frodaddi

I have been lurking on this forum for some time now, since I bought my 06 GT back in January, but this is my first post, so hello!

This past weekend I took the car up to Road Atlanta for a track day. This was my first track event and I was lucky to have a very experienced friend riding shotgun with me and giving instructions. It was really fun slinging the car around all the turns (Road Atlanta is 2.5 miles, 12 turns).

The car is stock except for the FRPP handling pack which was installed just a few days prior to the track day. It held up fine to the day although there was some hot brake smell at various times. At the very end of the day a yellow Lotus in my group spun out right in front of me - close call but managed to avoid him.

Here are a few pictures from the day. More pictures of the car, handling pack install, and the track day can be found here:

http://www.pbase.com/frodaddi/mustang

Kevin.

95SVTCobraVA

WELCOME!!!!

Looks like you had a great time!

TacoBill

Kevin!

Nice pics.

And may I add that you have excellent taste in color and wheel selection!

freebass55

Very cool. Welcome.

Tony Alonso

Thanks for the photos. After the handling pack, how did the car feel at the limit of adhesion? How much understeer?

frodaddi

The handling pack seemed to improve the handling over stock quite a bit. However I say this never having tracked the car with the stock suspension so I can't really make a direct comparison. On the street the ride is definitely much firmer, although up to now I have not scraped any speed bumps, etc.

On the track, running the stock tires & brakes, I didn't detect any understeer. There was plenty of tire noise around the turns but they never did give up. I did get some oversteer at one point but that was my fault.

Bear in mind that I am a total noob at the road course, this was my first event. So I am sure that the capabilities of the car exceeded those of the driver. Also I kept traction control on so it probably saved me more than once.

All that said though, by the end of the day I was in one of the faster groups - we would pass 2 or 3 other groups during each session and we never got passed by any other groups. Overall I was satisfied with the day for a first time - having my friend riding shotgun and coaching me made a HUGE difference. I would encourage anyone who is interested in this kind of driving to try and get out to your local track for a day. Highly addictive!

Sonic05

Exactly why I havn't done it yet! That and the cost, and danger of wrecking the car. Someday though!

Welcome to the site, and thanks for posting the pics. I really like the one of you being chased by the Lotus and Subaru. Pretty cool.

fastduo

Great pictures. I can't get enough of track days-I am addicted! I will be running Sebring this coming weekend. I can't wait. Sebring is a nearly 4 mile long road coarse with super long straight. I'll be able legally to tap the top speed of my car on that straight.
Atlanta is on my list of tracks to get to soon. Make sure if you are going to continue in the sport that you change out your factory brake fluid for a 600 degree fluid and get some more aggressive pads. Once you get used to the track and your car, naturally you will increase your speeds and your depth into the corners. You will boil off the stock brake fluid in your calipers and it is not a good feeling at the next corner your pedal goes to the floor! I use Motul 600 with Hawk HP+ pads.
Track events are a plenty in Fla and you should try to make it down to Moroso in Palm Beach or Homestead-Miami Speedway. These are great tracks and HMS is an awsome facility-garages for everyone!