Argonaut

And it was impressive. Today at Shenandoah circuit there was an instructor driving the 2011 5.0 Stang. I was running with the Black group and he came out with us for one session. That car rocks. Very, very fast. And the best part, he didn't even have R-comps on. He was obviously a very good driver but the car had great power out of the corners and was surprisingly nimble in the tight stuff. I think the Mustang's crown as the american muscle car track king is secured for the forseeable future.

Also had a F430 on the track with us. Kudos to that dude for risking his car at the concrete jungle. He was no slow "gentleman" driver either. Sweet car.

Three Lotus' and a boat load of S2000's (never seen so many before). And...the mighty GTR showed its face. Unfotunately a rookie driver so I didn't get to see what it can really do.

I have a new favorite brake pad - Carbonne Lorraine (CL) RC6 from France. They are made for the Brembos (like Sleeper's) but unfortunately not the GT caliper. Fantastic bite, no break in required, work when cold, nice hard pedal...whats not to like? Oh yea, they be pricey. Now I just need to see how long they last to see if they are worth it.

I'm trying to burn up a set of Hoosiers from the Grand Am series and the darn things just won't die. They have no grip either, makes for some nice drift practice. Die, die, die you Hoosiers, I have a set of NT01s to put on there.

Cracked a rotor last session of the day. Must of cracked on cool down as I didn't notice it until the drive home. 10 days out of those rotors (SP performance) - thats pretty darn good.

Ahhh track season...life is good.

timothyrw

in march i made it out to putnam park and a f430 scuderia was there from cincinnati. was a really nice guy and let me take some pics with it. i told him he i was impressed he was willing to take it out and he said that's what they are for. nice guy. i may be biased but it was the only car that i thought sounded better then mine on the straight.

usmcmp90

i met my first 5.0 yesterday in virginia on the highway and i drove up next to him just to check out his car and see if he would step on it so i could see wut it could do and he did and it was pretty impressive. the car itself was really hot too

houstonnw

Thanks for the first track report Argo. Funny, I've only seen one new Camaro on the track, and it had a modded motor and an automatic tranny!

BTW, I've given an F430 a point-by, and oh what the sound!

I've considered investing my retirement in the tooling for a Ford 302 flat crank to duplicate that sound! Hmmm, maybe I should change that to the new 5.0???

(Yeah, yeah, I know we have to change the firing order...)

AirForce_5.0

Good to know the 5.0 handles so well. I can't wait to take mine to the track.

Argonaut

How is CMC going? Do any races thus far?

Come to think of it - I have yet to see the new Camaro on a track, still looking forward to that. One thing I didn't like about the new Stang is the exhaust note. Not that its bad, just that its so quiet. In one of the groups on Saturday there were two Dodge Challenger SRTs with the 6.1L Hemis. Going down the back straight and WOT they sounded glorious - deep, bellowing American thunder. The 5.0 sounded very weak by comparison. Nothing a good aftermarket exhaust won't cure.

I know what you mean about the 430's flat plane crank. Combine that with the high reving nature of the Ferrari V8 and the result is awesome. Very exotic to my ears, quite the difference between it and the detroit V8s.