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My First Track Day in the 350

Flavoade

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Hey guys!

So I finally had my first Track Day with the 350, and I am glad I did it. I was told I wouldn't sell the car if I tracked it and I see what ya meant. I bought the car in 2017 from Jim Dobson Ford in Indiana for sticker, and had it shipped to me in Baton Rouge.
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I never found the time to go to the track, but I recently received some more vacation time and saw the opportunity. Nola Motorsports Park in New Orleans was hosting a Track Day Lite. Basically just some lead and follow parade laps to learn the track. We picked up the pace around the end of the day and I was able to get a feel for the car.

What I learned from the day was that I definitely have room to grow into the car. At my current skill level I should be able to get more seat time and get more out of the car before I ever need to do any mods. I will likely buy a set of 6gr wheels and tires so I don't wear out my street set. The car is very, very capable, which honestly surprised me. I knew the car had potential, seeing how the car easily handled my mistakes without even flinching really intrigued me; easily the most capable car I have driven on track.

I used sport mode as I wanted the safety systems, as I was still getting a feel for the car. I was surprised by how balanced the car felt, even though its large. There were a few times where the car would under steer and all I had to do was apply a little throttle and the car would gently rotate and point where I needed to go. I will definitely attend more track days, and plan to go to a Heavy Track Day to explore more of the limits of the car

Some other interesting things I learned while at the track was from one of the instructors. Xtreme Xperience has a shop at Nola and one of the instructors worked full time for the track. I asked what he thought my car could do on the track, which his response was, "Oh yeah it will do good. I think it ran a 2 minute lap time when Ford brought the car down for testing." I inquired further and he revealed to me that Ford Performance uses Nola Motorsports Park, along with other tracks, to test their vehicles. He said that Ford tested the Focus RS, Ford GT, GT350 and the New GT500. He explained that Ford comes twice a year to test vehicles and perform shakedowns. He told me the above cars were brought to the track during development, and he was able to see them go around.

So it seems that one of the reasons my car responded so well to this track is because it spent some development time there, along with the fact its a great car. He did tell me the GT500 was fast around the track and that Ford used a GT3, ZL1, and I believe a Z06 as a benchmark. He told me AMG, Porsche, BMW, and other Manufacturers bring their cars as well.

Long read but yeah.

Here are some videos of the laps. It felt a lot faster than the camera makes it look. Let me know if you like the Camera mount, and audio setup.

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MNGT350

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stock exhaust for gt350? or did you do res delete?
 

NoXiDe

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nice, so i assume the cones where there to give you an idea of where the start to apex line was?
 
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Flavoade

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nice, so i assume the cones where there to give you an idea of where the start to apex line was?
Yep! This was an introductory course to open lapping days at the track, which is a pre-requisite to do the heavy lapping, and HPDE days. So they set up "gates" around the track to go through. Whats funny is the instructor that was at the rear said don't worry about remembering that line, on the open days it will be different, especially with your car.

If you have experience at other tracks you don't need this course. Even though I have seat time at another track I wanted a lite day to become comfortable tracking my car.
 

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Jetnoise

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track time is titties!
Easy to get hooked and enjoy your new found hobby
Your car’s capabilities in stock stance is beyond 99% of the drivers out there.
Taking some organized instruction will make it all the sweeter
 

TDC

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Great to hear these stories because as you found out the true magic of this car is brought out on the track.

Love the grabber blue color.
 

tracktardicus

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NoXiDe

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were there any sound db restrictions?
 

obspsd

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Nice looking car you have there.
 

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OnTrack

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Glad you had a good time on track. It is definitely a fun hobby with great like minded people each event. I personally would sign up for another track day since this was a very controlled version before buying spare wheels/tires. It'll take time before you reach the limit of the street tires and will give more signals before giving way.

were there any sound db restrictions?
NOLA does not have any sound restrictions.
 
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Flavoade

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track time is titties!
Easy to get hooked and enjoy your new found hobby
Your car’s capabilities in stock stance is beyond 99% of the drivers out there.
Taking some organized instruction will make it all the sweeter
The imagery! Lol Yes I knew the car was capable from the reviews but I didn't know it was on this level.

Great to hear these stories because as you found out the true magic of this car is brought out on the track.

Love the grabber blue color.
Thanks man! The owner of the dealership special ordered the car for himself and his son convinced him to sell it to me. The owner has a collection of vintage mustangs in grabber blue.

Driving this car on the street is like riding a horse inside a 3 bedroom house lol I can truly see now that besides long distance trips this car belongs on the track.

Glad you had a good experience! If you want to take it to the next level and continue to develop your driving skills, I recommend you attend an event at NOLA that offers in-car instruction. NASA, PCA, and BMWCCA all have chapters at NOLA.

https://nolamotor.com/nasa-racing-2/

http://mgpca.org/

https://bayoubmwcca.org/
One of the instructors mentioned that about the clubs. I will for sure ask for some instruction as It made a world of difference at the last track.

were there any sound db restrictions?
No sound restrictions as of yet. The track is built on a swamp in a Mini Suburb/ Industrial area, so it might remain safe.

Nice looking car you have there.
Thank you! I thought about LB Met. but when I heard GB was for one year I jumped on it.

One thing that bothered me was the Comfort Seats in my car. I have a bigger frame right now, but I was being tossed around some while going through the corners. I am thinking of finding a set of the Recaros for the track days. I could not fit them at the time so I passed on a car that had them
 
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Flavoade

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Glad you had a good time on track. It is definitely a fun hobby with great like minded people each event. I personally would sign up for another track day since this was a very controlled version before buying spare wheels/tires. It'll take time before you reach the limit of the street tires and will give more signals before giving way.


NOLA does not have any sound restrictions.
I hear ya! I'm not looking to do any mods, I would just prefer to have a spare set for the street one set for the track. The ultimate plan is to get a race trailer so I wont need to drive to the track.

I can tell there is plenty of room to grow with this car.

The plan right now is to sign up for the Heavy Track Day this Wednedday. I just switched the oil to Lucas. Should I change the oil again for the event or will I be okay? As far as the tranny, and rear end fluid, should I change it after the next event?
 

OnTrack

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Typically, I change my oil after two full track weekends as a precaution. I have had oil analyses done on my previous cars and the oil had more life. I would change the other fluids for the first time after 12 track hours unless there is another reason. The first fluid to change out is the brake fluid if you start upgrading to track pads since this will transfer more heat. From there, it just spirals out of control lol.
 
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Flavoade

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So I went back to the track one week after the Track Day Lite for a Heavy event. It was the same time limit but no lead and follow. It was a small turn out which I don't mind, and the two guys that were attending have been coming to NOLA for years, especially this guy with a Vette. I believe he travels as his car had quite of few stickers.

It was more of a learning experience. I am still a bit anxious about pushing it hard because of engine phobia, but I am getting over it. The car is def capable and I plan to explore more of it limits at the next event, next week. I saw my oil temps reach 246 so I ran it in 4th most of the lap to keep the temps down. I checked my catch can and saw there was a little on the passenger side and none on the driver. I also checked my oil level since switching to the Lucas and apparently its not using as much oil or any at all. I will keep an eye on it as that is interesting.

If you remember in the first post, I mentioned that Ford Performance test their vehicles at the track twice a year according to the instructor. Well wouldn't you know Ford was at the track testing a bunch of Mustangs during the event. They were there all week testing a few new products. I saw some stuff but I didn't take any pictures per request from staff and the engineers themselves acting a bit shy. I thought it was a Mustang club at first but the instructors told me they were working on some things. A few of them seemed to enjoy watching me track the car or at least curious to see how it performed.

I saw a 2019 GT350 and a 2019 Tremor Pack. There were a few more cars as well. I'm not sure if there are rules about posting of Fords R&D vehicles. If there isnt I can talk a bit more if anyone is interested.

Anyway here is a video of the 2nd session. I will try to get an app for telemetry next event.

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