Post by: Fierofool on June 02, 2016, 08:26:39 pm
I don't know at this time if it's the GT500 or the GT350. The date is July 15, which is on Friday, but it might be worthwhile to take a day off, if you are scheduled to work.
The event is free. I am expecting more information and an official written invitation in the next day or two, and will post it here. You don't have to be a paid member, but you do need to be a Fiero owner and part of the club.
WHO'S GONNA GO?
Post by: Macondave on June 03, 2016, 12:51:52 am
Post by: Fierofool on June 03, 2016, 04:55:44 pm
Let's make our deadline the 3rd Saturday of this month, June 18. I'll send in the list Saturday night. If you aren't registered on the forum, send us an email at georgiafieroclub@gmail.com
Hi, Charles,
Per our conversation, I’ve included some information below about Ford’s upcoming track event on Friday, July 15 at Atlanta Motorsports Park. Once your club members are alerted to this opportunity, that you or someone from your club send a list of full names and email addresses of those interested, to ----------------------- by Friday, July 8. We will then email each person with a unique user code and instructions on how to begin the registration process.
Tyler Weiland
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Post by: ron768 on June 05, 2016, 10:48:34 pm
Post by: CowsPatoot on June 06, 2016, 08:41:39 am
Post by: Fierofool on June 06, 2016, 10:31:06 am
The Motorsports Park had previously offered the possibility of giving our club some laps in the Fieros. That was several years ago and I don't know if Jeremy is still there. I'll ask about it when we go.
Post by: Fierofool on June 11, 2016, 06:47:12 pm
Only 1 more week to sign up.
Post by: scottb on June 15, 2016, 11:47:43 am
Post by: GrannyLinda on June 15, 2016, 10:34:58 pm
Post by: tinman on June 17, 2016, 07:24:13 am
Count me in.
Steve
Post by: Fierofool on June 17, 2016, 10:14:47 am
Post by: Fierofool on June 17, 2016, 11:48:49 am
Post by: Fierofool on June 18, 2016, 10:01:22 am
Post your intent here. If I don't get any more takers, I'll go ahead and submit the list tonight.
Post by: Fierofool on June 19, 2016, 12:50:04 pm
Raydar and Tinman, I need your information. Email it to the GeorgiaFieroClub at Gmail dot Com
I'm sure the number of slots available are limited, so we need to get our submission to them ASAP.
Post by: Fierofool on June 19, 2016, 11:35:52 pm
Hope some of you other members will come out in support. We also need someone to operate the video camera to capture the good and bad of the event.
Post by: Fierofool on June 21, 2016, 03:12:02 pm
A credit card is required to reserve your slot. If you attend or cancel within 72 hours of the event, you will not be charged. Your card will be charged ONLY if you do not attend and fail to cancel within 72 hours of the event. The $100 will be donated to the Carrol Shelby Foundation.
Again, you will not be charged for the event unless you fail show up and fail to cancel within 72 hours prior to the event.
Post by: Fierofool on June 21, 2016, 07:18:29 pm
Post by: Raydar on June 21, 2016, 07:34:48 pm
Post by: Fierofool on June 21, 2016, 09:09:07 pm
Get Andy to put it on his card. I didn't have to provide the security code on the back of the card so there's no way they can make a charge on my card. Any time a charge is made on one of my cards by phone or online, I get instant notification within minutes.
I've left a message on the track owner's cell phone asking about the authenticity, but anyone can call the track office at 678-381-8527 to check for yourself before submitting your registration.
Post by: Fierofool on June 22, 2016, 09:55:29 am
Post by: Fierofool on June 24, 2016, 08:34:07 am
Post by: TopNotch on June 24, 2016, 11:25:18 am
Post by: tinman on June 24, 2016, 08:44:59 pm
Post by: Fierofool on June 24, 2016, 10:20:39 pm
Post by: TopNotch on July 15, 2016, 07:48:28 pm
They had a car turned on it's side...
So you could see the underside.
The engine is a flat crank V8 capable of revving to 8200 RPM.
I had to wear a helmet and head restraint.
And I got to drive this...
An older (1965) racing Muistang
A presentation about Ford Performance
I wish I could have driven this car...
Post by: Raydar on July 15, 2016, 10:15:36 pm
One thing I found amusing was that the new GT350 (a street car) just walked away from the 65 race car. Technology is wonderful.
Post by: Fierofool on July 15, 2016, 10:43:40 pm
In the orientation, they told us that when we got out on the track, get up to 3rd gear and leave it there. No need to touch the clutch or change gears because the car had enough HP and torque to run the full course just by using 3rd. Sure! Well, darned, they made a believer out of me. Even when we went back for Hot Laps with the professional driving, he never got out of 3rd.
I think it was Tammy (Mrs. Raydar) who said that she wished we had had the Hot Laps first. Me, too!. I think we both agreed that we might have been willing to push the car a lot more after seeing it's capabilities. That thing really holds the track with no noticeable lean in any of the most dramatic of turns.
I was asked if I would consider purchasing one. I told them "If I did, my wife would shoot me. On second thought, You might look for my obituary, next week".
Post by: f85gtron on July 16, 2016, 06:17:09 am
In your opinion, Fieros shouldn't mess around and antagonize these things If we see one out in the wild?
Post by: Fierofool on July 16, 2016, 09:54:17 am
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This is a lineup of the cars we drove on the track.
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You're right, Ron. No need to embarrass yourself, even if driving a Fiero with the most powerful engine ever put into one. These Mustangs were built by Ford Racing, designed for the track, then they put a Mustang skin on it.
Post by: Raydar on July 16, 2016, 11:09:32 am
My thoughts during the hot lap:
1. We're going LOTS faster than we were when I was driving. (We were.)
2. We're going off track. (We didn't.)
3. OMG! This is a hell of a car!! (It was.)
Partway through the hot lap, the instructor asked how I was doing. (They try to make you scream.) My only comment was, "It just goes to show that there's no substitute for knowing what you're doing."
And yeah. This is, hands down, the fastest and best handling car I've ever driven. As if I even needed to say that.
Probably about the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.
These pics are hosted on PFF. If they break, I'll copy them to our server.
View of the show from the observation deck.
And the demo, before the proceedings. (The next time we saw these cars, the gray one was about five car lengths ahead of #65. Buh-Bye!)
A GT350R.
[/QUOTE]Post by: Tha Driver on July 16, 2016, 06:07:22 pm
My back & knees STILL hurt. They haven't quit hurting. I haven't been able to do anything since. They're hurting sitting here typing this. My back & knees have NEVER hurt sitting in a chair before. I don't know when I'll be able to work again. This is costing me more money than if I rented a car & track for the day. I knew that a "free track day driving the GT 350" was too good to be true. Yeah, maybe it was fun to drive three laps on the short course in third gear, but that's not my idea of a "track day". I damn sure wish I had never heard of it.
But I do appreciate the club inviting me. I know they had no idea what to expect. Thanks.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"
Custom Fiberglass Parts (http://angelonearth.net/customfiberglass/)
Post by: Raydar on July 17, 2016, 06:51:07 pm
Post by: Tha Driver on July 17, 2016, 07:07:15 pm
Sorry about that. Everyone else there seemed to have had a good time.Yeah I'm sure it was fun to "drive" the car. But you got to drive it for what - three minutes? In third gear?
The longer I waited in the heat & the more pain I was in, the more I got this overwhelming sense of disappointment. I had imagined all kinds of scenarios of what they would do & how they would do it. I never once thought we would be limited to three laps on the short course in third gear only.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"
Custom Fiberglass Parts (http://angelonearth.net/customfiberglass/)
Post by: TopNotch on July 17, 2016, 09:43:23 pm
Post by: Tha Driver on July 18, 2016, 12:44:07 am
When you consider that the engine was capable of revving to 8200 RPM, and you could have easily done 100 MPH in third, there wasn't any point in changing to a higher gear. The pros driving the "hot laps" also stayed in third gear, and really gave us quite a ride.Let me ask you this. How fast did you go through turn 1? 'Cause to me it looked like about a 30 MPH turn. If so, you should be allowed to downshift to 2nd gear, to accelerate out of it. After that, you might get up enough speed to use 4th on the back straight (or not: probably not it's a very short track). In either event, having to take that turn in 3rd is NOT performance driving, & to me a "track day" is about performance driving. If they had just provided some chairs for us to sit down while waiting for 3 or 4 hours to drive, I would have been able to stick around & find out the above for myself. As it was, I just couldn't stand it any longer & I'm still suffering with a backache as the result.
I have a LOT of work to do right now, & I can't do it because of the time I spent standing around at the track - which I don't understand, because usually when I have back problems from working it goes away after taking a break for a few hours.
I'm starting to get really depressed as I'm nearly broke & need to make some money right now...
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"
Custom Fiberglass Parts (http://angelonearth.net/customfiberglass/)
Post by: Fierofool on July 18, 2016, 08:42:59 am
I had the same difficulties as you with my neck, back and legs hurting. I found a spot that had a strong breeze and shade by sitting on one of the support pads for the display building. I even sat in the floor during one of the narratives about the car. Had I not removed my folding chair from the trunk a couple of weeks ago, things may not have been as difficult.
I would have expected more than than just a few laps, especially since the program said 40 minutes on the track, in each of the 4 color groups schedule. 40 minutes on the track is a lot of time. That's the amount of time Road Atlanta gives you when you do the PDX in preparation for your SCCA license.
Anyway, even though it wasn't what I envisioned, it was a hot and exhausting day, and my neck is still sore, I still got a lot of enjoyment out of it.
Post by: TopNotch on July 18, 2016, 10:12:21 am
Post by: GTRS Fiero on January 30, 2017, 07:20:51 pm
When I used to test cars, we didn't fare much better. We were expected to put each car through its paces. We did 0-60 runs, 60-0 stops, 60-120 runs, a street run, a slalom, skidpad test, etc. For a full 8 hour day, only about 2 hours of that was in the car. At the start of the program each year, we had to qualify, and go through a bunch of classes that usually took 2 full days. We could do whatever we wanted in the car, but we had to do lots of paperwork, and there was a lot of waiting. Of course, most of the testers were under 40, and most were current or past racers. For those who have raced, it is HOT. Between the attire, the equipment, the heat from the car, and no AC, it's hot.
Refreshments, tents, and chairs were provided to us. Should this event ever come up again, you'll know to check on or bring these things. I brought a towel.
My favorite thing was the pic of Fierofool, gone to the dark side. No fair. I pulled the image off page 2 and tried to post here, and it said it was too big.
Post by: GTRS Fiero on January 30, 2017, 07:24:35 pm
Post by: TopNotch on January 30, 2017, 09:19:09 pm
Post by: GTRS Fiero on January 30, 2017, 09:44:37 pm
Odd. Somehow, I thought you were bigger. In the 180-pound range. Of course, I had thought Aerodon was a bit bigger than that, and then saw a pic where he might have been under 120.
Did the helmet make you claustrophobic? The head cloth isn't so bad, but sometimes I get like an attack, where I have to rip that helmet off. Worse, the faster you try to take it off, the harder it is. I guess it's like opening one of those orange asprin containers with the white lids. The worse your headache is, the harder the container is to open.
Post by: Fierofool on January 30, 2017, 10:04:18 pm
AeroDon was a small man in physique, only. Maybe 5' 10". I would guess about 165. The picture on our home page was when he was quite healthy and still working.
Post by: GTRS Fiero on January 30, 2017, 10:13:42 pm
We were told that, if we wanted to wear the helmet again, we should wear the head sock. After I smelled the sock, I was fine with that.
Post by: Fierofool on January 30, 2017, 10:29:58 pm
Post by: GTRS Fiero on January 30, 2017, 10:33:25 pm
Post by: Fierofool on January 30, 2017, 10:53:47 pm
A healthy Don, front row, green cap. RFTH 10 in 2005 at the Biltmore in Asheville.
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