The Boss was fantastic at the track. I was able to get some instruction in a Miller Racing Mustang by the fellow that runs Hooked On Driving in my area. Best instruction I've ever had. I got back in my car and drove the wheels off.

The oops(1): after 4-5 sessions, the Check Engine Light came on. I ignored it. Then, right at the end of another lap, the CEL was blinking and the engine went into limp mode. I dove for the pits so I wouldn't have to be towed. After the engine rested, all was fine. The engine coolant never went past the middle of the gauge.

I'll be taking it in on Monday for service. My service rep suspects the throttle body lost signal, since there was no overheating.

Oops(2): on the way home a car in front of me ran over a piece of trim and launched it at my left front corner. It dinged my hood's edge and scratched the headlamp. Oh well, first ding.

Incidentally, I ended up reducing the tire pressure by 7psi after the first couple of sessions to keep the stock tires at 41psi.

 

HOD is a great organization out here...I've run with them a number of times. and the guy who runs it (isn't his name also Dave?) is a great guy and I know his car well. I've been on track with him a few times when he's been running that mustang...it's a quick car and he's an excellent driver. Getting instruction from him must have been great.
My local race shop here in Los Gatos (BR Racing) structures events with HOD that are really well done. I'll let you know when one of those happens as well as connecting for a CFRA event. The CFRA guys started the club when they were all Pantera club guys and they're really eager to get some new Ford hardware out there.

Congrats on a successful track day. driving your car home from the track is a primary indicator of success ;-)

 

Sorry to hear of the engine problems and your first ding. How about a bit more detail on the driving characteristics of the Boss even compared to some of the other cars you've owned. And was it fast enough for you?

I look forward to meeting up with both of you guys when my car arrives, hopefully by the end of the month.

 

Lots of fun Heading to the track in about three hours for a Hooked on Driving event, very laid back and run by some good people down here also. Have my hood edge and lights taped up this time for no oops

Speaking of lights I changed out the tires and rims with no TPM sensors, did not throw a light all week until I went to burnish the brakes, half way into that the light came on. After a re-start it was off again.

 

Well, where do I start! Over the last 20 years, I've driven a Ferrari F550, a Z06, and a Kirkham Cobra at the same track. I'd say the key word is BALANCED.

The Boss has plenty of power to accelerate out of corners, but not so much that it is overpowered like the Cobra. You can get hard on the throttle after the apex and the car just plants itself, the more power, the more it plants! Its very easy to throttle steer. The brakes were fantastic, never faded. They started to fade when I was bedding them on the way to the track on a rural road.

Keep in mind, I'm not a hot shoe with large cajones. So your mileage may vary.

So, better handling and equal acceleration to the F550. Slower than the C6Z06, but more stability in the rear. No where near as fast as the Cobra, but your diapers are dry after a session in the Boss.

That sums it up.

 

Thanks Dave. It's nice to get the perspective from someone that hasn't been a recent Mustang owner.

 

Thanks for the write-up Dave. Sorry to hear about the ding, and please let us know what the the engine issue turns out to be.

Good luck Scott, hope you had fun - good safe fun.

Kevin

 

Ok this is no longer an isolated incident. Did the CEL clear or do you still have it? If it's still there I am betting on a P0300 random misfire. I've thrown that code on every one of my four track days. The time prior to this last track day the Hotline had them reflash my PCM but I still threw the code however never went into limp mode. I have had the flashing CEL accompanied with limp mode on two separate occasions and both times it cleared itself and the CEL. When I get the P0300, I have just cleared it myself. Ford needs to figure this one out.

I'm glad you had the same reaction to the Boss as I've had on track Dave. It is an awesome track car.

 

Yea it's weird how sometimes it comes on and sometimes it doesn't. It hasn't bothered me running no TPMS on the track wheels.

 

A P0300, or cylinder misfire code, could be a lot of things - spark or injectors, cam position sensor, fried exhaust valves, even O2 sensors or Cats malfunctioning. Quite a few things could be caused by excessive heat, but your temps looked OK? Not coolant temp per se, but under-hood temps?

 

I'm positive the engine coolant temperature was normal. I glanced at it on the straights and as soon as I pulled into the pits.

My CEL is still on, but not blinking and the engine is running fine now.

I'm of the opinion that the throttle body is getting hot with so many full throttle cycles and since the intake is non-metallic, there is no way for the excess heat to dump. With the temp rise the electronic throttle loses signal to the ECM and limp mode is invoked. Limp mode is forced to avoid runaway acceleration, ala Toyota. Just a guess.

 

This is a serious issue for a track car. How will feedback get to Ford Engineering? Through the dealers? Maybe Deysha can forward the thread.

 

Hmm, maybe there's something to those vented hoods...even though the Multimatic doesn't use one.

In any case, agreed - this is serious if it's indeed systemic.

 

You do realize that standard dashboard gage is a glorified idiot light, right?

 

I seriously doubt that is the issue since all the Grand Am cars run the same engine, throttle body, and radiator, and they are going to be running quite a bit harder than any of us will.

And I'm not sure how the TB would "lose signal" as it's not wireless--unless you have a faulty TPS sensor. TPS issues are relatively common on the 05-09 cars.

 

Not likely that Gran Am cars have the same firmware. They probably have different airflow through the engine bay.

While the gauge may be a glorified idiot light, if the needle is in the middle, I think that is a good indicator that nothing is amiss.

 

Ran half hour sessions yesterday and no issues for me, second time out. I am not running as hard as you guys but there are several WOT runs at the track, temp stays right in the middle. The TPM light came on second run but that was it.

 

Here's a lap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyGAF...e_gdata_player

 

Take it to the dealer and they will contact the Hot Line. The data gets logged by them. If it occurs more than on a few cars I assume it becomes something that gets a more serious look as it can no longer be considered random. Yours and mine are the only two I know of that have had the issue. It will be interesting to see if it's P0300. If it were a coil, injector, plug or valve, it would likely be a P030# where # is the cylinder that is consistently having the issue. It could just be that one of the parameters in the tune is set toward the edge and it's kicking off under performance driving conditions.

I have ONLY had the issue on the track, and not always. It will be interesting to see if the issue goes away with TracKey due to changes in the calibration. I'd be happy to test it

 

I just posted a photo of the 302S grille modification at BMO.

http://bossmustangsonline.com/boss-3...shots/new/#new