Tech Pack Lawsuit

[Minn19]

I'd honestly like to know -

for those that purchased the tech package, but were dissatisfied with the on track performance..

Did you expect your vehicles to perform the same as the track package? What was the expectation, on track, given the knowledge your car didn't have the coolers that the track package does?

I'm not trying to be smart ass, at all - I'm just genuinely trying to understand what the expectation was. Why? Curiosity.. and it seems a bit unfair to owners that purchased a track package car... if your car is supposed to perform just as well on track as their car --- but their car specifically has the package to allow it to do so and yours specifically does not.

I didn’t, I bought it under the impression as in my previous post that they (coolers) would be available quickly (this was the beginning of summer of 16) and it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to install them. This was my thinking from talking to numerous people from different areas of Ford etc.

It didn’t turn out that way and lesson learned for me.

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[r1racer]

I'd honestly like to know -

for those that purchased the tech package, but were dissatisfied with the on track performance..

Did you expect your vehicles to perform the same as the track package? What was the expectation, on track, given the knowledge your car didn't have the coolers that the track package does?

I'm not trying to be smart ass, at all - I'm just genuinely trying to understand what the expectation was. Why? Curiosity.. and it seems a bit unfair to owners that purchased a track package car... if your car is supposed to perform just as well on track as their car --- but their car specifically has the package to allow it to do so and yours specifically does not.

I've yet to track mine but IMO overheating after a couple laps/hot day in traffic has nothing to do with track performance. It's simply unacceptable assuming this is a common occurrence. I have no clue if mine will overheat or not (until April) but that's besides the point.

From my point of view Ford should have made it clear that this would happen instead of simply "recommending" and not requiring coolers in their language.

 

[ghig302]

I've yet to track mine but IMO overheating after a couple laps/hot day in traffic has nothing to do with track performance. It's simply unacceptable assuming this is a common occurrence. I have no clue if mine will overheat or not (until April) but that's besides the point.

From my point of view Ford should have made it clear that this would happen instead of simply "recommending" and not requiring coolers in their language.

The fact, and I have heard it from more than one person, that the GT350 Tech could overheat in traffic, and not just on the track, to me is a safety issue. Ford was cheap, and should have put the coolers on every car.

 

[honeybadger]

From my point of view Ford should have made it clear that this would happen instead of simply "recommending" and not requiring coolers in their language.

While I would personally appreciate this level of transparency - I assume you've never worked in marketing. A marketing exec would slap you in the face for a suggestion like that ;)

As Tob said earlier - the real answer here was ever selling this car without the coolers. The response that SHOULD have happened when they did sell cars without coolers was to put a little more effort and thought into remedying the situation for those who wanted to. But I would bet even better plans were proposed, but a high level exec or two squashed/ignored that recommendation.

 

[Zitrosounds]

So the issue is with On Track Performance. Yet the lawsuit also claims that there is the possibility of overheating during Street use. Yet there is no proof of overheating during Street use. There is hearsay, and yet many repeat that the tech cars overheat on the street. To me the only way to make this a viable case if there is proof that there is overheating of the tech cars on the street during regular usage. Until then this was tacked onto the lawsuit to make it more credible, in my opinion. I think [MENTION=19066]Epiphany[/MENTION] made a great point about Ford's marketing. Maybe the GT350 from the get-go should have all come with the coolers. However, we cannot change the past, the car was marketed as is, four flavors four different taste and price point. Honestly I think this is a pretty easy case if somebody were to go out and get a third party test of the vehicle during normal driving conditions on the street. Alas, it has yet to happen.

 

[r1racer]

More power = more heat. Any sane person that wanted to do more than a few laps would probably understand why coolers were present on another trimmed car.

I did look through the lawsuit. Ford didn't dumb their advertising down to the lowest common denominator and they should have. A marketing mistake they should not have made. They should have never sold any model GT350 without the transmission and differential coolers. That said, track a high horsepower car without them and things get very hot, very quickly. Buy a car without the coolers and want to go to the track? Add them and get over it just as motoring enthusiasts have done for decades now.

So basically what you are saying is that buyers should know all about racing, transmission temps, parts, among other things if you simply want to do a few track days. I wish you were on Ford's legal team with that type of logic.

Lots of folks (young and old) are new to tracking and definitely new to mustangs because of how good this car is. I'm sure there are plenty of cars without coolers that can go more than 2-3 laps without overheating.

I would never ever have considered any American muscle crap had it not been for the GT350...do I understand the purpose of coolers? Yes. Did I think that based on the Ford Owner's manual that they were absolutely necessary? No.

Anyway, I love the car regardless so it doesn't really matter but interesting to see who ends up winning this one.

 

[nastang87xx]

The fact, and I have heard it from more than one person, that the GT350 Tech could overheat in traffic, and not just on the track, to me is a safety issue. Ford was cheap, and should have put the coolers on every car.

Could is one thing. But is it? And I'm seriously asking because I don't know.

Every day cars overheat in hot California and Texas in the summer every day. Same with Dubai and the likes of such locations. So.......what gives?


Here's the problems, as in multiple:
1. We have people like R1rer or whatever his name is screaming and yelling about track performance and yet has never tracked nor seems to plan to.

2. Marketing semantics on "track capability." What does that mean? I got hot lapped by a Tech Pack car my first track event...but that didn't last long. And no it wasn't because the Tech car overheated, I just picked up track driving that damn fast since I apparently sucked my first session. Go figure.

3. Has ANYONE with a Tech Pack car limped in traffic? I'm being serious, raise your hands. And I'm not talking about almost, I mean your shit literally lit up like a christmas tree and you had a limp mode wrench light blaring in your face.

4. There was information about non Track and R cars recommending coolers to be added but in owners manuals and the supplementation literature. Was any of that info privy to us before we got supplementation materials or owners manuals?

The OP wanted HONEST OPINIONS. And got them. And only commended the ones that he agreed with. Don't ask for opinions if you don't want to hear something you won't like.

 

[r1racer]

While I would personally appreciate this level of transparency - I assume you've never worked in marketing. A marketing exec would slap you in the face for a suggestion like that ;)

As Tob said earlier - the real answer here was ever selling this car without the coolers. The response that SHOULD have happened when they did sell cars without coolers was to put a little more effort and thought into remedying the situation for those who wanted to. But I would bet even better plans were proposed, but a high level exec or two squashed/ignored that recommendation.

And now the lawyers will be smacking the marketing manager and themselves in the faces...language is important in law (obviously).

 

[nastang87xx]

So basically what you are saying is that buyers should know all about racing, transmission temps, parts, among other things if you simply want to do a few track days. I wish you were on Ford's legal team with that type of logic.

Lots of folks (young and old) are new to tracking and definitely new to mustangs because of how good this car is. I'm sure there are plenty of cars without coolers that can go more than 2-3 laps without overheating.

Yeah, it's clear you've never been on track...

 

[Zombo]

The fact, and I have heard it from more than one person, that the GT350 Tech could overheat in traffic, and not just on the track, to me is a safety issue. Ford was cheap, and should have put the coolers on every car.

I certainly wouldn't deny any persons experiences, but I'd be interested in learning how a transmission, not transmitting much in the way of torque and power (normal stop/go & traffic conditions), could overheat. On a race track, when maybe 50% or more of the time full throttle power is being transmitted, I can see high levels of heat building - not so much in normal driving conditions.

 

[r1racer]

Could is one thing. But is it? And I'm seriously asking because I don't know.

Every day cars overheat in hot California and Texas in the summer every day. Same with Dubai and the likes of such locations. So.......what gives?


Here's the problems, as in multiple:
1. We have people like R1rer or whatever his name is screaming and yelling about track performance and yet has never tracked nor seems to plan to.

2. Marketing semantics on "track capability." What does that mean? I got hot lapped by a Tech Pack car my first track event...but that didn't last long. And no it wasn't because the Tech car overheated, I just picked up track driving that damn fast since I apparently sucked my first session. Go figure.

3. Has ANYONE with a Tech Pack car limped in traffic? I'm being serious, raise your hands. And I'm not talking about almost, I mean your shit literally lit up like a christmas tree and you had a limp mode wrench light blaring in your face.

4. There was information about non Track and R cars recommending coolers to be added but in owners manuals and the supplementation literature. Was any of that info privy to us before we got supplementation materials or owners manuals?

The OP wanted HONEST OPINIONS. And got them. And only commended the ones that he agreed with. Don't ask for opinions if you don't want to hear something you won't like.

I think I commended the ones that answered post 1 and I think that was only two or three posts lol...your a bit dramatic huh? And you went out of your way to look, lol. Are you sure you drive a gt350?

 

[honeybadger]

And now the lawyers will be smacking the marketing manager and themselves in the faces...language is important in law (obviously).

Probably. But as I said - I’d bet this was not just marketing’s making a mistake. I’d bet at least 1 person at a ford saw this coming, spoke up about it and was ignored. Marketing can’t openly “advertise” that their car will fail to perform. It just doesn’t work that way. And I doubt lawyers are going to be smacking anyone. Marketing covered their asses well. They knew damn well what they were doing, they put the caveat in there.

As previously mentioned (quite a few times now), the wrong decision was made on what to offer the general public and it led to some bad experiences for buyers. And then they handled the results of those bad experiences poorly as well. Someone will get a bad performance review, lessons will be learned and things Will move forward.

Ford handled this poorly. But legally, Ill bet they are completely fine.

 

[Zitrosounds]

Probably. But as I said - I’d bet this was not just marketing’s making a mistake. I’d bet at least 1 person at a ford saw this coming, spoke up about it and was ignored. Marketing can’t openly “advertise” that their car will fail to perform. It just doesn’t work that way. And I doubt lawyers are going to be smacking anyone. Marketing covered their asses well. They knew damn well what they were doing, they put the caveat in there.

As previously mentioned (quite a few times now), the wrong decision was made on what to offer the general public and it led to some bad experiences for buyers. And then they handled the results of those bad experiences poorly as well. Someone will get a bad performance review, lessons will be learned and things Will move forward.

Ford handled this poorly. But legally, Ill bet they are completely fine.

Maybe that's why Raj is gone ; )

 

[ghig302]

Maybe that's why Raj is gone ; )

No, he was checking out how the back seat worked.....

 

[Zitrosounds]

No, he was checking out how the back seat worked.....

Lol

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