Dvendet
Everyone's entitled to my opinion. ;)
I finally received my 13 LS yesterday. I took delivery of my beast in Florida 2 weeks ago and had the vehicle shipped up here in Virginia. While I had the car in Florida, I had asked the dealership to install the brake cooling kit (rubber coated duct work) and the transmission cooling scoop. Ford racing actually reimburses the dealer for the install labor so I wanted to take advantage of this. Well, in the state of Virginia annual vehicle inspections are mandatory. I took my LS into my local VA dealer to have this inspection done. While I drove over to the dealership, I noticed a "rubbing" type sound and immediately knew I had a issue with the tire rubbing the duct work. I pulled over to confirm my belief and sure enough there is not enough clearance to fully turn the wheel all the way to the right. I did not notice any problem turning back to the left. I also noticed that there is no additional real estate in back of the wheel to reposition the brake duct work. Anyway I continued to the dealership for my state inspection. The mechanic wound up flagging my vehicle inspection indicating VA does not allow this tire interference. It was apparent to him too the tire was rubbing up against the duct work. He gave me two choices. First, he could officially reject the inspection which would have given me 30 days to correct the problem and then go through another inspection The second choice was that he could remove the duct work and then issue me an approved state inspection. He indicated that this work would "not" be covered by the warranty and would cost an additional 50 dollars. I thought for a minute and decided I was better off just having him remove the duct work and getting my inspection tag. Imagine that though! I must be the only LS owner with a brand new car that couldn't pass my state's vehicle inspection! What would Ford say I wonder.
I questioned him about the duct work as he had a lot of experience working on Bosses and other hi-performance vehicles. He indicated that this duct work was designed to be installed and removed at the track. I am not sure about this. He did raise doubt in my mind when he showed me on the lift there was no room for the duct work to move when the wheel was turned hard. He stated the obvious when he said that race cars do not need to turn from lock to lock position on a race track. I swore that I heard the rubbing taking place when the wheel was turned about at the halfway position.
Anyway, I think my lesson was to not have installed the duct work when I did. I am still not convinced though that I can't find a solution so I can keep the ductwork installed continuosly (minus the rubbing). Maybe I can find a smaller diameter duct that I can adapt to the brake backing plate. Hmmm..... I got to think about this some more.
Cheers All,
MMD
BTW - absolutely love the car. Only first impression negatives that really stood out where the hideous "new car smell" stuff, whatever the hell they use, and the speakers. I think the sound of these speakers in this car redefine the word drone. Definitely will get this modded soon otherwise I might go completely mad. In the mean time, turning off the radio in this car is not a bad idea. First impression positive, I didn't think the shifter in this car shifts as bad as a lot of people have made it out. I actually thought it shifted well. But then again, I was not pushing the car very hard (only 100 miles now). I think shifting above 6600 RPM has been the issue with this car from what I'm reading.
I questioned him about the duct work as he had a lot of experience working on Bosses and other hi-performance vehicles. He indicated that this duct work was designed to be installed and removed at the track. I am not sure about this. He did raise doubt in my mind when he showed me on the lift there was no room for the duct work to move when the wheel was turned hard. He stated the obvious when he said that race cars do not need to turn from lock to lock position on a race track. I swore that I heard the rubbing taking place when the wheel was turned about at the halfway position.
Anyway, I think my lesson was to not have installed the duct work when I did. I am still not convinced though that I can't find a solution so I can keep the ductwork installed continuosly (minus the rubbing). Maybe I can find a smaller diameter duct that I can adapt to the brake backing plate. Hmmm..... I got to think about this some more.
Cheers All,
MMD
BTW - absolutely love the car. Only first impression negatives that really stood out where the hideous "new car smell" stuff, whatever the hell they use, and the speakers. I think the sound of these speakers in this car redefine the word drone. Definitely will get this modded soon otherwise I might go completely mad. In the mean time, turning off the radio in this car is not a bad idea. First impression positive, I didn't think the shifter in this car shifts as bad as a lot of people have made it out. I actually thought it shifted well. But then again, I was not pushing the car very hard (only 100 miles now). I think shifting above 6600 RPM has been the issue with this car from what I'm reading.