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Speed Phenom is selling his GT500 CFTP...

FogcitySF

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Any melon head can bust out a couple fast laps on new tires. It’s about driving smart and picking the proper lines, to not wear out your tires. Good luck with the sale kid.
Not really. I would say 5%-10% of people on this forum would approach his lap times in same car. On the tracks I have tracked, his lines are very good and he is at/near the limit on the car. For those who track a lot, the evidence you can see is in the ton of corrections he does as he is "testing" the grip and when things do get squirrelly he is able to control the car pretty effortlessly. The car control overall is very good.

Don't know why everyone is taking their purchase decision and his validation or lack thereof so personally..what he is saying about the consumables is accurate and is ONLY something you need to worry about if you approach his lap times.
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Snakecollector

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He just posted a video yesterday about the sale of the car. Have to say - I think the car is going to a good home based on the grin of the new owner.
 

oregongt350

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He just posted a video yesterday about the sale of the car. Have to say - I think the car is going to a good home based on the grin of the new owner.
I'm shallow, I unsubscribed from his YT channel, he fell in love with the Vette and bad mouthed the GT500. I personally think the 500 scared the shit out of him.
 

Tomster

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I'm shallow, I unsubscribed from his YT channel, he fell in love with the Vette and bad mouthed the GT500. I personally think the 500 scared the shit out of him.
What little respect there was (and it wasn't much) was lost when he was parked in a handicap spot. He has no handicap permit and he is a young able bodied person.

Did you ever see someone park in a handicap parking spot, jump right out, and head into the store?

Good riddance kid.
 

fishpick

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I'm gonna summarize this -
  • Had GT500 and REALLY seemed to like it - kept saying the CFTP was gonna be the best car ever
  • Got CFTP and was marginally better but only for a session with the rubber (and I think the HP scared him)
  • Complained consumables were too expensive on CFTP and sold it
  • Going to buy $150K+ car now for "cheaper" consumables
It's entertainment - don't look for a logical path here - spews for views is all - good on him...

I wish I was smart enough to have started a YouTube channel to do his stuff for a living... and i love what I do now!
 

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I'm a little late to the party but to clarify a few things:

-Speed Phenom was wrong about the tire compound:

The GT500 Cup 2 does not have a special 'skim coating' (thin layer of super sticky compound on the outer part of the tire that wears off quickly). There are some Cup 2s that do use this 'skim coating' to enable cars to put down an impressive 5-10 laps before wearing off this layer, but none of Ford's Cup 2s are made this way.

The GT500's compound is the same throughout the tire, but it does have 3 different compounds across the entire face of the tire (from inside to outside). You can read more about Michelin Tire Tech here:

https://motoiq.com/not-all-michelin-cup-2-tires-are-created-the-same/

-SP has progressed as a driver quite a bit over his youtube career. I've watched his progress and rode with him (and a little coaching) at Chuckwalla in his C8. I also got to drive his C8. He's probably better than most on this forum as a driver but is still in the 'advanced journalist' area of 3-7 seconds off the ability of the car.

-I've seen and spoke with SP quite a few times since he got his car. He seemed happy, but a little 'off', or having some anxiety that he now has his car. I'm not sure if it was the financial burden of a $100K car, or having to float a $100K and $80K car, or if the year-long wait affected his love for the car. Either way, he seemed happy but reserved about it.

-I was at Willow Springs coaching a few people the day he first took the car to the track. I think he misunderstood a lot of what I said in terms of the track is going to drop over a second in lap time from his first morning session to the afternoon (that's for EVERYONE, not just the GT500).

There were some consistent drivers during the day that fell of about a second or more from the early morning session to the peak of the heat in the afternoon. Likewise, I had some advanced students that drove A LOT better in the afternoon but didn't pick up that much time; but their 1-2 second improvement was likely 2-3+ taking in consideration what happened to the track. Willow Springs gets REALLY greasy in the afternoon, unlike some east coast tracks.

-SP also confused or misunderstood my comment on the tires. He arrived with essentially brand new tires. I told him that ALL tires have a 'hero lap' -or 2-3 laps where they can put down a time 0.5-1 second faster than they will ever do again. This is true for ALL tires whether it's racing slicks or street tires.

-SP only did a few sessions and I don't think he did the entire session. He ran into a lot of traffic, there were a lot of cars there, and he ended the day frustrated with the traffic. I don't recall him running in the first session either. I vaguely remember he was focused more on getting geared up with video and producing content than maximizing the ideal first session. Any SoCal track day regular knows that on a hot day, if you want any chance of putting down a decent lap time, you need to do it in the first session.

-With barely running half a day, I didn't think his tires were that worn. In reality, tires on most high powered cars and race cars will only last 150-200 miles when driven at the limit. That's 60-80 laps on a 2.5 mile track or (6-8) 20-minute sessions. With warm-up and cool-down laps and typically not driving at 10/10s every lap, this is typically 8-10 sessions or 2 full, solid track days. The GT500 is no different here in terms of tire wear. SP got a lot of track days out of his C8, but it really doesn't seem like he does that many laps per track day. Complaining about the tire wear didn't seem like a valid point, same goes for the fuel consumption. HP = fuel -plain and simple. If you want better fuel economy, drive a car with less power.

It was surprising to see him post his car for sale after only 2 mediocre track days at probably the least fun/worst track he could take a GT500 to. WSIR is ballsy, fast, and only has 8 turns and it's not the easiest track to push a 760hp beast on. I would have thought it would at least take the car to Chuckwalla, Buttonwillow, Spring Mountain, anywhere else to get a better feel and experience for it.

Maybe it was the long wait for the car, the price, the poor track/conditions he chose to drive on, etc... but the whole thing didn't seem like he gave it much effort. But it doesn't matter. If you enjoy your GT500, that's all that matters. Not what a YouTuber, Journalist, Race car driver, cars and coffee guy, or anyone else thinks.

Billy
 

oregongt350

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Case closed, and yes he is a kid, I appreciate the reminder.

Thanks Billy
 

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Or, another way of looking at it, he has used Ford for all it was worth and decided to pursue a super car like a McLaren. As I said a while back, he had another plan. All of this was just an excuse to grab a few more views before putting the lowly mustang lineup behind him.

Ford, I hope you have learned your lesson dealing with someone like this. As you can see, these youtubers care about one thing..... themselves. He has used every opportunity you gave him and then took a dump on the GT500 on the way out the door. Maybe paybacks for not giving him a GT? Thank God you didnt.
 

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Thanks Billy for clearing it up. My guess is that the long wait hurt his enthusiasm for the car. It is super car time for him.
 

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Anyone else hearing the hefty lady singing in the background? We can finally put this yt person to rest permanently
 

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fishpick

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Anyone else hearing the hefty lady singing in the background? We can finally put this yt person to rest permanently
nahhh...

he’s selling his 350R now too for some super car. I still think all this selling started after the McLaren rep showed up on a random video of his.

but for folks who followed him because he actually TRACKED attainable domestic cars... he’s done.

but if people like streetspeed can make the $$$ off rotating cars in and out of the garage and spews for views... something tells me this kid will do just fine.
 

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Understand what BillyJ is saying but I think there are a few points to clarify: First, the Cup2 from the R and the GT500 track version are not the same as standard Cup 2s as seen on Porsches and Mercedes and more capable than these but less capable than the Cup2 Rs. They are a different compound with different treadwear (the outer portion turns into a a 'slick' compared to other Cup2s which do not) have different tread depths, and having owned Cup 2 tires on the RS, my M3 and the GT350R, there is no question the R has the stickier compound (gathers so many more rocks from the road) and it wears much faster, partially due to weight but also stickiness/less tread. However, I don't think they heat cycle as badly (in my experience) as Cup2s on other platforms

These very sticky Cup2s and trick CF wheels are what's needed to help sling a 4,000 lb car around, but there is no way to get around that weight. I'm putting modestly faster lap times on my GT3RS vs the 350R but getting about 3-4x the life out of the standard cup 2s vs the R (which lasted about 2-3 track days). Brake pad wear was also really bad even using Pagid RS endurance pads...think easily getting 4x the brake wear on the RS with even more aggressive pads. Can only imagine it being worse with an extra 400 lbs in the GT500 vs the R.

Finally, while putting down so much power for sure is going to consume more fuel, I think it would be a royal PITA to get fuel after every 20-25 minute session. That's valuable downtime that can be used to check data, talk with coach, high five with buddies, rest, eat etc rather than waiting in a fuel line. For me that would be a total deal-killer personally where time between sessions on most track days is limited. Ford should have designed the car with a larger tank/extended fuel option. Even Porsche does it on GT models and those can easily go 2 sessions on 2.5 miles track without the extended tank option (and 3 with). Understand that there are cost considerations to do so, but frankly there's no back seat anyway in the track version (in Porsche's its only a $300 option) so plenty of room/ability to do this especially if you charge so much just for painted stripes.

Think there is a lot of validity to SpeedPhenoms complaints and just doesn't sound like is the right car for him. I think given most use cases here, wouldn't worry about it too much if just tracking occasionally, but think many need to be aware that the deltas in consumables and time invested across platforms can be pretty significant once you track a lot/get faster. He clearly wants to chase lap times and is driving the car pretty hard and harder than 90% of the people on most track days (I'm certainly not driving my stuff as hard as he is). If he only has 3 seconds to close on a short track and gets even faster, the issues he has now will only be exacerbated.
 

oregongt350

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Understand what BillyJ is saying but I think there are a few points to clarify: First, the Cup2 from the R and the GT500 track version are not the same as standard Cup 2s as seen on Porsches and Mercedes and more capable than these but less capable than the Cup2 Rs. They are a different compound with different treadwear (the outer portion turns into a a 'slick' compared to other Cup2s which do not) have different tread depths, and having owned Cup 2 tires on the RS, my M3 and the GT350R, there is no question the R has the stickier compound (gathers so many more rocks from the road) and it wears much faster, partially due to weight but also stickiness/less tread. However, I don't think they heat cycle as badly (in my experience) as Cup2s on other platforms

These very sticky Cup2s and trick CF wheels are what's needed to help sling a 4,000 lb car around, but there is no way to get around that weight. I'm putting modestly faster lap times on my GT3RS vs the 350R but getting about 3-4x the life out of the standard cup 2s vs the R (which lasted about 2-3 track days). Brake pad wear was also really bad even using Pagid RS endurance pads...think easily getting 4x the brake wear on the RS with even more aggressive pads. Can only imagine it being worse with an extra 400 lbs in the GT500 vs the R.

Finally, while putting down so much power for sure is going to consume more fuel, I think it would be a royal PITA to get fuel after every 20-25 minute session. That's valuable downtime that can be used to check data, talk with coach, high five with buddies, rest, eat etc rather than waiting in a fuel line. For me that would be a total deal-killer personally where time between sessions on most track days is limited. Ford should have designed the car with a larger tank/extended fuel option. Even Porsche does it on GT models and those can easily go 2 sessions on 2.5 miles track without the extended tank option (and 3 with). Understand that there are cost considerations to do so, but frankly there's no back seat anyway in the track version (in Porsche's its only a $300 option) so plenty of room/ability to do this especially if you charge so much just for painted stripes.

Think there is a lot of validity to SpeedPhenoms complaints and just doesn't sound like is the right car for him. I think given most use cases here, wouldn't worry about it too much if just tracking occasionally, but think many need to be aware that the deltas in consumables and time invested across platforms can be pretty significant once you track a lot/get faster. He clearly wants to chase lap times and is driving the car pretty hard and harder than 90% of the people on most track days (I'm certainly not driving my stuff as hard as he is). If he only has 3 seconds to close on a short track and gets even faster, the issues he has now will only be exacerbated.


Let’s put this thread to rest and move on.
 

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Let’s put this thread to rest and move on.
Its a healthy discussion IMHO. We all don't own GT3s so we work around the differences.

In the long run, you are paying less for consumables with a 350 or 500 than you are against the price tag of a P car or a Mclaren. The kid doesn't turn his own wrenches. Where did I see a Mclaren service was 15k?

Consumables really are a bickering point.
 

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Its a healthy discussion IMHO. We all don't own GT3s so we work around the differences.

In the long run, you are paying less for consumables with a 350 or 500 than you are against the price tag of a P car or a Mclaren. The kid doesn't turn his own wrenches. Where did I see a Mclaren service was 15k?

Consumables really are a bickering point.
Consumables add up quickly if you track alot, not to mention require time/money to install. Assume 20 track days per year for 5 yrs. If tires last 2-3 days (I had 3 max on my R), that's 7-10 sets per year or $14k-$20k vs 2-3 sets lighter car at $4-6k (delta per year of $10k-$14k). Track the car for 5 yrs that's a $50k-$70k difference. This is before even taking in all in costs of ownership (e.g depreciation, resale value over time). And that's not even factoring other potential issues. Example: in two years with my GT350R I grenaded two engines (kudos to Ford btw, for making me money good and standing by their product!..couldn't imagine the financial damage of two engines if no warranty) had to get towed from the track, get rides, take to dealer multiple times, blown coolant hoses, coolant spilled on track, clean up damage etc. In 4 months with a Porsche (or even prior M3) I got more value add than 2 years with the 350R. It seems like the GT500 is more robust (engine wise due to the CPC, notwithstanding other QC issues), but it doesn't seem to really have a solid warranty (unlike the 350R of yrs past) and for a track rat if doing more than 5-8 days per year, might not be the optimal choice when factoring in consumables and opportunity cost of time. For SP, a vette might be more up his alley as won't be as hard on consumables, time invested, etc to maximize amount of track time and minimize time/effort spent with tires, carrying extra sets of tires to track for multiple day events, fueling up after every session, have full/unconditional warranty backing, etc.
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