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Track Mode and a Newer Track Driver

J_Maher_AMG

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Go to the GT350 track attack. You will love it. Then come back and say what you think after you've tried it. Feel free to shift more if you aren't enjoying yourself enough with fewer shifts.
I'm booked for May 30-31 :thumbsup:

Honestly I guess in my head it just seems like a bit of a letdown if you don't get to shift at all on track. We have no race track locally so this will be one of very few times I ever get to drive on track. You could be completely right, who knows haha

Like I said, I also don't know the track layout, and it sounds like there are more than one configuration to drive on. Can you choose which configuration or course you run when you get there? How many drivers do they have there at a time?

I am still very excited of course, I just hope that I can get a chance to practice some heel-toeing on track and get to shift a little :D
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firestarter2

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I'm booked for May 30-31 :thumbsup:

Honestly I guess in my head it just seems like a bit of a letdown if you don't get to shift at all on track. We have no race track locally so this will be one of very few times I ever get to drive on track. You could be completely right, who knows haha

Like I said, I also don't know the track layout, and it sounds like there are more than one configuration to drive on. Can you choose which configuration or course you run when you get there? How many drivers do they have there at a time?

I am still very excited of course, I just hope that I can get a chance to practice some heel-toeing on track and get to shift a little :D
I'd love your feedback people seem to having varying opinions about how worth it is is. I'll have to book soon if I want to go
 

J_Maher_AMG

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I'd love your feedback people seem to having varying opinions about how worth it is is. I'll have to book soon if I want to go
Absolutely man. Unfortunately my fiancee is not tall enough to operate the clutch pedal in a mustang, and being gifted in the upper chest area means she can't move any closer to make it work :D :lol:

She is attending as a non-driving guest, and its free for me, so overall we're making a 1 week vacation out of it. Will definitely update here on my thoughts on the program though.
 

ThreeFiveO

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You will love it Justin. The course is actually over 4 miles but they will only use half of it. There will likely not be an option to use the other half. A friend of mine bought a new 2017 and is not going. I'm begging him to go but he is not interested. I can't recommend this enough. A fun day.
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J_Maher_AMG

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You will love it Justin. The course is actually over 4 miles but they will only use half of it. There will likely not be an option to use the other half. A friend of mine bought a new 2017 and is not going. I'm begging him to go but he is not interested. I can't recommend this enough. A fun day.
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Appreciate the layout!! Damn, why couldn't we do the full track! Looks like a great layout.

Do you get an option in regards to choosing whether to do the east/west course? If so, what would you recommend? Looking at the overall layout, the west course looks like it would be the more "fun" track, but what do I know :D
 

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ThreeFiveO

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I don't think you'll have a choice. We did the east. I can't speak for the west but I know other guys on the forum have done it. We were lucky in that we only had five in the class so we got lots of time with instructors. One of the guys had a guest and he was able to ride along for a few of the events. I think he had as much fun as we did. I was lucky to meet one of the others guys already on the forum and two of the other guys in the class joined up the next week. The coolest part was jumping in a car that was basically identical to mine to learn. The facility is super nice too.
 

ElAntonius

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I did the EAST track in the Boss, and [MENTION=25497]rotisserie_gold[/MENTION] did the EAST track as well when she drove the ST Octane Academy. The ST Octane Academy did not teach heel-toe and as such IIRC students were simply told to leave it in 4th (they didn't offer driving guests on that one, so I just spectated)

Trust me, you will appreciate the time to focus on the lines rather than shifting. The instructors were fast enough that they were between 3/4 on multiple straights on the EAST track, but us mere mortals only had the chance to hit 4th on the NORTH straight. And, I know this sounds weird, but on the track you'll REALLY appreciate the manual even when you aren't shifting.

We had a few guys who couldn't get comfortable enough with heel-toe to do it, and as such they either bounced the limiter in third or just did the whole thing in fourth. They didn't seem to be grumpy about it.

---

They don't do the full course because they don't want novices getting too high a speed, and because they don't want to increase the risk in event of a mechanical failure. On the full course, you'd likely hit 150 MPH+...that's a lot of braking to do and a lot of consequence if you jam it up.

As is, I gravelled it on one of my laps in the Boss and had no harm to show for it except for a mildly embarrassing massive dust cloud and a "what happened?" conversation back in the pit (they make you pit if you go off course because they want to inspect the wheels for bits of gravel stuck in them and because they want to, yaknow, instruct you). Now this was in the corners, not off a straight, so I screwed the pooch at 50-60ish, but after the pit stop I was right back out there with a mile wide grin and a new found respect for lifting in a corner.

At 150? The car probably wouldn't have made it out there again for the day. And I might not have.


EDIT: Also, keep in mind that the track is not and was not owned by Ford. They rent time on it. When I did the Boss Track Attack, the WEST track was being used for some motorcycle thing. So it's not really a choice, as other events schedule there and the only thing they ever use the full track for is actual races.

EDIT2: NORTH straight
 
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Hack

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I'm booked for May 30-31 :thumbsup:

Honestly I guess in my head it just seems like a bit of a letdown if you don't get to shift at all on track. We have no race track locally so this will be one of very few times I ever get to drive on track. You could be completely right, who knows haha
Most of the time you are alone in the car and you can do whatever you want (within reason). So don't worry too much about not being able to do what you want. I know I was focused on following lines, hitting apexes, etc. and I felt there was plenty to do and plenty to learn.

For what it's worth I thought the track was relatively fun and easy. The track I go to locally I've spent a lot more time on and I feel I still have a lot to learn, whereas the track in Utah I felt it was easier to pick up.
 

Trackaholic

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I use track mode at the track. In addition to allowing for more slip before intervention on the stability control, it disables traction control, which can make the car more predictable to throttle inputs since you don't get the car pulling power as much. It also uses slightly stiffer suspension settings than sport mode.

At the track attack, they did ask us to use sport mode. Makes sense given the value of the vehicles and the amount of trust required to let a bunch of yahoos drive them.

I found the event to be very fun (I also did the second day in a regular Mustang GT), but somewhat limited in depth. It was only a single day, and they covered a wide range of topics, so they were not able to get too deep into any one of them. We did a short oval auto-X with a slalom to get familiar with the different drive modes, a threshold braking and heel-toe shifting exercise, had some time in a "skid" car - that could be made to understeer or oversteer by the instructor, as well as lead-follow and open track (no passing) on the East track. At the end of the day we also had a ride-along with an instructor, which was very impressive (my instructor turned off all nannies when he was driving).

The second day was purely open track on the West track. The instruction for that day was mostly download sessions in the classroom at the end of each driving session, coupled with a ride along during one of the sessions (student driving). They also did a ride along (instructor driving) for a couple laps around lunch time I believe.

Overall the experience was tons of fun, with good instruction, and good exercises. There are no radios in the car, so the interaction while on track is limited. I did the Ron Fellows School a couple of years ago (that was a three day class), and felt that it had more involved instruction (in large part due to radios in the car) and a more regulated classroom environment. The exercises were very similar between the two schools, and the instructors themselves were very good in both schools as well. Having the extra day at the Ron Fellows School did provide quite a bit more time for everything. In comparison, the Track Attack was a bit more rushed. Even so, it was a great event I had a fantastic time and learned a lot. I really liked the skid car, which they did not have at the Ron Fellows School.

-T
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