Limp Mode on the Track

[Caballus]

You show me where Ford said ALL GT350's were 100% track capable and ready.

When someone is going to spend $60,000 on a vehicle I would expect them to fully and completely research it. Did you pause to wonder why Ford offered a Track Package and a Technology Package? Both include MagneRide, one has leather comfort and infotainment stuff..so why is there a track package? Because the other has the coolers needed for sustained, hard performance driving.
You're living in an area that the GT350 wasn't even designed for. The US doesn't have unrestricted speed zones..there isn't anywhere in the US where the engine is going to be spinning at 6,000 RPM for more than a second or two at a time under a WOT acceleration or an airport runway top speed run.

Ford offered MULTIPLE versions of the GT350 to fit multiple types of buyers. If Ford had offered the coolers on ONLY the GT350R then I could see some space for anger and justified frustration. However they offered two packages..one for cruising/spirited driving comfort, one for high performance track driving. Should Ford treat their customers like simpleton morons? Developmentally challenged special needs cases that needs things slowly and painfully explained to them? Or should they provide details and expect their customers to research and apply their own critical thinking skills?

If you don't want your Tech Pack car..then refuse delivery, pay the coin, send it back and order a 2017 GT350 that has the track pack as standard. Otherwise..don't demand Ford fix your oversight when they provided all the information you would have needed to make a well reasoned and considered decision on which package to buy.

Thank you for your advice (and respect). I admire your insight.

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[Rogue]

Has anyone with a Track Pack car reported overheating problems on track?

Negative - a bunch of track pack cars have done multiple full day sessions already - no issues. Car is bulletproof.

 

[Rogue]

You show me where Ford said ALL GT350's were 100% track capable and ready.

When someone is going to spend $60,000 on a vehicle I would expect them to fully and completely research it. Did you pause to wonder why Ford offered a Track Package and a Technology Package? Both include MagneRide, one has leather comfort and infotainment stuff..so why is there a track package? Because the other has the coolers needed for sustained, hard performance driving.
You're living in an area that the GT350 wasn't even designed for. The US doesn't have unrestricted speed zones..there isn't anywhere in the US where the engine is going to be spinning at 6,000 RPM for more than a second or two at a time under a WOT acceleration or an airport runway top speed run.

Ford offered MULTIPLE versions of the GT350 to fit multiple types of buyers. If Ford had offered the coolers on ONLY the GT350R then I could see some space for anger and justified frustration. However they offered two packages..one for cruising/spirited driving comfort, one for high performance track driving. Should Ford treat their customers like simpleton morons? Developmentally challenged special needs cases that needs things slowly and painfully explained to them? Or should they provide details and expect their customers to research and apply their own critical thinking skills?

If you don't want your Tech Pack car..then refuse delivery, pay the coin, send it back and order a 2017 GT350 that has the track pack as standard. Otherwise..don't demand Ford fix your oversight when they provided all the information you would have needed to make a well reasoned and considered decision on which package to buy.

Exactly right. I'm in shock anyone planning on hitting the track would NOT order the extra cooling and still expect it to perform as well as the GT350 Track Pack and R versions.

 

[TRACK CRAZY GT350]

You show me where Ford said ALL GT350's were 100% track capable and ready.

When someone is going to spend $60,000 on a vehicle I would expect them to fully and completely research it. Did you pause to wonder why Ford offered a Track Package and a Technology Package? Both include MagneRide, one has leather comfort and infotainment stuff..so why is there a track package? Because the other has the coolers needed for sustained, hard performance driving.
You're living in an area that the GT350 wasn't even designed for. The US doesn't have unrestricted speed zones..there isn't anywhere in the US where the engine is going to be spinning at 6,000 RPM for more than a second or two at a time under a WOT acceleration or an airport runway top speed run.

Ford offered MULTIPLE versions of the GT350 to fit multiple types of buyers. If Ford had offered the coolers on ONLY the GT350R then I could see some space for anger and justified frustration. However they offered two packages..one for cruising/spirited driving comfort, one for high performance track driving. Should Ford treat their customers like simpleton morons? Developmentally challenged special needs cases that needs things slowly and painfully explained to them? Or should they provide details and expect their customers to research and apply their own critical thinking skills?

If you don't want your Tech Pack car..then refuse delivery, pay the coin, send it back and order a 2017 GT350 that has the track pack as standard. Otherwise..don't demand Ford fix your oversight when they provided all the information you would have needed to make a well reasoned and considered decision on which package to buy.

Please stop defending Ford. What do you work for the company? Ford is wrong wrong for doing this.:(

 

[Hack]

Exactly right. I'm in shock anyone planning on hitting the track would NOT order the extra cooling and still expect it to perform as well as the GT350 Track Pack and R versions.

Don't you get it??!!?? That's NOT what we are asking for! :frusty:

 

[cosmo]

Exactly right. I'm in shock anyone planning on hitting the track would NOT order the extra cooling and still expect it to perform as well as the GT350 Track Pack and R versions.

The 13 dealers I called around where I lived when the order banks opened only had dealer stock available, not any custom orders. What was their dealer stock?

Tech pack. Some offered a change in color, but the majority already knew what they were going to order. Not everyone has a real good choice of what they're getting.

 

[1320']

The 13 dealers I called around where I lived when the order banks opened only had dealer stock available, not any custom orders. What was their dealer stock?

Tech pack. Some offered a change in color, but the majority already knew what they were going to order. Not everyone has a real good choice of what they're getting.

So don't buy it...the dealers made the choice of what to order, Ford didn't put a gun to their head, nor is anyone making the buyers go for it. The dealers knew that they were not ordering GT350's that would be as track capable as others.

If the dealer didn't want to switch from Tech Pack to Track Pack then that is because they didn't want to be stuck with a track pack, lower level interior should the deal fall through. Most people walking off the street are going to look at a $56,500 price tag, plus tax and such GT350 with a cloth interior and say "hell no!"

 

[autobahnGT350]

Hey--Yes I am. I may have been here at that time as well. Been here quite a while.

Yes, it's the tech pkg. Currently en route to Baltimore.

The autobahn is crowded depending on time of day, but there are still several good long strips where you can get an hour + of unrestricted speed--(81 toward Singen; 7 from Ülm toward the Austrian border; most of 9 and other strips in the east, etc). You get the occasional 130kph zones thrown in, but not many, especially if you hit it on a Sunday.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it holds up, although I am extremely irritated by what I'm learning. I do not plan on living on the track, but I do plan to take it out the Hockenheim and to the Nürburgring from time to time. I didn't plan on putting it under any more stress than my 2001 325i or current 2006 330i could handle. However, what I'm learning is that it may not be able to handle a single run on the ring and may not be able to make it from Ülm to the border without problems. I've gone from looking forward to the car being delivered to being disgusted that I bought it. Feels like a 60k ripoff...

I can easily relate with the traffic situations on the autobahn. I was stationed there for nearly 25 years, with a one year break. A7 going north was a favorite as was A61 from Ktown to Wiesbaden, which is the way you would take to get to Nurburgbring before turning off.

I have to convey a story about why Chevrolet pulled of the ENCS now MAS in Europe. When the few of us ordered the new C5 Z06 for Germany, mine was
first millennial yellow, we all were somewhat attracted, no called as if in a trance like state to hit Hockenheim, this was a Z06 after all. Well, after a few laps, you learn the brakes were okay, but not that great after 6-8 really hard slow downs, especially in Sachs Curve..so Mr. Guido, an avid Corvette fan and the owner of Movit Brakes, makes the Corvette club a deal and offers us brake packages that are simply amazing, literally saved my @SSS on the bahn several times. So, those of us that were drawn in further to hanging out at Hockenheim, needed coolers, and that is when DRM sold a lot of coolers to the Americans stationed overseas who raced their C5 vettes. Then this, motors were starting to break...I mean first there was the oil bypass recall for all 01's, so mine went into the shop and received a new motor, then other C5 Z06 motors were failing; however, some of these other failures were not from people racing, these were common drivers who were stationed in Germany and got to drive fast. When all of the service calls were tallied by GM, that is when they pulled the plug, so goes the conspiracy:shrug:

I hope that something similar does not occur with the Shelby's in Germany, because, you will be driving faster than we are here in the states. I thought at one time all European delivery US spec cars were upgraded with heavy duty cooling and brakes. I wonder if that is something Ford did not consider for European deliveries. We don't know what the thresholds are in regards to temps and limp mode; however, I suspect a nice cruise at 140 plus MPH (240kph) would probably cause the entire driveline to warm up quite a bit.

Perhaps, someone should contact Geiger Cars, (used to be called Geiger Corvette), and ask about cooling issues and/or solutions for the Shelby. Geiger is known to massively tune cars and add obsessively large body parts, as well as sell grey area imports, such as the Shelby.

BTW, Ich kann Deutsche Sprechen, well, I used to pretty good. Ich Wunsche Dir Viele Gluck!

Ciao!:cheers:

 

[zombiekiller]

Exactly right. I'm in shock anyone planning on hitting the track would NOT order the extra cooling and still expect it to perform as well as the GT350 Track Pack and R versions.

make no mistake. i had no illusions that the tech pkg car would sustain the same threshold as the track pack car or the R. My challenge is, we've come to a scenario where the track pack cars and R versions are " bulletproof", as mentioned above and the tech car is " 15 mins or less". that is a much much larger delta than i had anticipated. I would like the opportunity to bridge this delta enough to complete the realm of function that i'd like the car to have.

I have no illusions that ford should "fix it for me" . I knew what i was buying.

All i, personally, really want is one of two things:

1. ford to offer a kit that will allow me to fit coolers to the car and maintain my warranty.

2. ford being willing to honor my warranty, should i add aftermarket coolers.


I am HAPPY to pay for the parts and installation. I am happy to pay to get my tech car to the point that it has 3/4s of the on track longevity of the track pack cars.


I am also happy to have someone at ford inspect the aftermarket system that i am choosing, and then pass judgement on the retention of my warranty, granted install is done properly and any breaking is not due to an aftermarket cooler system's malfunction.


Does this seem entirely unreasonable?


Anyone who is taking the position that ford should eat the parts and installation to add coolers to the tech car is an entirely unreasonable human being. Ford is a business, just like anyone else. giving away their margins is not something that I, as a ford stock holder, would want them to do.

There is a solution to every problem. I would just like to have said solution ( or solutions) made available that are short of " buy a new $4,000 transmission and another $2,000 worth of additional parts and you can have what you want.

make sense?

 

[raiderjatt02]

So don't buy it...the dealers made the choice of what to order, Ford didn't put a gun to their head, nor is anyone making the buyers go for it. The dealers knew that they were not ordering GT350's that would be as track capable as others.

Thank you! Nobody forced anyone to buy a Tech Pack if they couldn't find what they wanted.

 

[1320']

Please stop defending Ford. What do you work for the company? Ford is wrong wrong for doing this.:(

I'm defending the truth, not Ford. If Ford had intentionally misled people then I would be holding them to task, but they didn't.

What I'm seeing is:

A: Someone who wants to know why their car went into limp mode-Valid question which I'm sure a Ford dealership will answer

B: A bunch of people upset that the Tech Package cars did not come with the track coolers, which Ford said are needed, and now expect Ford to fix a situation that they warned the customers of.

Ford clearly said that if you're going to track your GT350 base or technology package car that it will need extra coolers. They did warn people, they did their due diligence. This isn't a case where they covered it up or like the 99 Cobra scandal.

 

[mattlqx]

Exactly right. I'm in shock anyone planning on hitting the track would NOT order the extra cooling and still expect it to perform as well as the GT350 Track Pack and R versions.

Would you expect any of Porsches cars to not be able to complete a full 15 minute track session? Do they advertise track worthiness on all those cars? You can knock off all the pompous comments, we get your position. If Ford offered the coolers ala carte, this wouldn't be a discussion at all and you'd even be arguing a valid point. Nobody expected the non-track car to be hampered even by the shortest length track sessions.

I don't expect the world and I don't expect anything for free. But some base level of performance of a performance car is expected.

 

[Rogue]

If the dealer didn't want to switch from Tech Pack to Track Pack then that is because they didn't want to be stuck with a track pack, lower level interior should the deal fall through. Most people walking off the street are going to look at a $56,500 price tag, plus tax and such GT350 with a cloth interior and say "hell no!"

Recaros and Alcantara interior not good enough for people off the street ? :lol:

 

[Caballus]

So don't buy it...the dealers made the choice of what to order, Ford didn't put a gun to their head, nor is anyone making the buyers go for it. The dealers knew that they were not ordering GT350's that would be as track capable as others.

If the dealer didn't want to switch from Tech Pack to Track Pack then that is because they didn't want to be stuck with a track pack, lower level interior should the deal fall through. Most people walking off the street are going to look at a $56,500 price tag, plus tax and such GT350 with a cloth interior and say "hell no!"

Do you work for ford????

Below is just one of many examples where ford does not distinguish between variants of GT350 when they talk about track capability. When the Tech package is mentioned, it's always in context of "upgrading for comfort." It is quite clear that Ford's message was that the GT350 is track ready. The track pack and R make for a vehicle that was more purpose built. Either they didn't know that the Tech and base couldn't handle the track, or they knew and hid it. I would like to believe the former. Either way, it's Ford's responsibility to ensure these cars can live up to the Ford marketing campaign.

Ok, I've publicly vented enough. Bottomline, I've lost complete respect for Ford. I'll obviously do the best I can with the vehicle when I get it...until I offload it.

Wheels and tires fit for the track

Shelby GT350 makes use of extra-stiff 19.0-inch cast aluminum-alloy wheels – 10.5 inches wide in front, 11.0 inches in the rear – clad in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires with GT350-specific sidewall construction, tread face and compound. The custom tires are designed to deliver maximum grip on the road or for weekend track days.

Shelby GT350R raises the standard even further. It wears carbon fiber wheels, making Ford the first major automaker to introduce this innovative wheel technology. The hand-laid wheels are 19.0 inches in diameter – 11.0 inches wide at the front and 11.5 inches at the rear, each fitted with custom formulated Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Combined, these wheels eliminate approximately 50 pounds of unsprung weight compared to the aluminum-alloy wheels and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on Shelby GT350.

 

[Caballus]

I'm defending the truth, not Ford. If Ford had intentionally misled people then I would be holding them to task, but they didn't.

What I'm seeing is:

A: Someone who wants to know why their car went into limp mode-Valid question which I'm sure a Ford dealership will answer

B: A bunch of people upset that the Tech Package cars did not come with the track coolers, which Ford said are needed, and now expect Ford to fix a situation that they warned the customers of.

Ford clearly said that if you're going to track your GT350 base or technology package car that it will need extra coolers. They did warn people, they did their due diligence. This isn't a case where they covered it up or like the 99 Cobra scandal.

You have the problem misidentified. The issue is not the lack of a cooler. The issue is the inability to handle more than 10-20 minutes on a track without a cooler. That is the issue. Period.

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