My "Other" Job

[John]

Awesome news! Congrats! Can you procure used race tires for me?

[white_2kgt]

Awesome news! Congrats! Can you procure used race tires for me?

Leave him alone, he can only fit so many in the truck :!:

[Dave]

that is freakin sweet. Definitely on my list of stuff I'd like to do once I eliminate a few things.

[PDenbigh]

Anywayz, that's badass that you're getting responsibilities and actually getting to interface with the Ford engineers. I've been absolutely tickled anytime I get to talk to Honda engineers at the track.

He's working w/ blackforest, the Ford team is Rehagen.

Yeah, I'm with Blackforest, but Ford Engineers hang out around our cars all the time. The two most visible are th engine and suspension engineers. Both drive GT 40's 8) .

[white_2kgt]

Anywayz, that's badass that you're getting responsibilities and actually getting to interface with the Ford engineers. I've been absolutely tickled anytime I get to talk to Honda engineers at the track.

He's working w/ blackforest, the Ford team is Rehagen.

Yeah, I'm with Blackforest, but Ford Engineers hang out around our cars all the time. The two most visible are th engine and suspension engineers. Both drive GT 40's 8) .

What did the suspension guys do? I though multimatic designed and tuned the suspension. You can wait and tell me at Summit if you want.

Did an engine fall off the back of the truck yet? :lol:

[Kaan]

Bring the XR4Ti next time and let them tinker!

[ScottyB]

Pete, that's fantastic. i can't imagine how much knowledge there is to soak in when you're in that kind of racing atmosphere.

how are those 500C's doing anyway, cometitively speaking?

[white_2kgt]

how are those 500C's doing anyway, cometitively speaking?

FR500C.

Pete can add to this I'm sure but basically GrandAm killed them this year. Last year they dominated. GrandAm assessed weight penality to them (and maybe more?). Even with top drivers in the cars they are having a VERY hard time this year. I really hope GrandAm gets their head out of their ass and gives them back some of there competitive edge.

[JohnC]

Pete can add to this I'm sure but basically GrandAm killed them this year. Last year they dominated. GrandAm assessed weight penality to them (and maybe more?). Even with top drivers in the cars they are having a VERY hard time this year. I really hope GrandAm gets their head out of their ass and gives them back some of there competitive edge.

Isn't that just what happens to new cars in GrandAm in their second year?

[white_2kgt]

Pete can add to this I'm sure but basically GrandAm killed them this year. Last year they dominated. GrandAm assessed weight penality to them (and maybe more?). Even with top drivers in the cars they are having a VERY hard time this year. I really hope GrandAm gets their head out of their ass and gives them back some of there competitive edge.

Isn't that just what happens to new cars in GrandAm in their second year?

Not if they don't win , but yea, the FR500C dominated last year but, GrandAm actually took TO much away from the mustangs and has all but knocked them out this year.

[Evan]

then its time to start developing the car.

an "off the shelf" car should never have won with zero development in the first place

[white_2kgt]

then its time to start developing the car.

an "off the shelf" car should never have won with zero development in the first place

You think the FR500C is an off the shelf car w/ zero development?

[.RJ]

You think the FR500C is an off the shelf car w/ zero development?

Seriously.....

How many Grand-Am teams are developing the suspension on a chassis-post-thingawhizbang-rig before even hitting the track?

The first year out the Mustangs were faster because they had a pretty big advantage in high speed corners, not in HP - saddle them down with weight, then they've got not hing.

[white_2kgt]

You think the FR500C is an off the shelf car w/ zero development?

Seriously.....

How many Grand-Am teams are developing the suspension on a chassis-post-thingawhizbang-rig before even hitting the track?

The first year out the Mustangs were faster because they had a pretty big advantage in high speed corners, not in HP - saddle them down with weight, then they've got not hing.

I don't understand you point? A car was built and designed around a set of rules. It dominated. How is this different than what any other team would do given the proper resources?

[.RJ]

I don't understand you point?

I was agreeing with you, in that the car had seen a lot more development time than just being thrown out onto a racetrack and dominating as Evan suggested.

Relax

[white_2kgt]

I don't understand you point?

I was agreeing with you, in that the car had seen a lot more development time than just being thrown out onto a racetrack and dominating as Evan suggested.

Relax

Yea, I was trying to figure out if evan knew the extent of development that the FR500C had gone through before it was even announced to the public. Heck, all the stuff multimatic learned made its way back into the street version of the 05 mustang. Which is how racing should be. Screw nascrap.

[Evan]

I disagree. It takes several seasons to truely dial in a car, even from a pro team. Development is also on a per-track basis. Several seconds a lap can be lost or gained by track specific setups. You cant tell me that Ford put in several seasons worth of develoment at every Grand Am track last year then gave all that data to every team. I doubt they even developed it to the Grand Am Hoosiers.
Im sure that Ford put it on a racetrack a few times, but its still an off the shelf package. The car came in as an overdog.
I remember last season a team took delivery days before it won a race. Thats not a developed car.

[G.Irish]

Nah if you're talking about a pro team they don't have several seasons to get up to speed because by then the chassis may already be obsolete. No, chances are they won't get maximum performance in the first season but that's also a matter of how much money they're willing to throw at it after the point of diminishing returns.

I don't know what the differences between the FR500C and a regular showroom floor Mustang are though, I'm sure Pete and Chad do. It could simply be that they made a rip roaring engine for the car and it came in at too light a weight or it could be that Ford pulled out the stops and made a super homologated special. Either way Grand Am apparently misjudged the performance of the car.

[white_2kgt]

I disagree. It takes several seasons to truely dial in a car, even from a pro team. Development is also on a per-track basis. Several seconds a lap can be lost or gained by track specific setups. You cant tell me that Ford put in several seasons worth of develoment at every Grand Am track last year then gave all that data to every team. I doubt they even developed it to the Grand Am Hoosiers.
Im sure that Ford put it on a racetrack a few times, but its still an off the shelf package. The car came in as an overdog.
I remember last season a team took delivery days before it won a race. Thats not a developed car.

Well, I'm not going to argue with you, b/c you don't have all the facts and I'm not going to regurgitate all I've learned about that car in the past 2 years to you. I have followed the development of the FR500C from the day it was announced ford was going to provide a BIW to 'race' teams, that turned out to be a turn key race car. Ford DID share every single big of data they learned during testing because they sold 25 copies of the EXACT SAME race car to anyone with 125k and in intent to race in GrandAm Cup. GrandAm added the weight to the car b/c it dominated, they would have done it to any team. I'm saying that they obviously went overboard and have made the car uncompetitive.

[G.Irish]

Please do share what makes up a FR500C, I'm curious. Include any stories about 'the making of' too.