Hey man I can see you may be a little stung here, sorry. And no I
have not driven any Mustang that made me get out and say "wow I want
to drive that again" or "man wish that were parked in my garage"...
I have driven several mustangs, I grew up in Detroit, half my
friends had 5.0's growing up, and had the opportunity to drive a
Cobra R on a track but deferred (took my M3 out instead). Really
did not like the funky angle on the shifter that car had.
Just about any car can be dialed in for track use and be quite
nice. I have driven some truly fantastic 911's :) This would also
explain how Winston cup cars can actually do well on a road course.
I have no reason to doubt yours is in that arena? But you mean to
tell me you'd take the same car from the showroom and stick it on a
track and your pet Pro driver would call it faultless? Really? Its
got brakes from a Taurus? And while you may have yours dialed in
perfectly, the other 3 million mustang drivers might not...
And don't start saying I am bashing Fords... I have driven some of
their nicer cars, including the Euro model Escorts a freind's
brother had one he raced, and even a Sierra Cosworth (freind's
Dad)... Though I never did get to drive an RS200... So Ford does
make sports cars and I wouldn't consider the GT40 one of them really
since Saleen made those I think?
Mike
On 12/6/2010 5:19 PM, LS wrote:
"I'm not a marquee guy, I like a car that's fun to drive
first and a pretty face second... A mustang has never had
either for me :) For the money I'd rather have a Miata (or my
GTI for that matter)."
Alright, you finally admitted that you don't like Mustangs and
that you've never driven one properly setup for the road
course.
So, how can you have an opinion on their abilities? I haven't
seen any facts or tech yet...
Come out to DC and you're welcome to drive my Cobra or the
Shelby when it's done.
An ex-pro driver described my Cobra as "faultless" after 15
laps at Summit Pt in it... And he was a *winning* Trans Am and
IMSA GTP driver. He's turned a 0:59 second lap at Summit Pt in
a Porsche 962.
Mike, do you know something that this guy doesn't?
If so, you should be driving a Le Mans prototype or consulting
for Williams F1.
The big boys race and/or build their own cars...they don't do
track events or point people by.
And if I owned a BMW? A Porsche? a VW GTI? Or a Ferrari?
Would it still be hypocrisy to state the stang is in general
a dog on a road course?
Because I'd rather have any of those other cars on a race
course, and if a Vette was in the mix, and I didn't want to
point anyone by, make it a Z06 with ZR1 brakes... And I can
state pretty confidently anything shy of a full race car is
going to have a hell of a time finding me. No one would put
money on your Mustang.
I'm not a marquee guy, I like a car that's fun to drive
first and a pretty face second... A mustang has never had
either for me :) For the money I'd rather have a Miata (or
my GTI for that matter).
Mike
On 12/6/10 4:48 PM, Michael James wrote:
Aside from the fact that both cars
aren't-exactly made from the finest of materials
or workmanship, I wouldn't put both machines in
the same category. Each is designed,
engineered, and sold to different market
segments. I'm of the opinion that the only
Sports Car ever made by the Ford Motor Company
was the GT-40, its latest variant, and that's
it. Everything else is just a family-hauling,
mass-produced grocery-getter with a big engine.
Nothing wrong with that.....
No seriously I have yet to be on track
with a fast Mustang... race prepped or
otherwise. Not many in the instructors
groups anyhow, but even students groups
they are few and far between. Honestly
the ones I have seen have not been
spectacular in either their lap times or
their reliability. There was a guy with
a tricked out orange Cobra R, and it was
fast until he dumped his dry-sump's
contents at the exit of Wagon wheel...
Also I don't pay much attention to what
they do in SCCA but I understand they
are pretty dominant in their class...
That said, I am sure there are some good
ones. The November Automobile mag has a
section on Mustang racing, I think its
like 2 pages long and covered the new
Boss 302R? It also has the ten best
Mustangs of all time... An 84 Mustang
SVO? Honestly some of those cars are
just dogs... Solid rear axles belong on
an oval :) Probably why Ford has one in
their logo as a reminder...
BR,
Mike
(And yes I am wearing my Nomex shorts
today)
On 12/5/2010 10:31 AM, LS wrotes:
FG, Mike's been around for
a while and done track
events...he's messin' around!
Mustangs have a pretty
ridiculous record in road
course racing, so there's not
much "knowledge" we're going
to uncover on their abilities
here. That's why we have our
local public library and
Google!
Just a tidbit since I'm on the
brink of a full road course
build on the '66 GT350. A
local friend runs SVRA events,
mostly along the east coast,
in a '66 GT350. His best lap
at Summit Pt is within 0.5
seconds of a professionally
track prepped E46 M3 (which
tied the GTS3 record at VIR).
Not bad...for a 45 yr old car
with drum brakes and leaf
springs! So, I guess you could
say they're not too shabby on
a road course.
Mike, tough to
hear the comments
from someone who's
never owned one
setup for the road
course correct?
They're excellent
track cars and are
***stupendously***
reliable just like
your Vette. The
drivetrains are
100% bulletproof
if maintained
properly and not
abused. Nothing
ever breaks. Who
knows what was
going on with one
in the
video...judging
from the visible
mods, it was prob
well over 600rwhp.
I know, I have
three now and I've
had four that I
have religiously
and surgically
maintained and
also totally
thrashed on the
road courses, ax
events, road
rallies, etc.
The 97 Cobra track
car I have now,
which is
suprisingly stock,
is *beautiful* on
the track. Perfect
4 wheel drifts,
ridiculous turn
in, incredibly
balanced. The
brakes (Cobra R
front Brembos) are
among the best
I've felt on any
car.
"Never bring a
kids toy to a
grownup's track
:)"
Hilarious...if a
properly setup
Mustang is not
turning fast laps
at a track, it's
the driver's
problem not the
car.
LS
Mike,
As much as I'd like to share
your GM bias here (hehe), I
believe LS is right here...
Plus our buddy Nick had a
late '80s /early '90s stang
that he tracked quite a bit
and did well with.
FG
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