ChipBeck Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 I wrote this article 2 days ago for the Ford GT Forum. I hope some Team Shelby members enjoy it. Chip _____________________________ Gentlemen, One of the great things about owning a Ford GT are those moments when this rare and special car allows us, like the fictional character in James Thurber's short story, to live out a fantasy. And, when enhanced way beyond the capabilities of the stock car with sticky Hoosier race tires, stiffly sprung Penske coil overs, and an additional 300 hp courtesy of Jason Heffner and his twin turbochargers, the Ford GT becomes one of the fastest and most capable street legal cars that has ever worn a license plate. In a race to 200 mph, even the Bugatti Veyron would be humbled. Last weekend, at the Spring Mountain racetrack outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, I spent a day living out some real Walter Mitty quality fantasies. But the day didn’t start out that way. I was nervous. My primary goal on this day was to drive away at the end of it with my beautiful yellow GT in pretty much the same condition it was in when I got here. Were 843 hp going to get me in over my head? Relax, take it easy, and enjoy the track. While getting my GT ready for the first session of the day I was approached by a camera crew from thesmokingtire.com. They wanted to plaster seven cameras all over my car, and mount a GPS tracking unit inside. Uh, I don’t think so. Then we want to see if you can be faster down the straights than some other guys who have driven this track a bunch of times before. One of them will be driving a Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni Edition, another in a specially modified supercharged Audi R-8 on race tires. Great.....that sounds like a prescription for disaster. This guy with giant sideburns then offered further encouragement by telling me that if I did go off track and destroy my car, they would have great video of it from all angles. I ultimately did allow them to mount the cameras on my car and I decided I would give it my best shot. On my first drive before the cameras were mounted I went out with Ralphie as my instructor. He really knows his stuff and he showed me the proper racing line. Then I went out as a passenger with Ford Motor Company test driver/development engineer Mark McGowan in the 2011 prototype 5.0 L Mustang. Mark’s racing line was identical to Ralphie’s, and he passed a lot of big power supercars in that 5.0 Mustang. The intermediate and advanced group was combined all day and contained a mix of track only race cars, and a fine bunch of exotic supercars. Lots of Porsche GT3s, GT2s, Turbo Carreras, R-8s, Gallardos, Ford GTs, BMW M cars, and others. I expected my Ford GT to close the gap on many others down the straightaways, but I was surprised at how much harder it cornered than just about anything else on the track that day. My car is very stiffly sprung and when you look at the amount of lean angle and the inward deflection of the tire side walls that look like the rim is about to punch clear out of the tire in the picture below, it gives you a pretty good idea of how tenaciously the Hoosier R-6s gripped the track. Aerobatic flying has given me a finely tuned sense of G forces, and my GT felt like it was pulling close to 1.5 lateral Gs in the turns. Late in the day I was bouncing off the 7200 RPM rev limiter in third gear which put me over 140 mph at the end of the straights and braking later and later. With the stock Goodyears on my car at the track, the tires were constantly squealing and I was constantly sliding. With the Hoosiers I was cornering and breaking far harder and the tires never made a chirp. I felt much more secure riding on those slicks. On every straightaway I was able to reel in other supercars like they were dragging boat anchors, gaining an easy 50 yards on other six-figure exotics between corners. At 4:50 into the video below, watch how quickly I am overtaking the Porsche GT2. Braking hard into the corners I was able to carry more speed through the turns than just about anything I encountered as well. It was a blast. On this day, Elmer Fudd got to feel like Superman. So what does all this prove? It is confirmation that Alex at T&A Shocks, the GT Guys, and Jason Heffner really know what they’re doing. The vast majority of the participants at Spring Mountain last weekend were far better drivers than I am. I have no formal training and had only been on a race track four times prior, at Rallies III and IV, and 2 one day track events in Arizona. I made a ton of mistakes and often found myself on the wrong side of the track with a corner coming up. No matter. Brake hard, turn in, point the nose down the straight, and pull the trigger. An 840 hp velvet hammer would slam me back into my seat and vaporize the distance between me and what ever was up ahead. Here’s the world-famous Ken Miles bearing down on that orange Porsche GT3. Press close in behind him in the turn and then rocket by him on the inside down the straight. There’s the Balboni Edition a football field ahead. Two turns later, he’s in the rearview mirror. Like a quality automatic camera that gets excellent results for rank amateur photographers, my twin Turbo GT was equally easy to use. Just point and shoot. And consider this.....Ken Miles' Ford GT Mk II had only half the horsepower that was propelling me last weekend, shod with tires that had less than half the traction that my Hoosiers provided, and with brakes that were probably only half as good as well. Ken Miles and Dan Gurney never experienced the type of acceleration while racing at LeMans that shot me out of every corner at Spring Mountain! The smooth onset of the cars enormous power makes it easy to take advantage of. The Hoosiers allow a lot more of that power to generate forward motion without wheel spin. In addition to all of the mistakes I made driving on the track, I’ll let you in on one more. With my Simpson helmet on, I was not able to see the center console. I detected a bit of a burning smell and my car didn’t seem to have all of its normal snap during my drive with the cameras and GPS mounted. When I set the fastest time of the day down the straights, I had done that entire track session.....with the emergency brake on!!!! On subsequent drives, without the cameras or GPS, I was going noticeably faster with the emergency brake off! Finally, I know that a large number of drivers attending last weekend would have blown my doors off if they were driving a car like mine. But they weren’t. So the old man got to have his day. Walter Mitty wins at LeMans!!!! Chip Here's the video. http://www.thesmokingtire.com/ The good stuff starts 4 minutes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moabman Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Very well written Chip! Absolutely entertaining :happy feet: I think it is time to face the facts Chip - you really want to write instead of selling liquids containing Techron Come on; you have enough money and down deep you know you really, really want to. The best part is: you're great at it! Whenever I see that it's a new topic started by you, I can't wait to open it up and enjoy. So Chip, what are you waiting for? I had to wait until I got home to watch the video. Congratulations. I would have liked to see more of your amazing twin turbo GT but it was still very fun to watch and in HD, it was also crisp & clear. One of the biggest differences between the cars of the 60's and now is the amount of down-force that the modern cars create. 500 hp would get you 210+ mph back then. Now, the P1 cars are generating more than 1000 hp but the straightway speeds are still in the low 200s. The speed in the curves, however, is a little faster :happy feet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Kocon 2417 Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Thanks Chip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY500SS Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Great read and vid. Thanks for sharing Chip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clark17357 Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Chip, Great write up and super video. You do have a way with words. Best post I have read in eons. Felt like I was there. But now, thanks to you, I have to go get racing tires for my car. Looking forward to seeing your car in person next time I am in Phoenix. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naa-V-Doc Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 I know it's been a tough year or two for you. Nice to see good things happening for you. Well done Chip, well done! Doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted February 20, 2010 Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 Very well written Chip! Absolutely entertaining :happy feet: Whenever I see that it's a new topic started by you, I can't wait to open it up and enjoy. I was thinking exactly the same thing! You are my hero, Chip! Edit**** Got home from work and watched the video. Sweet! Any chance of posting up some in-car video of the GT, Chip? What a beautiful car you have there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.