so is Ford going to develop a tranny cooler for us 16 tech/base owners?

[Kung Fu English]

the way i looked at the decision was this:

Will i drive the car more on the street, or on the track?

If more driving on the street is the answer: Tech package. I live in a hot climate. Its a black car. I wanted seat coolers. Sometimes i will be in a suit. I would prefer to not sweat through my suit.
The car should still perform at the open track days and HPDE sessions that i like to attend. after all, it is touted and marketed as this ultimate driving experience pseudo race car. It's inferred through the manufacturers message that THIS IS WHAT THE CAR IS DESIGNED FOR.

If more driving on the track is the answer:

I dont need anything but a recaro seat. i dont need sync3. I will be sweating anyway, so who gives a shit. the radio will probably never get turned on. If i HAVE to drive it on the street, it is street legal and i can turn on the radio to find the trafgfic report.


I'll bet that im not the only person who thought like this. I will bet that the claims about this car from the press and from ford themselves led many others to employ this line of thinking.

If the inability to use the car for anything more than a glorified "canyon run" had been disclosed, many people who opted to drop their coin on a tech package, would most likely had made a different choice, or at least would have been more informed, and thus would not be unhappy with their decision.

It's a matter of disclosure, honesty and intent. "trade it in for a 2017" is only an option for me if someone else is going to pony up the coin for my depreciation to bridge the gap.

Exactly.

We realize that you guys with a track pack would actually like 0 sound deadening and a super harsh ride and no passenger seat and actually no radio etc etc. But most people do want those and that's why the track pack has them too.

Most people want the tech stuff, like cooled seats and the nicer infotainment system because its 2016.

Tons of cars that aren't designed for track use can run all day at an HDPE without issues. The fact a car designed for performance cannot is ridiculous.

If you want a lotus elise go buy one. They are super fun and fast but definitely not comfortable. If you want a comfy daily driver that you can race on a track then that's what the gt350 is for. It's silly that it can't actually run on a track.

I think the nail against Ford on this point is exactly what the track pack supporters have been saying: the manual says if you want to take a tech pack to the track then you need to add coolers. Indicating to most people that yes, adding the coolers to a tech pack later is an option.

That's all fine and good, but if you are going to put that in the manual then maybe you should actually make the coolers you advertise as being something that can be added?

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[Caballus]

Based on their own marketing, it would seem that Ford has two obligations:

1. Make whatever modifications necessary to ensure all variants of the GT350 can endure more than 10-20 minutes on the track. How much more is TBD, but 10-20 minutes is unreasonable and by no means does it meet the expectations Ford created through its media campaign. This should be done as a recall at no expense to the consumer.

2. Assuming that #1 can be achieved by some means other than transmission and differential coolers, ensure that coolers that will not void the warranty are available for purchase by those who desire them.

As for disbelief that Ford would ever go so far, consider the corporation's obligation to the consumer based on their marketing, which is well quoted in postings throughout this forum. Also, consider the leverage of thousands of consumers that can afford to purchase a $60,000 sports car.

A useful adage comes to mind: "never negotiate against yourself."

 

[Hack]

quoting member "65sohc" from the other forum, he emailed heatshieldproducts.com


"Thank you for your inquiry. Your best option is to use our Muffler Armor on one half of the CAT. You don’t want to over insulate a cat. Using the Muffler Armor to shield the half facing the transmission and it should help significantly."

I think that sounds reasonable, and is something I will be willing to try, also wrap the rest of the exhaust close to the tranny with exhaust wrap

I would be careful adding parts like that to the exhaust system. Especially the wrap can cause corrosion and early failure. Adding a heat shield to the catalytic converter could cause it to overheat as well.

I'm really hoping that we can get a "Ford sanctioned" solution that won't have unintended negative consequences.

Don't get me wrong, I do agree with you that some sort of heat shielding could be the best, most reasonable solution - heat shielding won't cause the parts to run extra cold during street miles.

 

[stanglife]

Tons of cars that aren't designed for track use can run all day at an HDPE without issues. The fact a car designed for performance cannot is ridiculous.

It can.

It's silly that it can't actually run on a track.

It can.

the manual says if you want to take a tech pack to the track then you need to add coolers. Indicating to most people that yes, adding the coolers to a tech pack later is an option.

That's all fine and good, but if you are going to put that in the manual then maybe you should actually make the coolers you advertise as being something that can be added?

They never say that they will supply them. The aftermarket has been adding cooling capacity to track cars forever. It will come, eventually.

Buying the "other" car when a Track Pack was available and then demanding that Ford "fix" the other car just doesn't make sense to me. If someone wanted the comfort AND the cooling capacity, it was clear that you would not get both with MY16 - and those people should just be patient. They will be able to create their do-everything car once the parts are available.

 

[Hack]

Buying the "other" car when a Track Pack was available and then demanding that Ford "fix" the other car just doesn't make sense to me. If someone wanted the comfort AND the cooling capacity, it was clear that you would not get both with MY16 - and those people should just be patient. They will be able to create their do-everything car once the parts are available.

Think about it more. It's actually simple and quite a few people have explained it. Reading the Ford ads will probably help you. Especially if you read the part where Ford says the GT350 will be the most track capable Mustang ever.

I disagree that it was clear. When I read the words MOST TRACK CAPABLE MUSTANG EVER I believed Ford. I don't think it's clear at all that MOST TRACK CAPABLE MUSTANG EVER means that you're going to have more trouble with this car at the track than you would with a regular Mustang GT.

Patience is a virtue I don't have much of. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought the car new. I would have just waited a few years and bought a lightly used version. I think Ford should be catering to people like me without patience. As far as Ford is concerned, my lack of patience should be considered virtuous.

 

[stanglife]

The fact that they then offered a "Track" version and a "Tech" version didn't raise any eyebrows or warrant any consideration?

It seems like the time to weigh the differences should have been before deciding which package to pick. It's like me buying bread when I could have bought a sandwich, then demanding a sandwich.

Again - I'm sure there will be options a ailable

 

[1320']

They never said the BASE GT350 was "THE MOST TRACK CAPABLE MUSTANG EVER"

The GT350 TP *IS* a GT350. The GT350 with the Tech Pack IS a GT350. The GT350R IS a GT350.

Ford openly said in the manual that if you're planning on tracking your Tech or base GT350 that you will need to add additional coolers, this was known many months ago. If you knew this and STILL bought a Tech Pack..don't complain that you now can't go out and track it unless you paid for it, in full, non-refundable back in May.
Ford arranged the GT350's trims and packages to appeal to a broad spectrum of possible buyers...from the track guys (GT350 TP)..the weekend cruiser/non-trackers (GT350 Tech) and the hard core, white knuckle Z/28 hunters (GT350R).

You cannot blame Ford for your choice, they didn't trick you or pull a fast one, even us non GT350 folks knew about the cooler situation a long time ago.

 

[montreal ponies]

They never said the BASE GT350 was "THE MOST TRACK CAPABLE MUSTANG EVER"

The GT350 TP *IS* a GT350. The GT350 with the Tech Pack IS a GT350. The GT350R IS a GT350.

Ford openly said in the manual that if you're planning on tracking your Tech or base GT350 that you will need to add additional coolers, this was known many months ago. If you knew this and STILL bought a Tech Pack..don't complain that you now can't go out and track it unless you paid for it, in full, non-refundable back in May.
Ford arranged the GT350's trims and packages to appeal to a broad spectrum of possible buyers...from the track guys (GT350 TP)..the weekend cruiser/non-trackers (GT350 Tech) and the hard core, white knuckle Z/28 hunters (GT350R).

You cannot blame Ford for your choice, they didn't trick you or pull a fast one, even us non GT350 folks knew about the cooler situation a long time ago.

Listen, i knew from the start that my base Shelby wasn't the MOST track capable
car out of the 4 possible packages. ( base/ tech/ track pack/ R ), but i never expected to not be able to run a 20 minute session out on the track.

This is the car Ford sold us has being the most track oriented car they've ever built. That said a lot to many of us.

So now we're finding out about the cooling issues the tranny is experiencing, and so does Ford by reading these Forums and getting feedback from it's dealers.

I'm not surprised one bit that Ford has re-arranged it's packages accordingly to not have to deal with future cooling issues.

I can still change my order for a base '17 as my car is not built yet , but of course the price will go up and debating if i want to wait another 6 months and shell out the extra money .

 

[stanglife]

So we've analyzed every minuscule aspect of every option and every nut and bolt of these cars but everyone got caught off-guard when their tech pack car didn't perform like a track pack car.

First world problems.

 

[bdub85]

So we've analyzed every minuscule aspect of every option and every nut and bolt of these cars but everyone got caught off-guard when their tech pack car didn't perform like a track pack car.

First world problems.

Indeed. I actually initially ordered the Tech pack, but I changed my order to the Track pack after doing some research and deciding that I'd much rather have coolers/recaros over the amenities.

I'm an engineer by trade, and I always like going with something that is over-engineered if possible. I'd rather just have it and not need it instead of not having it and needing it.

But as they say... "different strokes for different folks" It just sucks that the optioning was like this for the 2015/2016 cars. And I know a lot of folks got stuck with the Tech just because that was the most abundant package.

 

[1320']

Dealerships rarely order stripper/base cars. On the rare occasion I saw a 1LE Camaro on a lot..it was, barring one narrow exception, a 2SS 1LE. I saw one 1SS 1LE up at a larger dealer in Portland.

The majority of the people who bought GT350's, of which this forum is an extremely small and extremely vocal minority, will not now or ever track their car. For them the Tech Pack is what they wanted.

Bragging Rights: Check
526 HP: Check
Leather heated and cooled seats: Check
Touch Screen with navigation: Check
Aggressive looks: Check

All that makes for a great weekend driver that only ever sees good weather. They'll do some WOT pulls on the highway, throw it into some curves..but they're not going to take it to Laguna, Sebring, Road Atlanta or Watkins Glen and really wring it out..it's just not going to happen.

The order guides, tech guides, etc..they were out more than 6 months ago, the information was out there. It was front page on M6G, it was all over these boards, it was stickied up top. If you read all that and thought "Eh..Ford is just kidding"..think again, and that is your mistake.

 

[Spa2k]

Just one correction to what's been said here multiple times: The information about needing to add coolers to Tech Package cars for track use was not released until long after the Ordering Guides were published - and months after some of us had ordered our Tech package cars. However, as long as the production process has taken, I (and I believe anyone else) had adequate time to cancel or change the order prior to production.

 

[stanglife]

Just one correction to what's been said here multiple times: The information about needing to add coolers to Tech Package cars for track use was not released until long after the Ordering Guides were published - and months after some of us had ordered our Tech package cars. However, as long as the production process has taken, I (and I believe anyone else) had adequate time to cancel or change the order prior to production.

True.

 

[Caballus]

Just one correction to what's been said here multiple times: The information about needing to add coolers to Tech Package cars for track use was not released until long after the Ordering Guides were published - and months after some of us had ordered our Tech package cars. However, as long as the production process has taken, I (and I believe anyone else) had adequate time to cancel or change the order prior to production.

For those who were fortunate enough to have seen that information. However, researching owners manuals to ensure the most track capable Mustang ever built can handle a single track session shouldn't be necessary.

 

[1320']

For those who were fortunate enough to have seen that information. However, researching owners manuals to ensure the most track capable Mustang ever built can handle a single track session shouldn't be necessary.

First of all..

Ford said the GT350R was "the most track capable Mustang ever built".

Source

The GT350R has all the coolers, etc..it IS the most track capable Mustang ever built.

Ford doesn't say the base GT350 is fully track ready, capable or is the most track capable Mustang ever..

Source

People are taking Ford's words about the GT350R and putting it as a blanket statement across the entire GT350 lineup..when it isn't meant to be so.

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