Ford has announced that its 2017 Ford GT supercar can reach a top speed of 216 mph – the highest ever for any Ford production vehicle. Back in December, Ford announced that the first street-legal version of the 2017 Ford GT rolled off its production line in Markham, Ontario.

Raj Nair, executive vice president, global product development and chief technical officer at Ford, attributed part of the success of the car to its extensive use of composite materials. The Ford GT features a carbon fiber composite monocoque and is the second Ford vehicle to be made with carbon fiber wheels.

“The Ford GT is all about performance,” said Nair. “We achieved considerable weight savings with the carbon fiber architecture. We then reinvested some of that savings into where it counts most – performance, specifically, the active dynamics. The result is an even faster car.”