autobahnGT350
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- Joined
- Dec 27, 2015
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- Location
- Northern Virginia
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- 2016 GT 350
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Finally got a chance to go to the track with my 2016 Technology package. First, and foremost, NO LIMP MODE.
The wife purchased for both of us a Friday at the Track (FATT) day at Summit Point raceway. I was a little apprehensive at first due to the many posts regarding transmission overheat conditions, thus causing the Shelby to go into protective mode, aka, “limp mode” and my expectation was that I would experience a high temp overheat condition eventually as the day time temps were hovering around 91 degrees.
My automobile has several mods but minimal from my perspective; Ford Racing by Borla sport cat back exhaust, JLT cold air intake, custom 93 octane tune, and Schroth 4 point ASM harness. Other mods that I want to add but did not because of time, and or parts availability; Ford Racing lowering springs, Vorschlag camber plates, forged aluminum rims and Michelin Pilot Sport 2’s.
I do want to add the new Ford Motorsports differential cooler and a tranny cooler solution over the winter, just for reassurance, and to increase reliability for any future HPD events. That background information will help readers to frame their assessment of my experiences at the track.
We had 4 scheduled track sessions, each of 25-30 minutes. I timed two of the sessions at 30 minutes. I opted to go into the intermediate advanced group as I have a new car, it was a new track for me, and I was a little rusty since racing around Hockenheim, Germany a few years ago.
My first session was instructor led who stayed in 5th gear the entire 25 minute session. I was very impressed by his driving skills, which were obviously required. I settled in a felt the car go through its motions and evaluated the apexes as I sat in the passenger seat. The oil temps maintained a constant 230 or so.
The second session was all me, and I stayed in 4th gear the entire time. I allowed people to pass me while I was getting used to the track and car. I was clearly driving slow, but, I swallowed any pride and just got used to the track, kind of like getting used to riding a bike again. As each lapped passed, I was building up more confidence in the car and myself. It was coming back to me,,,,Hockenheim, Germany, all over again. I started to push harder and maintain momentum with the fast movers, and reluctantly, because I I was not pushing as hard as I could yet, allowed those cars on my rear to pass. Oil temps hovered around 245-250.
Waiting for the third session to begin, I guzzled an ice coffee and mentally prepared myself to ratchet it up a notch, well, to take it back to my experience levels of running around Hockenheim. When I met my assigned instructor, I said “it’s on”. He asked, what? I stated that I am going to use gears and deep dive, drive faster, accelerate close to the apexes and late brake as much as possible. He stated, its about time…haha. So, third session begins and I immediately start taking the turns at a higher rate, braking later, and accelerating out of the apexes to my delight. I remember now! (Queensryche quote from Operation Mind Crime). The cars who were busting my chops before; M3’s, M5’s, Audi RS4’s and 5’s, Mini Coopers, tuned Camaro’s, Porsche Boxter’s and a Porsche 911 4S, were now in my sights and were passed as I let the Voodoo engine flex its muscle to 8000 rpm in each gear, well 3 and 4th. Downshifts into third allowed me to carry the speed around some of the apexes with considerable speed.
My nemesis at the track were a Porsche 911 GT3 and a race prepped M6 with other 600 HP.
As the tires warmed up I felt that old feeling again when you experience super sticky tires and are balancing the line of adhesion, traction, and loss of adhesion, well, traction, I like to call it stiction, but, anyway, I could dive deeper into the curves without any issues. The brakes, oh lord, these brakes are awesome. I never experienced any brake fade, and that was using the stock pads. My confidence in the car overall was high as I experienced high G’s in the turns and awesome braking.
I experimented with using fourth gear in some turns versus third. I believe riding around at 7-8000 rpm in a turn worked for me as I enjoyed up-shifting after a few feet coming out of the apex to fourth, lurching the car forward. Using that technique, anyone who was in front of me coming out of a large apex, was fodder, and passed, except for the GT3 and the race prepped M6. I was thrilled. Note that tracks and different curves will dictate what gears to use, but at Summit, I think 3rd and 4th are about right. My end of straight speed, when I tried to look was around 135MPH, which with another person with same weight as me, 190 pounds, ain't bad.
My oil temps this time were right around 250-255. I just had the engine oil cooler line recall work done the week before and an oil change. There was no sign of overheating in any of the parameters that I could read, oil, water, cylinder head, and air intake. I was ecstatic that I would run a full 30 minutes without a hiccup.
The brakes held up without any issues, and the factory Michelin Pilot Sport tires were awesome once warmed up causing them to stick like glue. The feedback from the instructor as I was I was taking it harder this time around, was my instructor hanging on and clamping himself in, wishing he had used the 4 point harness and not the regular seatbelt
.
The fourth session, was exactly like the third. It equated to more reassurance. The driving instructor stated that after one more session, I am ready to go solo, again!!!!! Yippeee.
The fact that I did not get into any limp mode condition was great news to me. The intervals between events were as follows:
1-2 session: 2 hours
2-3 session: 1 hour
3-4 session: 1 hour
Again, ambient temps were about 91, track temps were probably about 130-140 for sure. I should have brought my laser temp reader.
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised and happy with my 2016 technology package Shelby GT350 with the minimal mods and big performance at the track. Estimated power with mods is around 565 (we can all play bench coaches all day long as to the power gains...my buddy with a highly modded Alfa Romeo 4C launch and race parts, knows I obtained more power, haha), headers might yield another 10-15, not sure if I would want to go that route, as the Ford Performance Engineer I spoke with told me that is one thing on the Shelby that he would not change….hmmmmm, maybe there is a Ford Motorsports header coming to us??
I highly recommend that everyone take an instructor led driving session with your car, and especially at a new track. It was a bonus to hear from the instructor the idiosyncrasies of this track, which helped me to achieve higher speeds.
Compared to my baseline car for road racing at Hockenheim, while I was stationed in Germany, C5 Z06 with Corvette Racing factory race parts, and Katech Racing go fast parts, and other stuff, the Shelby could stand to lose a little weight. That is on my agenda next. Getting under 3700 pounds would be great, under 3600 even better. But, those are costly endeavors.
All I know is that the Shelby loves to rev, and if it had less weight, it would accelerate even faster. This is one badass ride for what it is, and I feel lucky to be part of the Shelby family.
Sorry for the lack of vids, I forgot to get suction cups for the GoPro. Next time dang it. :frusty:
So, there it is, a fun day at the track and no over temp condition. Long live the 2016 Technology Package.:cheers::ford:
The wife purchased for both of us a Friday at the Track (FATT) day at Summit Point raceway. I was a little apprehensive at first due to the many posts regarding transmission overheat conditions, thus causing the Shelby to go into protective mode, aka, “limp mode” and my expectation was that I would experience a high temp overheat condition eventually as the day time temps were hovering around 91 degrees.
My automobile has several mods but minimal from my perspective; Ford Racing by Borla sport cat back exhaust, JLT cold air intake, custom 93 octane tune, and Schroth 4 point ASM harness. Other mods that I want to add but did not because of time, and or parts availability; Ford Racing lowering springs, Vorschlag camber plates, forged aluminum rims and Michelin Pilot Sport 2’s.
I do want to add the new Ford Motorsports differential cooler and a tranny cooler solution over the winter, just for reassurance, and to increase reliability for any future HPD events. That background information will help readers to frame their assessment of my experiences at the track.
We had 4 scheduled track sessions, each of 25-30 minutes. I timed two of the sessions at 30 minutes. I opted to go into the intermediate advanced group as I have a new car, it was a new track for me, and I was a little rusty since racing around Hockenheim, Germany a few years ago.
My first session was instructor led who stayed in 5th gear the entire 25 minute session. I was very impressed by his driving skills, which were obviously required. I settled in a felt the car go through its motions and evaluated the apexes as I sat in the passenger seat. The oil temps maintained a constant 230 or so.
The second session was all me, and I stayed in 4th gear the entire time. I allowed people to pass me while I was getting used to the track and car. I was clearly driving slow, but, I swallowed any pride and just got used to the track, kind of like getting used to riding a bike again. As each lapped passed, I was building up more confidence in the car and myself. It was coming back to me,,,,Hockenheim, Germany, all over again. I started to push harder and maintain momentum with the fast movers, and reluctantly, because I I was not pushing as hard as I could yet, allowed those cars on my rear to pass. Oil temps hovered around 245-250.
Waiting for the third session to begin, I guzzled an ice coffee and mentally prepared myself to ratchet it up a notch, well, to take it back to my experience levels of running around Hockenheim. When I met my assigned instructor, I said “it’s on”. He asked, what? I stated that I am going to use gears and deep dive, drive faster, accelerate close to the apexes and late brake as much as possible. He stated, its about time…haha. So, third session begins and I immediately start taking the turns at a higher rate, braking later, and accelerating out of the apexes to my delight. I remember now! (Queensryche quote from Operation Mind Crime). The cars who were busting my chops before; M3’s, M5’s, Audi RS4’s and 5’s, Mini Coopers, tuned Camaro’s, Porsche Boxter’s and a Porsche 911 4S, were now in my sights and were passed as I let the Voodoo engine flex its muscle to 8000 rpm in each gear, well 3 and 4th. Downshifts into third allowed me to carry the speed around some of the apexes with considerable speed.
My nemesis at the track were a Porsche 911 GT3 and a race prepped M6 with other 600 HP.
As the tires warmed up I felt that old feeling again when you experience super sticky tires and are balancing the line of adhesion, traction, and loss of adhesion, well, traction, I like to call it stiction, but, anyway, I could dive deeper into the curves without any issues. The brakes, oh lord, these brakes are awesome. I never experienced any brake fade, and that was using the stock pads. My confidence in the car overall was high as I experienced high G’s in the turns and awesome braking.
I experimented with using fourth gear in some turns versus third. I believe riding around at 7-8000 rpm in a turn worked for me as I enjoyed up-shifting after a few feet coming out of the apex to fourth, lurching the car forward. Using that technique, anyone who was in front of me coming out of a large apex, was fodder, and passed, except for the GT3 and the race prepped M6. I was thrilled. Note that tracks and different curves will dictate what gears to use, but at Summit, I think 3rd and 4th are about right. My end of straight speed, when I tried to look was around 135MPH, which with another person with same weight as me, 190 pounds, ain't bad.
My oil temps this time were right around 250-255. I just had the engine oil cooler line recall work done the week before and an oil change. There was no sign of overheating in any of the parameters that I could read, oil, water, cylinder head, and air intake. I was ecstatic that I would run a full 30 minutes without a hiccup.
The brakes held up without any issues, and the factory Michelin Pilot Sport tires were awesome once warmed up causing them to stick like glue. The feedback from the instructor as I was I was taking it harder this time around, was my instructor hanging on and clamping himself in, wishing he had used the 4 point harness and not the regular seatbelt
. The fourth session, was exactly like the third. It equated to more reassurance. The driving instructor stated that after one more session, I am ready to go solo, again!!!!! Yippeee.
The fact that I did not get into any limp mode condition was great news to me. The intervals between events were as follows:
1-2 session: 2 hours
2-3 session: 1 hour
3-4 session: 1 hour
Again, ambient temps were about 91, track temps were probably about 130-140 for sure. I should have brought my laser temp reader.
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised and happy with my 2016 technology package Shelby GT350 with the minimal mods and big performance at the track. Estimated power with mods is around 565 (we can all play bench coaches all day long as to the power gains...my buddy with a highly modded Alfa Romeo 4C launch and race parts, knows I obtained more power, haha), headers might yield another 10-15, not sure if I would want to go that route, as the Ford Performance Engineer I spoke with told me that is one thing on the Shelby that he would not change….hmmmmm, maybe there is a Ford Motorsports header coming to us??
I highly recommend that everyone take an instructor led driving session with your car, and especially at a new track. It was a bonus to hear from the instructor the idiosyncrasies of this track, which helped me to achieve higher speeds.
Compared to my baseline car for road racing at Hockenheim, while I was stationed in Germany, C5 Z06 with Corvette Racing factory race parts, and Katech Racing go fast parts, and other stuff, the Shelby could stand to lose a little weight. That is on my agenda next. Getting under 3700 pounds would be great, under 3600 even better. But, those are costly endeavors.
All I know is that the Shelby loves to rev, and if it had less weight, it would accelerate even faster. This is one badass ride for what it is, and I feel lucky to be part of the Shelby family.
Sorry for the lack of vids, I forgot to get suction cups for the GoPro. Next time dang it. :frusty:
So, there it is, a fun day at the track and no over temp condition. Long live the 2016 Technology Package.
:cheers::ford:
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