Latest Fairmont at Summit Point Shenandoah video

This time, we chase down a Boss 302.

http://youtu.be/Lb5A4zI8q0g

Woah! That looks like too much fun! You have that piece of ford hustling very nicely

Thanks! It's amazing what several thousand dollars can do to even the most mundane vehicle.

Sorry I didn't make it over this time to see you. Like your lines thru the Hook and the Corkscrew. He was losing time to you in both places.

'Sallright, Hal. There were three tracks running, so I'm sure you kept busy. Did you get any pictures? There's a little bit of chatter about the whole incident on a Boss 302-specific forum. The guy driving the Boss admits that I'm fast for having little tires, wants to know about my setup, and wonders how the Porsche 996 driver dealt with getting passed by a Fairmont. That last part got cropped out of the video for time reasons. I was just happy to keep up with the GT3 Cup car in a straight line.

I'm sure I'll see you in July.

Filed under "Comedy"? And some of the guys on corner-carvers.com wonder why Fox guys do what they do...

The snailmont and you look very composed compared to one of your earliest vids. :golfclap:

Of course it's comedy. You don't see something innately funny about a Fairmont trying to get around a track? I did notice that I seemed pretty relaxed with the steering wheel.

That's just beautiful. I need more V8 in my life.

You are doing very nicely through the Hook. Viva la Fairmont!

The Hook is my favorite turn. I go as fast as I can fighting the push for the first part, then pop off the throttle, which flicks the rear out and makes the car dive toward the exit apex. That's a good time right there!

Here's a flyby my wife shot with her phone.

http://youtu.be/l2FlvjwFjRk

snailmont5oh wrote: 'Sallright, Hal. There were three tracks running, so I'm sure you kept busy. Did you get any pictures? I'm sure I'll see you in July.

I didn't get to the track at all. The Mid-Atlantic FocalJet guys had our 15th annual get together in York,PA that day. Plan on being there in July.

Way cool, did not Bondurant use Fairmonts for a bit, I had a Ford Motorsports catalog years back that had a hopped up road course Fairmont on the cover.

While it could be deemed somewhat petty and small I love underdog car passing shiny new stuff. Whatever you do don't whisper the words trail braking to the Mustang driver, there are a couple of spots where he appears to be very abrut coming off the brakes......the brakes light go off instantly and the car misses the apex by a couple of feet.

From my pathologically over analytical instructor point of view I love this becuase anyone getting passed by a Fairmont will now instantly be willing to listen the instructors............they don't have to know the car has lots of goodies.

Now on the subject of instructor point of view (I did say pathological) and keeping in mind I don't know the car set up or your experiance level but there are a couple things I'm curious about; You alternate between shuffle steering and classic 9 & 3, the rack seems fast enough that there is no need to shuffle steer and you seem to be a lot smoother when you don't. Just seems like its a distraction, granted at 5' 7" and 140lbs I'm aware not everyone has the room to freely wind their arms around and that is the stock skinny steering wheel. I'm assuming the car is still street driven and you may or may not have/use the back seat but have you given thought to a roll hoop and bracing the drivers seat back. The seat appears to move around a lot and at the most inconvenient moments causing you to put unwanted inputs into the wheel......another distraction. Finally I'm curious about the brakes......while am a big advocate of long n light brake action i.e. smooth transitions it also seems like you are getting on the brakes a good 50ft before you really want to....this could be effect of video as in the fly by shot the car is indeed moving.

Again way cool and it it looks like the car has a ton of potential and I'm sure your evil plan has a long upgrade list (GT-3 drivers will be suicidal).......I will be sharing the video with my fabricator friend as he is a die hard Ford guy (especially Mustangs) with a Pinto wagon as a daily....he'll dig this. Of course I will get the lecture about putting a 5.0 in the little Datsun again.

 Tom

I'm not sure if Bondurant used Fairmonts or not, but I know he was instrumental in the development of the LTD LX, because he needed a car for instructors to take more than one student around the track with, that could get out of its own way.

About steering: I tend to allow my hands to do whatever they want. I started shuffle steering after reading an article on Bobby Ore, and how you couldn't pass his stunt driver school unless you could do it, so I thought I'd better learn. When I started autocrossing, I saw that Sam Strano kept his hands at one point all the time, and I'd like to do that, but I don't think about my hands when I drive hard. I think about what I want the car to do, and if it does it or not. Imagine my surprise when I saw my left hand with three fingers on the wheel at one point in the video! I also let the wheel go a lot, especially during departures from normal control (slides, "drifts", etc.). I've learned over time that the car is very good at finding the correct steering angle to correct a slide.

On brakes: I currently have stock sized (11") Fox Chassis Mustang GT rotors, Lincoln calipers, Performance Friction pads, and Stop Tech cryogenically treated rotors. They work admirably well, but I continue to brake early because I have several years of work and over seventeen grand in a Fairmont, and I can't afford to crash it. I tend to use the "painfully slow in/450 horsepower 347 out" method.

Thank you for your astute observations. They are correct, and I will try to pay attention to them in the future. Who am I kidding? I'm gonna get on the track and think, " GOGOGOGO! AAAAAHH! STOP!! Why aren't you turning!?! GOGOGOGO!"

Thanks, Mike

In reply to snailmont5oh:

Whoa, that bears some study. Pretty cool. I have only been on that track one weekend a couple years ago, but I'm pretty sure I let it track out after entry to set up for the exit.

That track puts a premium on craft over power. That weekend, I passed 2 E92 M3's, and I was driving my '79 3 series coupe. At the time I think it had 100RWHP because I hadn't rebuilt the motor yet. Not that I had much craft then, or now for that matter.

I've been lurking on a forum where the Boss driver lives, and the general consensus is, "He does that on what tires now?"

Mike the painfully slow in horsepower out is far better than the painfully fast in crash out method............unlike something like a Miata where you can sail the car down into corner way to fast and simply hang the car out to scub off the excess speed the Fairmont is not going to be to happy that. Now as for the Boss driver; many years ago a driver of a Mustang Cobra was getting a rash from his buddies that the then 80 whp Datsun caught and past him. I took pity on him and took his buddies for rides, after which they stopped make fun of him........I suspect your in car has the same effect, your hitting all your marks and not making any really abrupt inputs......people don't readily understand the speed is from getting everything right and not by "charging" sections of the course. Oh and yes don't crash the car.......we want to see more videos

  Tom

You would be surprised at the interesting throttle-off oversteer that happens with that car, due to the Tri-link/Watts link rear suspension. It is extremely controllable in a slide, though...as long as you don't let up. :)