GT350 North American Track Tour

[Randy M]

Two weeks away from today and they're already setting up. Looks to be an impressive display.

 

[bulldogracer]

I received the same email.

I called Ford Performance and was told you are allowed to bring a guest BUT: they will not be allowed to participate in any of the events including food, beverages, rides/drives and discussion. They will be able to check out the cars if they're looking for an up close view.

I'm planning on bringing a guest, a guy I know that's looking to upgrade his 2010 Porsche GT3 RS.

I got my confirmation for RA today with the same note, "NO GUESTS", as I too called earlier and got the word that guest would be allowed just no rides or food but could watch & take pictures. But here is the reponse I got today when I e-mailed them. Boy they are really screwing this up.

Hi Ken,


I am sorry you were told that when you called, but for liability reasons we are not able to have anyone in the paddock or track area, even display area, other than the invitees and staff. We will also not have any spectator seating or amenities for guests. The footprint that we are working with at each track is very small and we only have space for the invitees and staff.


Thank you for your understanding, and again we apologize for that.


Carrie


On Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 12:46 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello GT350 Track Tour,
Could you please explain the reminder in this email about no guests? When I called about this earlier I was informed my spouse could come and was encouraged. She just would not be allowed in the car track events or fed. She could watch the events and take pictures. Please clarify? Thanks!

Ken Luba

 

[ChopSui]

Two weeks away from today and they're already setting up. Looks to be an impressive display.

Two weeks? It's this Saturday, no?

 

[cloud9]

Two weeks away from today and they're already setting up. Looks to be an impressive display.

Yes it does. I'll be anxious to hear about the LS experience from you guys that are going. I'm really looking forward to driving out to RA September 10th. It will be my first trip to that track without 10,000 lbs in tow! The wife told me I could take her 2013 SHO......what I didn't tell her is that I might try to talk them into letting it on the track

 

[Randy M]

Two weeks? It's this Saturday, no?

The pics that were posted are in the paddock area at Laguna Seca. They are likely planning something for the Concours 'd Elegance in Pebble Beach not too far away as well.

 

[cloud9]

I beat you to it. I found the GT350s (4 of them, 2 red, 1 yellow and 1 blue) as well as a blue on its side so you can see underneath. As soon as I upload the pictures off my phone, I'll edit and post.

I literally just drove right up to the paddock and could see anything I wanted to. No one seemed to care. If my son didn't need to get to bed, I'd probably still be there.

Great pics. The blue one almost has me rethinking my color choice..... :-\

 

[four-walling]

damn you ufnavy06!

I was totally thrilled and happy with my Boss and then you posted these salacious pics of the GT350.

It would be irresponsible of me to consider buying a GT350, so I rue the day your pics were posted!

:'(

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Liquid Blue show car as the display unit...wow.

Damn those all look AWESOME.

 

[CA302LS]

This triple yellow pre-production GT350R is sure making the rounds. Scott drove it down from Reno to Sonoma Raceway last weekend for Mini-Nats and then returned to Nevada with it late Sunday. Now it's in Monterey County for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Shelby GT350 at Laguna Seca this weekend.



Here are a couple of pictures from Sonoma.

 

[fuhrius]

damn you ufnavy06!

I was totally thrilled and happy with my Boss and then you posted these salacious pics of the GT350.

It would be irresponsible of me to consider buying a GT350, so I rue the day your pics were posted!

:'(

then I'm about to make your day a whole lot worse. My son and I cruised down today to check it out...nice drive over Hwy 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains and then down Hwy 1 (the Coast hwy) in the Boss. Parked right near the paddock as there really aren't a lot of people there on Thursdays for the historics...it's just practice...but the racing isn't even the point at the historics, in my book...it's about walking the paddock, watching the cars on track (not who's first or second)...so you get most of the flavor without the crowds. I sat in on a bit of the drivers meeting and the head organizer said as much...loosely quoted: "if you come in first place, you probably don't get what the historics is all about."

Anyhow, the paddock was crammed full of the most amazing auto-candy available...heck, just on the drive down we say a Pagani Huayra, countless lambos, ferrarris, e-types, astons, 918...you name it.

Given that the GT350 was the featured marque, there were a lot of them in attendance and about 8-10 at the Ford Performance display (where the new GT350's were). Those are amazing machines...they had one race / run group entirely dedicated just to 65 / 66 GT350's...incredible.

We walked the whole paddock and then ended up at the GT350 display and, as others often note, the Ford employees in attendance were super gracious and friendly...Jim Owens, Gene Martindale, and others. There were 5 cars...Red R with electronics, Red R without, Yellow R, blue base track pack with white stripes, and the liquid blue debut car which was flipped on it's side for display. They also had stands with various components out to hold / touch / etc...brake caliper and rotor, oil pan, etc, etc. All in all it was a great display and the cars are simply fantastic. I've consumed all the media up to this point, but it's hard to grock the car until you see in in person and sit in it. It's is one bad-ass looking ride in person. And the interior looks and feels great....it's just a whole new level. BTW, there was a second Ford Performance booth over in the covered garage with a sweet gulf GT40 and a new GT! It was the liquid silver one which, apparently, has no powertrain and doesn't have a full interior, but you get to check out the exterior and it's simply amazing.
Back to the GT350...in talking with Jim, I asked if there was any way to get in on the hot laps at lunch...and we (both me and my son) ended up with 2 hot laps in R's. That's where you realize that this car is, as one of the lead engineers said, a 'step change' difference from the Boss. I've driven LS quite a bit...and in a pretty wide range of cars...but never in something so composed. Corner exit...amazing....brakes, amazing...places in the track that make you feel like you're on a rodeo bull in most cars I've been in (T6 is a great example)...flat, composed, wow. And not in an unexciting / it's-all-computers-GTR kinda way...still really visceral...the revs build so fast and that FPC has such a great howl. And the brakes...oh my, the brakes!!! I was already convinced the car was gonna be really good...nothing that I saw today did anything but substantiate that.
There were 10 of us that did hot laps, so as I'm waiting to get into a car I'm chatting with the folks around me...one guy had '15 GT350R, one gal worked at Shelby...and one guy was Carroll Shelby's grandson...super nice guy. It reminded me of when I met Carroll at a Shelby meet when I was about 15 (my dad had a 70 GT350 convertible)...he was one of the most gracious gents I've ever met...and I've never forgotten that. Other random highlights: right before we went on track, they were going to do a parade lap with a couple special 65 GT350's...and one stalled right in front of us and they couldn't get it restarted...sounded like a dead battery...so a few of us popped out of line and pushed it so he could bump-start it...I get back in line and the guy next to me leans over and says: "you know that's chassis #2...that car's probably worth a couple million bucks"....and right after that a vintage F1 car needed a push back into the paddock so we also obliged with that....pushing on that big-ass wing is probably the closest I'll ever get to piloting an F1 car. I didn't get many photos / videos that are worth a darn...but I'll look to get stuff uploaded later.

 

[VoodooBoss]

John was there any ducting or aero for brake cooling that you could see on the car?

 

[Fomoco302]

[/quote]

That GT 350 is nice but that SBY '13 Boss still flips my switch!

 

[Randy M]

SBY is a much better yellow than whatever this color is.

 

[Grant 302]

Did anybody happen to count the number of (new) GT350s? Just the 5 including the liquid blue display?

 

[RCWALP]

fuhrius stated he saw an orange one so there must be more in the area.

 

[Grant 302]

fuhrius stated he say an orange one so there must be more in the area.

Thanks J-Rod. I hope there are more coming. 4 cars on track wouldn't accommodate many riders and drivers. I've been guessing between a dozen or two.

 

[fuhrius]

I'm not second-guessing myself as to whether what I saw was actually a gt350 or a well-done clone...I got only the briefest of looks at it as it went past on other side of the road. I was expecting to see it there yesteday..but then again, there are a lot of different events / venues for car stuff this weekend in Monterey so, perhaps, there more cars in the area going to different events.

other notes from yesterday:
- the liquid blue wasn't as amazing in person as it was on screen
- the red was the standout color, IMO. It really had me second-guessing my AG order. I asked all the Ford guys I could (and some of the folks hanging around who'd seen AG at other events) and their opinions were pretty consistent....comments like 'it grows on you' and 'it's certainly unique'...not the highest of praise ;-) but I've always thought it was going to be one of those colors that doesn't have universal appeal...and that's cool with me
- after the hot laps, I jawwed with some of the engineers and we were talking about 'mods' required for heavy track use and, aside from safety equipment, they were asserting that nothing was needed. One guy suggested that, perhaps, a second set of wheels / tires was in order....BUT...not for the reason some have been suggesting. He said that we I might want an extra set of wheels tires to drive to / from the track with since the Cup's wear pretty quickly. I will say that they had incredible grip on track
- the non-electronics package R (that I'm getting) feels really spartan inside...and I liked that

I gotta believe there will be more than 4 cars at the track tour.

 

[cloud9]

- after the hot laps, I jawwed with some of the engineers and we were talking about 'mods' required for heavy track use and, aside from safety equipment, they were asserting that nothing was needed. One guy suggested that, perhaps, a second set of wheels / tires was in order....BUT...not for the reason some have been suggesting. He said that we I might want an extra set of wheels tires to drive to / from the track with since the Cup's wear pretty quickly. I will say that they had incredible grip on track

I appreciate the comments, but realistically for HEAVY track use, you will need a trailer and a couple extra sets of wheels/tires unless you live close to the track. Most of us are traveling a few hours to and from tracks so running the wheels/tires on the car isn't practical especially with R-compound tires. If the car is tracked heavily, you will be mounting/dismounting tires after every other, or even every event, depending on how competitive you want to be. Based on how all of my track wheels start to look after a relatively short while, your stock CF wheels aren't going to be looking very good. Mounting race tires is challenging enough already without having to worry about minor rubs and scratches while doing it. With the expected cost of them, I would imagine most Rs that see heavy track use will be running an after-market lightweight aluminum wheel of some sort.

 

[Grant 302]

I'm not second-guessing myself as to whether what I saw was actually a gt350 or a well-done clone...I got only the briefest of looks at it as it went past on other side of the road. I was expecting to see it there yesteday..but then again, there are a lot of different events / venues for car stuff this weekend in Monterey so, perhaps, there more cars in the area going to different events.

other notes from yesterday:
- the liquid blue wasn't as amazing in person as it was on screen
- the red was the standout color, IMO. It really had me second-guessing my AG order. I asked all the Ford guys I could (and some of the folks hanging around who'd seen AG at other events) and their opinions were pretty consistent....comments like 'it grows on you' and 'it's certainly unique'...not the highest of praise ;-) but I've always thought it was going to be one of those colors that doesn't have universal appeal...and that's cool with me
- after the hot laps, I jawwed with some of the engineers and we were talking about 'mods' required for heavy track use and, aside from safety equipment, they were asserting that nothing was needed. One guy suggested that, perhaps, a second set of wheels / tires was in order....BUT...not for the reason some have been suggesting. He said that we I might want an extra set of wheels tires to drive to / from the track with since the Cup's wear pretty quickly. I will say that they had incredible grip on track
- the non-electronics package R (that I'm getting) feels really spartan inside...and I liked that

I gotta believe there will be more than 4 cars at the track tour.

I have been wondering about that. I was thinking it wouldn't look best in the shade under the canopy in Sean's pics. A lot of metallic blues look best in the sun.

Can you change your AG order with only 10 days to go?

 

[fuhrius]

I have been wondering about that. I was thinking it wouldn't look best in the shade under the canopy in Sean's pics. A lot of metallic blues look best in the sun.

Can you change your AG order with only 10 days to go?

no, it's not supposed to be change-able. I'm not really inclined to try...I mean, I hadn't seen AG before and wanted it...still haven't seen it so it's hard to be convinced to want to change. the only things that changed for me yesterday were:

a) realizing how stunning the red looked. but I didn't want red in the first place because of the attention it will draw.
b) confirming that I'm not a DIB guy...not really a blue-car guy at all.
c) a couple of the engineers saying that the black was truly bad-as...I suspected as much from the pictures but, again, just not a black car guy.