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Trackaholic's GT350 Experience

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Trackaholic

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Thanks for keeping this thread alive! Can't wait to hear more.

Since you're in the Bay Area, do you frequent Hwy 9 or 130 up Mt. Hamilton?
I used to commute over HWY 9, although ever since the storms last year some areas have been a single lane with stop lights, so I've been going 17 more recently. Will stake take HWY 9 home on Fridays evenings to avoid beach traffic.

Haven't had the chance to do 130 up to Mt. Hamilton. Would like to someday.

-T
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Checked the oil a few weeks ago @ 25,000 miles (shortly after the track day).

Was about a quart low and had a decent amount in the catch can from the track day and before.

Added a quart which brought it up just past the bottom hash.

Also drove up to Santa Rosa where I grew up to visit my parents' house, which was lost in the terrible fires up there. Sifted through some ashes to try and find anything that might have survived, but seemed pointless after a while. The worst part was seeing house after house, neighborhood after neighborhood, completely destroyed. My folks escaped in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their backs and my mom's cell phone (and their pickup truck). The power was out due to the high winds, trees were down in the roads, and there was no warning for many neighborhoods. They went to sleep @ 11:00 with no sign of fire, and woke up @ 1:00 with fire just outside their neighborhood.

BTW, if anyone wants to buy an Infiniti G37 coupe, I know of one with low miles. Slight smoke smell however.

While there I visited with a buddy from high school who also lost his house, and his BMW M2. Somewhat interestingly, he learned his house was being consumed by fire when his BMW called him to let him know it was burning. I guess they have a feature that can notify you remotely if certain parts reach a temp threshold. We took the GT350 out for a spin and he was suitably impressed.

Hope all members from that area were able to make it through without issue.

-T
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Wine dude

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Thanks for sharing the reminder of the tragic fires and loss, funny how the media has moved on, yet this is such a huge devistating event that has changed many things for many forever
 

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Yes - thanks for posting those pics. Can't imagine how traumatic that was/is. Similar to what has happen in Texas with the floods. Media and folks soon forget except the people impacted unfortunately.

On another note - I am considering the 350/350R as a track weapon. Currently have a 2005 997.1 Porsche that is my track car. Wondering if I should move to a 350 or 350R. You obviously have been putting the 350 through the ringer - which is awesome and exactly what the car is meant for. I am a big advocate if you have a car that was made for the track - use it. Any feedback between the 350 and 350R by chance - or just the 350? I am wondering if I get a used 350 and get it track ready vs a stock 350R. I know the pricing will be less bc the market is softening - especially the 350. Wondering how much I would be missing vs the 350R. Any feedback is appreciated. I have been reading a ton on the web but always best to hear from the folks in the seat!
 
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Thanks for the support guys.

Regarding the GT350 vs GT350R, it's a tough call for me personally. I have not driven an R yet, and maybe don't want to (ignorance is bliss as they say).

I love the regular GT350, and since I put a lot of street miles on it, I appreciate the smaller front splitter, relatively cheap wheels, rear seat, better visibility out the back, and running street tires.

I have often thought about looking for an R, but don't want to loose all that depreciation on my GT350, and don't want to deal with the Cup2 tires, or an extra set of wheels, or find the rear seat kit, or scrape the front splitter any more than I do already.

For me, it turns out the regular GT350 is just about perfect. If I really want to get a big step in speed, I can always get aftermarket lightweight wheels and Cup2 (or other sticky) tires. I think that would get me a good step towards the feel of the R (and I could swap the appropriate suspension components as well).

However, if I were buying new now, I would probably once again look pretty hard for an R, just because Ford really went all out on that version. The CF wheels especially are a great feature due to their high stiffness and low weight. You can get close with aftermarket aluminum ones, but if you want the CF, you are going to pay dearly. If I wasn't daily driving the GT350 as much, the R would be really tempting.

I think if features of the R would benefit most of your driving situations, then it would be the one to get (in other words, you don't need the rear seat, you can minimize the chances of wheels getting stolen, you don't need to worry about the very low front lip, you don't mind using the Cup2 tires on the street, etc). In the end, if you can't find an R after giving it a good try, you can always fall back on the regular GT350. But if you go straight for the regular one, you may always wonder if you should have gone for the R.

-T
 

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tlisotta

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Thanks for the feedback. You hit the points I have been thinking about. In my situation it would be a 3rd car for track only - maybe occasional back roads use. I don't need the back seat and would probably put a roll bar in it with 6 point. My biggest concern is the cost of the Cup 2's and how fast they wear out. I have read some posts where people are experimenting with other tires. I am also seeing the R's get closer to MSRP. Winter is always a great time to buy as well. We will see. Need to work on the boss :) - Wife
 
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Now @ 26,600 miles, and added another quart. Engine oil life indicator is at 36%, and I believe I've added 4 quarts since the last oil change and it has been about 5000 miles.

Also emptied the catch can. Not too much this time around, but I did drop the UPR threaded knob as I unscrewed it and it got stuck down near the bottom of the radiator. Managed to reach down with a trash grabbing stick that we have in the garage for some unknown reason. I think I will drill out the first few threads on the knob so it can remain seated on the threaded post even after it has been fully unscrewed.

In other news, after the experience with the Fusion Energi mentioned a few pages back, I've been thinking of getting some type of hybrid as a commuter car to replace the GTI. Was thinking of maybe an E-Golf, but I needed more room for the family and dog, so I ended up getting a Chrysler Pacific Hybrid. Picked it up last Tuesday and will be using it as a commuter car for most days. I am lucky enough to have charging stations at work, so I can plug in each day and get enough juice for the commute home.

I have not yet plugged in at home, and will need to look into my electrical rate schedule before doing so, as we currently use over our baseline allowance and fall into a higher pricing tier. PG&E (or electric company) has a different schedule where you pay more for usage during peak hours and less during off-hours, which might be better if I start charging at home. Looking at the numbers: the van gets about 80 MPGe on electric power and has a range of a little over 30 miles. The battery capacity is 16 kWh, which is basically equivalent to 1/2 a gallon of gas (33.7 kWh for a gallon of gas).

My electric rates and the cost to charge 16 kWh are:
Baseline = $0.200/kWh = $3.20
101-400% = $0.276/kWh = $4.42
>400% = $0.401/kWh = $6.40

Gas is currently ~$3.30/gallon for 91. So the cost for 16 kWh = $1.57

The van gets 30 MPG in hybrid mode, so that would be $3.30/30 = $0.11 per mile.
The van goes ~35 miles in electric mode, so that would be $3.20/35 = $0.09 - $0.18 per mile depending on rates.

So, it is barely any cheaper for me to charge at home (and could actually be quite a bit more expensive depending on the electrical usage) using my current rate schedule.

If I switch to the time-of-use plan, the rates are higher for peak usage, but much lower for off-peak usage. Charging during off-peak hours is only:

$0.12/kWh = $1.92 = $0.055/mile or just about half the cost of gasoline (by comparison, the GT350 gets about 18 MPG = $0.183/mile).

So, I will likely need to change plans to benefit from the charging aspect, and will need to see how that affects our typical usage. I can make almost my entire commute in electric mode when fully charged, so there would be an added benefit of almost never needing to go to the gas station. In the GT350 I'm visiting them every couple of days.

Aside from the potential cost benefits, the van is pretty amazing from a features, utility, and luxury standpoint. I have the limited model, which has every useless feature you could ever want, and some which I actually very much like.

For example, for an electric vehicle, maintaining comfortable cabin temps in winter can be troublesome. Therefore heated seats and a heated steering wheel become very useful. You can avoid using an electric heater or burning gas to heat the entire cabin, and instead warm only the areas people will notice most. Never liked heated seats until now.

I love the GT350 because it makes every drive special, but driving it all the time can become tiring due to the noise and vibrations, and the fact that it is so effortlessly fast it makes everyone else seem terribly slow. That can be very frustrating, and I tend to end up driving faster and being a bit more aggressive than is ideal. The van does not have that problem. One cool thing about the hybrid mode is that trying to minimize fuel use becomes a bit of a game, which can be interesting in itself, especially when running in electric mode. The thing is totally smooth and silent, very relaxing and serene, with a very nice interior and decent stereo system (although my standards are pretty low, as I don't see much wrong with the one in the GT350). If I were a luxury car maker, I would be investing heavily in electrification because it really makes the car smooth and the acceleration feel effortless.

While I enjoy the electric mode, it is very nice that the van is a hybrid and can just as easily go on long trips like any other vehicle. And it has dual video screens with wireless headphones and remotes for the kids, along with a 110 VAC outlet that (according to the sale guy) will allow the kids to play Xbox on those screens as well.

I'm thinking the van needs a little something though. Maybe I'll do some black stripes with white trim to match the GT350. Some folks at work suggested wrapping it in yellow with stripes to match, but I think that might be going too far. Although I'm also thinking about lightning bolts or 3 wolves or something like that on the side as well. There's also the A-team theme. So many choices...

Anyhow, some oil related photos and a shot of the van below, and the GTI in the background, going bye-bye :-(.

-T
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Got some goodies in preparation for the track day on April 16th. Ordered everything through Lethal Performance. They have great customer service, so if you ever need to order something, they are a good place to go.

Was able to get the jacking rails installed last Sunday, so next up is the new front rotors and brake pads. Holy cow those rotors are huge!

My original rotors are still in great shape from a wear perspective, but have uneven pad deposits and therefore generate lots of shuddering when braking. I think the issue occurred during my Thunderhill track day, because they used two flag stations (with the second one at the sharp left before the back straight), which meant minimal cooldown if you happened to catch the second station (which I would do almost every session). I would typically drive around the paddock to cool things, but I must have forgotten once and parked while the brakes were still very hot. When I get the old rotors off I'll take some photos, but there are small outlines of the pads on there, so I'm pretty sure that's what caused the issue.

I ran with them as-is during my last track day @ Buttonwillow, and the braking was pretty annoying. It got a little better as things heated up and the brakes started to really get burnished, but the problem is still there. I've tried additional burnishing to no avail, so I figured I'd just get new rotors since I needed to swap pads anyway. Hope to get to that task next weekend.

Regarding the install of the jacking rails, I found that the passenger rail has only two holes on the front end. When resting on the ground, the angle of the center section should be higher towards the outside of the car. You probably can't really install them backwards, but getting the orientation correct before you are lying on your back under the car makes things a bit easier IMO.

Anyhow, they were pretty easy to install. The hardest part was using a crappy plastic paint scraper to remove the excess seam sealant. Took me probably an hour of actual install time, with a detour to the hardware store for a 15mm socket, and another detour to my daughter's softball practice.

It will be nice to have a larger area to use for lifting the car when I go to install the new brakes and when I eventually get around to the cradle lockout kit. I think I will need a new jack and two more jack stands when it comes time for that install. Not sure I will get to it before the track day, but we'll see!

-T
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About to head down to Buttonwillow for the track day tomorrow. Very excited!

Got the brakes installed but have not yet tackled the cradle lockout kit.

The brakes were pretty easy, but time consuming since I would get interrupted by trips to the hardware store (T60 torx bit), or kid's softball/baseball practices.

Found a good thread @ Track Mustangs Online, and followed that technique. Ordered some M14 x 180mm Long SHCS to use as caliper holders while changing the pads and rotors. Worked great.

Re-used the mounting screws but added new loctite. Reduced the torque a little form the 136 ft-lb to an even 130 ft-lb due to the liquid loctite.

Also cleaned out the catch can and added TWO QUARTS of oil. Have 28,700 miles now, so it's been 2100 since the last check. Will check again at the track to see what the level is like prior to going out.

-T
 

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About to head down to Buttonwillow for the track day tomorrow. Very excited!

Got the brakes installed but have not yet tackled the cradle lockout kit.

The brakes were pretty easy, but time consuming since I would get interrupted by trips to the hardware store (T60 torx bit), or kid's softball/baseball practices.

Found a good thread @ Track Mustangs Online, and followed that technique. Ordered some M14 x 180mm Long SHCS to use as caliper holders while changing the pads and rotors. Worked great.

Re-used the mounting screws but added new loctite. Reduced the torque a little form the 136 ft-lb to an even 130 ft-lb due to the liquid loctite.

Also cleaned out the catch can and added TWO QUARTS of oil. Have 28,700 miles now, so it's been 2100 since the last check. Will check again at the track to see what the level is like prior to going out.

-T
See you tomorrow, bro!
 

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Been a long time since my last update.

Currently @ ~34,000 miles. Had an oil change @ 30,000 and have added two quarts since. One was right before the October 1 trackday @ Thunderhill, and the other was on November 17th @ 33,165 miles.

Car is still running strong. Trackday was awesome as always, and I'm ready to go to another. Just need to find a good time to go.

Here is a video of one of the sessions. I was giving a ride along and explaining what I was trying to do. Hopefully I didn't pass out too much bad advice.


-T
 

icormba

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Been a long time since my last update.

Currently @ ~34,000 miles. Had an oil change @ 30,000 and have added two quarts since. One was right before the October 1 trackday @ Thunderhill, and the other was on November 17th @ 33,165 miles.

Car is still running strong. Trackday was awesome as always, and I'm ready to go to another. Just need to find a good time to go.

Here is a video of one of the sessions. I was giving a ride along and explaining what I was trying to do. Hopefully I didn't pass out too much bad advice.


-T
SWEET!!! I know who was on that ride along! Carol said she learned a lot and was very appreciative! Thanks, Scott! :)
Can't wait until next time!
 

REDLINE

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Trackholic, these posts are awesome. Just did my first pds with the Porsche owners club two weeks ago at willow springs. What a blast. Are there any hpde or instructor/classes you can recommend?
 

TDC

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You and Honeybadger of some of the highest track mileage on your 350's. I'm starting to get up there as well and wonder what items you've replaced? I figure maybe:
- front rear hubs
- suspension bushings
- tie rods
- ball joints
- other?
???
 

svttim

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Been a long time since my last update.

Currently @ ~34,000 miles. Had an oil change @ 30,000 and have added two quarts since. One was right before the October 1 trackday @ Thunderhill, and the other was on November 17th @ 33,165 miles.

Car is still running strong. Trackday was awesome as always, and I'm ready to go to another. Just need to find a good time to go.

Here is a video of one of the sessions. I was giving a ride along and explaining what I was trying to do. Hopefully I didn't pass out too much bad advice.


-T
Looks like pretty solid driving to me
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