Limp Mode on the Track

[1LEThumper]

Overheating issues I have had good luck on not encountering them.... so has Allen and Sean (e.g. snorman9 on yt) which are much more faster & advanced C7 Z06 track rats than me. Sean runs 2:18s consistently at Sebring in his stock Z06 and that is blazingly fast. Although I did recently encountered A/F related DTC's which put me into reduced power... ugh.

Looking forward at least for MY2017, the GT350's will now come with all coolers on board. So even for infrequent track'ers, it'll help the car last a whole HPDE session after session w/o loss of power due to high trans and/or diff temps.

Our shop car lasted all of 5 laps on track before shutting down with a pro driver at the wheel. 77 degrees out side and it was 265 water and 334 oil temps when it went into limp home mode.

Very true though...most weekend track guys are not going to push the car quite that hard.

Wrapping up a new cooling system for the C7Z right now, then have to finish the brake ducts because the car caught the carbon brakes on fire in 13 laps....next weak link in the car.

Sponsored

 

[krt22]

That's a risk of buying a first year car. Their solution is to add coolers for the cars that don't have it. It sucks if it affects someone that wants to keep the warranty 100% safe, but that's why I hate buying first year cars. Ford has not falsely advertised the packages for 2015-2016 though.

Not sure how you can call it false advertising.

Yeah, it's not limp mode. It's just limited RPM operation until trans temperatures come down below 280F. I just tracked mine last weekend and was monitoring temperatures. Differential wasn't a problem at all, also the non-track cars have no sensors at all for diff temp so there's no way it could tell.

If it were limp mode, you'd get all sorts of warning lights. Semantics perhaps and I really would've appreciated them surfacing trans temperature in the virtual display or at least a flashing CEL when the threshold has been reached.

Have any plans in the works to help mitigate it?

 

[mattlqx]

Have any plans in the works to help mitigate it?

Buying a '17.

 

[krt22]

lol, good call.

The fact that ford made that shift in optioning shows they likely knew it was more of an issue than they expected (despite the warnings in the manual) and responded accordingly. Hopefully they offer a solution to the MY16 buyers who arent looking to make the switch!

 

[montreal ponies]

lol, good call.

The fact that ford made that shift in optioning shows they likely knew it was more of an issue than they expected (despite the warnings in the manual) and responded accordingly. Hopefully they offer a solution to the MY16 buyers who arent looking to make the switch!

Well said, i'm hoping Ford steps up to the plate and offer some kind of solution to this problem. I'm even willing to shell out some money fot it. The way i see it is FoMOCo pays labor and i will pay list price for parts.

 

[Rogue]

I've owned 3 911s. A 996, 997.1 S and 997.2 GTS.

Clearly, you make assumptions about things you know nothing about.

Beautiful car! Though I highly doubt a stock 911 can hang with a GT350. I use to out carve PDK 991 Carreras in my stock Boss 302 Laguna Seca - you would really need Porsche's best (GT3) to hold or edge the Shelby.

Bench racing now - i'll go back to enjoying the car. I drove it 146 miles today for no reason it was epic.

 

[gravedgr]

Beautiful car! Though I highly doubt a stock 911 can hang with a GT350. I use to out carve PDK 991 Carreras in my stock Boss 302 Laguna Seca - you would really need Porsche's best (GT3) to hold or edge the Shelby.

Bench racing now - i'll go back to enjoying the car. I drove it 146 miles today for no reason it was epic.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting they run the same lap times (although, I think a great driver in a 911 would potentially outpace an average/good driver in a 350).

What I mean is that you can drive one to the track, track it all day - full out, drive it home and not encounter any problems people are reporting with the 350. None of my cars got special fluids, single-DE fluid changes, tire swaps or anything other than removing the stuff necessary to pass tech.

What I'm suggesting, is that it seems a number of cars (mostly American, per the threads here - Mustang, Corvette, as examples) seem to need extra care to be able to survive HPDE in fairly non-strenuous conditions - even when they are sold as "track", "track ready" or "track focused" by the OEM. I just don't see that in the German and Italian cars I typically find on the track with me. :(

 

[Nataphen]

Well said, i'm hoping Ford steps up to the plate and offer some kind of solution to this problem. I'm even willing to shell out some money fot it. The way i see it is FoMOCo pays labor and i will pay list price for parts.

Don't hold your breath for that to happen. Ford isn't liable for the cars overheating on the track in ANY trim. They're not going to foot any part of the bill for that.

 

[Hack]

Don't hold your breath for that to happen. Ford isn't liable for the cars overheating on the track in ANY trim. They're not going to foot any part of the bill for that.

Changing the packages for 2017 is tacit admission that they messed up in 2015 and 2016.

 

[FTD]

Changing the packages for 2017 is tacit admission that they messed up in 2015 and 2016.

Ford is responding to buying trends to increase profit. Nothing more than that. I recall them saying something about removing the base cars if there wasn't enough demand. It makes good business sense.

 

[Nataphen]

That is unfortunate, but they recommend installing coolers for the cars without them in the paperwork. They're not going to pay to fix it. They said 15-20 minutes is all the tech pack cars would be good for on continuous track use, and that's exactly what we're seeing. Ford may have misstepped here, but they haven't done anything wrong.

I'm sure the packaging they've offered for 2015 and 2016 was to help smooth out the roll out process as much as possible. It's probably helped keep the costs down as well. The take rate on the base model has been so low that they've likely decided it's not worth it, and they're seeing people tracking their cars without coolers in spite of their recommendations. They've responded to those things. They're doing their jobs.

 

[cosmo]

Ford is responding to buying trends to increase profit. Nothing more than that. I recall them saying something about removing the base cars if there wasn't enough demand. It makes good business sense.

ADDING content in is another matter. Having coolers as an option to now having coolers standard is more that an issue was found and now is being patched. The majority of owners I've seen on this forum, and cars at dealerships, are tech packs. Those do not include the coolers. Now having every trim including coolers is a different matter than "increasing profits".

 

[montreal ponies]

ADDING content in is another matter. Having coolers as an option to now having coolers standard is more that an issue was found and now is being patched. The majority of owners I've seen on this forum, and cars at dealerships, are tech packs. Those do not include the coolers. Now having every trim including coolers is a different matter than "increasing profits".

Exactly, that's the only reason they are making it as standard equipment on the 2017's .
Now what will it means down the road for tech/base car owners. Will it be tagged as a non capable track car and maybe get diminished value for it !

Time to call my salesman and see what to do from here. Car is not built yet, so i guess it can be cancelled.

Downside is getting the car in Sept-Oct.

Why didn't Ford make it right the first time. :frusty:

 

[krt22]

ADDING content in is another matter. Having coolers as an option to now having coolers standard is more that an issue was found and now is being patched. The majority of owners I've seen on this forum, and cars at dealerships, are tech packs. Those do not include the coolers. Now having every trim including coolers is a different matter than "increasing profits".

Make no mistake in thinking Ford is giving them away for free. They are adding them as standard equipment and will price the car accordingly.

 

[cosmo]

Make no mistake in thinking Ford is giving them away for free. They are adding them as standard equipment and will price the car accordingly.

Oh no, I agree completely. But it still leaves the current owners of "the most track ready Mustang" who didn't get the track pack kind of out in the dust. This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the dealers didn't seem to only dealer order tech packs.

Sponsored