of 2004, the new car will have numerous electronic aids, including a dial that specificies settings for wet conditions, normal roads use, sporty driving or track use.

While no price has currently been set, Ford has confirmed it expects to build no more than 250 cars each year.

It's also believed that the new GT will form the basis for Ford's return to Le Mans in 2016 running in the GTE class, ahead of a possible outright return.

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