Showdown at Sunset

Reflecting back on the past four years of ownership with my Ion, it seems I’m fortunate enough to participate in one good street race every year (The last I chronicled was Burger Dash on 11/30/2012). And Lord knows, my odds are even worse at the casinos. But on this tiresome Thursday afternoon, as I trudged home with the other commuters I observe coming and going every day, fate saw fit to intervene.

I turned off the four-lane asphalt artery that connects Hurley to Lucedale to take a rural shortcut that shaves a couple miles off my total travel. As I rounded one of the first curves, I was shocked to see an orange Mustang performing a traffic-blocking three-point turn in the middle of the road. Had I been drinking, I might have blamed such a sight on the alcohol. Immediately, I slowed not knowing how long he planned on obstructing my passage, or even which way he intended to go. After a couple of ham-fisted maneuvers, the Mustang was pointed in the same direction I was going. And in an attempt to extricate himself as quickly as possible, the rear tires spun as one was on the pavement and the other off on the grassy shoulder. The rear driver tire left a long black streak while the rear passenger tire threw up chunks of vegetation and sediment like a 400 yard-drive from John Daly. 

Littered with trash and trailers that looked to be right out of an episode of “Hoarders”, the area I was in would never be classified as economically thriving, so I was surprised to see the Mustang’s dual tailpipes. Typically, for this depressed demographic the standard is strictly four-cylinders, and the realization that it was a V8 Mustang instantly quickened my pulse with anticipation. Now, I just needed to see if he was game for a backwoods Grand Prix. I’ve mentioned in past articles that the State Troopers patrol the highways with an ardent Al Qaeda-like fervor, so felonious velocities are best left to less visible routes such as the one I was on. Ironically, these poorly maintained country roads are much more dangerous for high speed travel but are the only viable avenue for avoiding radar-enforced revenue generation.

Now a couple car-lengths behind the Mustang, I was able to recognize it as a first-generation SN95 model. That is, it was after the 87-93 vintage I owned, but before Ford’s controversial “New Edge” styling theme of the ‘99 model. Doing the math in my head, I knew that Ford had dropped the venerable 302 for a smaller 4.6-liter V8. And assuming it  was stock, I had the Stang’s 215 hp covered, but even with Stage 3, I couldn’t touch the tractor-like 285 lb-ft of torque.

We approached my turn-off, and I was sure he would go straight as almost everyone who travels this road does. But to my delight, he turned and then I spotted an older truck in front of us. I was endeavoring to determine if the Mustang was on his own, or was trying valiantly to catch up to friends in the truck. I was worried that may be the case and as such there would be no race. However, a short straightaway opened up and he gunned it to pass the truck, so I had my answer. I hastily judged the room I had to pass before the looming curve and went after him. The speed limit on the twisty back road was 45 mph, but I found that third gear (with a spread between 65-95 mph) was perfect. I’d never had a race in this area before and it was a wonderful opportunity to explore the acceleration, braking, and handling capabilities of my car.

At Christmas, when I had my left front tire off to change the transmission fluid, I noticed the factory rotor was developing a lip on it and needed to be replaced soon. I had received my new Akebono brake pads (the same as on the new $1 Million-dollar McLaren P1), but was still waiting on the cross-drilled rotors, so I didn’t want to push my brakes too hard. Yet even with that conservative approach in mind, it was evident that the Mustang was having to brake extremely early for curves while I could close the gap and brake a lot later. And while the Ford’s 17-inch tires were blessed with a slightly larger contact patch (245/45 versus my 215/45) it was also cursed with an extra 500 lbs of mass, much of it over the front wheels. 

A longer straightaway appeared and I could see the GT already accelerating, trying to maximize its head start. Alas, it wasn’t enough as I floored the throttle—and with seemingly elastic performance—reeled him in like a trophy bass. But the Mustang was conspicuously quiet, even under wide open-throttle, enough that it validated my earlier assessment of it being stock right down to the mufflers. At this point, I didn’t know what was more startling...that I was witnessing a Mustang GT devoid of the famous Flowmaster exhaust everyone and their cousin installs, or that it was the color of Tang, that awful powered beverage Astronauts drank in the 1970s. 

Like an automotive cat-and-mouse, we carried this pace up for another mile as he would squirm away and then a squeeze of my throttle would pull him back in. As mentioned in my initial ownership report (May 2010), the Red Line was GM’s first sport compact to benefit from high-speed development on Germany’s 14-mile-plus Nordschleife circuit that consists of 33 left turns, 40 right turns and 170 bends. And late last year, I installed the upgraded front and rear transmission mounts from the 2010 Cobalt SS Turbo. They were worth every penny here as despite the fast sweepers, the chassis stayed as smooth and flat as Nebraska. Conversely, given the way the Mustang was bobbing up and down on its springs like a dinghy in a hurricane, the Ford driver was not so fortunate. But then, he flipped on his blinker and took a fork in the road that led him away from my path home. I’m sure he had no idea what car was pursuing him; he probably thought it was a Lexus or some similar high-dollar import. Nevertheless, he found out the hard way that eight-cylinders don’t always beat four.

Once home, I googled the pumpkin pony I had dueled with and discovered some interesting facts: For starters, the paint is officially know as “Bright Tangerine” and only 829 Mustang GTs were sprayed that color in 1996. Such low production volume explains why I have never seen one that shade before, but after nearly twenty summers there was nothing “bright” about it. In fact, I would go so far as to describe it more along the lines of Sunset Orange, as the oxidation and fading had reduced the color to a dull luster. Let’s face it, that Mustang had probably not seen a can of car wax since it left the factory. And a test in Car and Driver of a similar ‘94 GT showed it galloping through the quarter in 14.9 seconds at 93 mph. Obviously, the Mustang would have fared better with my Ion when it was stock (14.7 @ 97 mph) but not by much--- at 130 mph, a stock 205 hp Ion would be almost ten seconds ahead (35.9 to 44.7). There’s a similar gap under hard braking too, as my Saturn stops from 70 mph in 162 feet as opposed to 179 for the Ford. With those numbers in hand, it’s obvious he never stood a chance against my 300 hp Saturn. 

Regardless, the impromptu race injected a fair bit of excitement into an otherwise dreary winter evening, even if it did blow my fuel economy for the week!

2006 Ford Freestyle 100,000-Mile Review

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

 

After adding an infant, car seat, and stroller to our four-door Saturn L300 we discovered that we needed more room. Although we had primarily driven GM cars (she had a Corsica and Cavalier, while I drove a slew of Saturns) we unanimously decided to look at Ford SUVs. I was partial to the popular Explorer, but on that Sunday afternoon at Coastal Ford, she spotted a new model called the Freestyle. While comparably priced with Ford’s larger SUV, the Freestyle was sleeker and looked like an Explorer that had been sculpted in a wind-tunnel. Since Coastal was closed, we ended up at Treadwell Ford where I had worked during the summer of ‘92. There we took back-to-back test drives in both the Explorer and Freestyle. The decision was undisputed given the Freestyle’s rigid unibody construction. It rode and handled like a midsize sedan, while the clunky body-on-frame Explorer bounced and crashed over bumps and pot-holes. And with post-Katrina gas prices skyrocketing, I was pleased the Freestyle used a V6 instead of a thirsty V8. So, on March 22, 2006 we picked up our new Ford Freestyle with just 4 miles on the odometer.

 

As with any new car, the first year with the Freestyle was a real honeymoon. We took multiple trips to New Orleans and Florida without so much as a hiccup, racking up over 1,000 miles per month. And despite recent warnings of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and health hazards, I enjoyed that new car smell, which my brother-in-law described as “the most expensive fragrance on earth”. Still, there were a couple small complaints early on which centered around the gas mileage and the brake dust. The window sticker stated that the EPA ratings were 20 MPG City and 27 MPG Highway, and I’ve never owned a vehicle that didn’t at least reach (or exceed) the highway mileage. So when numerous fill-ups averaged a disappointing 22 MPG,  I wrote it off as the new engine still breaking-in. However, I was more puzzled by the rear wheels which kept accumulating tons of brake dust. In reality, the fronts should have been dirty and the rear ones clean. At the 12,000-mile service, I asked Treadwell to have the rear brakes inspected, as was subsequently informed that they tested fine.

Roughly six-months later in September 2007, we were getting ready to pull out of our driveway when the Freestyle failed to move. Granted, it was a bizarre experience as it felt like the parking brake was stuck. No amount of throttle would budge it and with no other option, we called Ford’s Roadside Assistance. Then we waited for them to pick the vehicle up. And waited. And waited. And waited some more, until nearly five hours later the tow truck finally showed up. I didn’t know it then, but that was the first experience we had dealing with Ford’s terrible customer service and it wasn’t going to get any better. Not surprisingly, the culprit turned out to be the very brakes which I had asked them to check. They were seized up and replaced under warranty and I discovered it was an engineering fault that affected all the Freestyles produced up until that date.

Our Freestyle soldered on through 2008 and 2009 with no mechanical maladies, but even with some 40,000 miles under its belt, the fuel economy didn’t improve. Despite mostly highway mileage, we never saw more than a paltry 22 MPG, which lead me to surmise that I could have gotten an eight-cylinder Explorer and been no worse off.

Then, during a scorching July afternoon in 2010, the Freestyle suddenly lunged in the McDonald’s drive-thru like a great white after a seal, nearly rear-ending the poor Prius in front of it. My wife was puzzled and concerned as her foot had been firmly on the brake the entire time. I told her I would look into the “unintended acceleration” and see what I could determine. By this time, Ford had already discontinued the Freestyle under the excuse of poor sales. The truth was, it had class-leading sales in its segment but Ford had uncovered a much more serious engineering defect that it didn’t want being brought to light.

 

THE AMITYVILLE SUV

As I perused the online Freestyle forums in search of an answer to  a problem I had never seen before, a common thread emerged.  With the Freestyle being produced from 2005-2007, initial problems were few and far between during those early years. However, by 2010 more and more complaints began surfacing as these vehicles accumulated age and mileage. Terms such as “lurching” and “surging” were popping up an inordinate amount of times and they seemed to point to an issue with the Freestyle’s fancy drive-by-wire throttle. Basically, the Freestyle uses an electronic signal rather than a conventional cable or spring to tell the computer how much the throttle is open. Granted, this sounds great on paper but things don’t work like that 100% in the real world. It’s also unclear what was causing the throttle body to accrue carbon at such an accelerated rate, but our Freestyle’s throttle body looked like it had been sprayed with sticky black tar when I removed it at 49,000 miles. Furthermore, this wasn’t something that could be blamed on cheap gas—from the day we bought it, we only fueled up with Chevron or Exxon and every oil change I used a bottle of fuel system cleaner. I scrubbed the throttle body as best I could, but a lot of the carbon was literally burned on and no amount of carburetor cleaner or elbow grease was going to remove it. Regardless, the cool fall weather was approaching and the erratic behavior seemed to have stopped.

We naively forgot about the previous year’s problems for six-months until the 2011 Spring temperatures arrived and the frustrating problems returned. Other forum members had reported that a new throttle body fixed their same issue so I broke down and ordered a new $350 throttle body. There had been talk of a new non-heated design, so I was somewhat dismayed when I opened the box and realized that I already had the non-heated throttle body. This was my first hint that maybe a larger issue than just the throttle body was the culprit. Still, I dutifully installed the new unit hoping that it would correct the dangerous behavior.

A week went by before the problems returned and then it was clear that the throttle body was not the main offender. Since it was largely undriveable, we decided to take it to Coastal Ford in Mobile which was a lot closer than Treadwell. Once there, the technician diagnosed the problem as a faulty Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor. He claimed that using the free-flowing K&N air filter for the past five years and 50,000 miles had allowed so much grit to come in that it had basically sand-blasted the sensor rendering it unable to provide the correct air/fuel ratio thus causing the unreliable behavior. It certainly sounded plausible, but I wasn’t going to pay them $700 for the parts and labor when I had just shelled out $350 on a new throttle body. Instead, I paid the $100 diagnostic fee and then another $100 for the MAF sensor at AutoZone and replaced it myself.

Amanda was positive that the problem was corrected, but by this point I was still a little skeptical. Despite that, we set off for Spring Break and everything went great until our third day when the surging began again. Apparently angry that we had tried and failed to exorcise the mechanical demon, it returned with a vengeance. The instrument panel lit up like a Christmas tree which threw the Freestyle into a “Fail-Safe” mode and it wouldn’t accelerate above 40 mph. We limped the Freestyle back to Treadwell and picked up a rental car while they examined it.

SECRETS, LIES AND CVTs

The next day I received a call from the technician at Treadwell, and while he couldn’t tell me what the problem was, he did tell me what it needed: A new $7000 transmission.

Naturally, I was a little numb and also angry from the gravity of the statement. We had specifically bought the Freestyle new so we would not have to worry about repairs. But the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty was up and the transmission had died before even its first scheduled maintenance at 60,000. Something just didn’t add up. Granted, I’ve abused a lot of transmissions in my life and never had one fail, some with more than 200,000 miles on them. And here I was to believe that our five year-old Freestyle with just 58,000 miles on it suddenly needed a whole new transmission? That was ridiculous!

Since it was worthless without a transmission, my first thought was to tell Treadwell just to keep it. We still owed Ford Motor Credit almost $7000 on it, so they could have it back and we would just break-even and walk away. But cooler heads prevailed and I paid them $100 for yet another “diagnostic fee” and had it towed to a different Ford dealership, Estabrook in Pascagoula, MS. I had met a local Ford Master Mechanic online and he was willing to take a look it it for me. At this point, my hope was that the transmission could be salvaged and would not require a complete replacement.

Once at Estabrook, they started it up and were amazed to watch the Freestyle continue to lurch and surge when locked in park. Even the service manager came out to witness the eerie phenomenon and volunteered that he had never seen anything like that in his life. Soon thereafter, the technician, Matt, began tearing the transmission down and was optimistic about getting us back on the road. However, after several trouble-shooting phone calls with the actual Ford engineers in Dearborn, Michigan, he wasn’t quite so hopeful.

After sitting at three different Ford dealers, countless hours, and hundreds of dollars later, the problem was finally pinpointed as the Mechatronics unit in the transmission. This computer “brain” of the transmission was on the fritz and during warm weather would overheat sending conflicting signals that would cause the vehicle to react violently. One of the chief selling points of the Freestyle was the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that promised to be quieter, smoother, and more fuel-efficient than a standard automatic transmission. And I’ll admit that the operation was pretty slick too– with an infinitely-adjustable range of gears, you just press the gas and it goes with no bumpy upshifts or downshifts. Given the quick and seamless power, I hit 90 mph during our test drive of a white Freestyle without even trying. But none of that matters if it’s not reliable.

Matt said the good news was that the Mechatronics unit could be replaced for around $1800, but because the problem went undiagnosed so long, there was substantial damage from the gears slamming back and forth. As such, he couldn’t guarantee that it would even work with a new Mechatronics unit in it. He prognosis was to simply replace the whole transmission. I thanked him and left Estabrook $400 lighter, the cost for tearing down the transmission. I then paid $100 to have the Freestyle towed to my personal mechanic’s shop while I looked for a new CVT.

Finally, my luck seemed to be improving as I found a low-mileage CVT from a wrecked Freestyle near Dallas, Texas. The CVT only had 21,000 miles on it and was from a 2007 model so I jumped on it for $2400. Within a couple days it was drop-shipped on my mechanic’s door, and after another $1000 in parts and labor, the Freestyle was on the road again. With that behind me, it was time to turn my attention to how and why the CVT failed with just 58,000 miles on it.

As I began inquiring on the Freestyle message boards, a lot more owners came forward with similar CVT problems. A lucky few were fortunate and had paid for extended warranties that covered their CVTs, but the majority like myself were left to either fix or forfeit their Freestyles. In my defense, I shouldn’t have to pay a couple thousand dollars for an extended warranty on a new vehicle that doesn’t even require the spark plugs or antifreeze changed until 100,000 miles. My father drove cars for 70 years and never had a transmission fail. And given the complexity and scarceness of the CVT, not just any one could work on them. It quickly became evident that there was a genuine problem with the long-term reliability of Ford’s CVT and mine wasn’t just a fluke. Of that camp, two prevailing scenarios emerged: Owners were either experiencing issues with the Mechatronics Unit (like mine) whereby the gears were shredded like metal cole slaw, or a foundry issue that scored the input shaft thereby hand-grenading the internal components after a random amount of miles.

Naturally, Ford absolved themselves of any responsibility for this and have done their very level best to sweep it under the rug. Initially, I don’t believe Ford was aware of the CVT’s quality-control issues when it went on sale in late 2004 as a 2005 model. But as the CVT problems came to the forefront over the next 24 months, Ford attempted to quickly distance themselves from it by dropping the troublesome CVT for a conventional automatic in the 2008 Freestyle (which was strangely renamed the Taurus X). By 2009, Ford was washing its hands of prior Freestyle owners so it could focus on rebadging the Freestyle as the 2011 Explorer, which coincidentally does not have a CVT either. Despite two unsuccessful class-action lawsuits over the CVT, Ford has vehemently denied any wrongdoing with the Freestyle. However, multiple class-action lawsuits over the throttle body have forced Ford to issue a retroactive recall on them. So does that mean I got reimbursed for the $350 throttle body I bought three years ago? Absolutely not! My warranty claim was refused because I replaced the throttle body myself and did not have the procedure done at an authorized dealer.

THE AFTERMATH

Two years and 42,000-miles later, the Freestyle is still chugging along only slightly worse for the wear. Shortly after the CVT was swapped in 2011, the original Continental tires were down to the wear bars and had to be replaced. Regardless, 65,000 on the factory tires is a new record for the Adams’ household so I can’t complain. The same can be said for the original battery which also expired shortly thereafter. I replaced the tires with B.F. Goodrich Touring T/As and the battery with a new Motorcraft Premium unit. With the tires warrantied for 85,000 miles and the battery pro-rated for 8 years, neither should have to be changed under our care again.  

And not surprisingly, a few minor problems have cropped up: The intake manifold gasket has started to leak periodically, dripping hot oil onto the exhaust pipe. It’s too small to notice a visible leak so I’ve declined the $450 to fix it. Another $400 repair is the fuel sender unit in the gas tank. Once or twice a year it sticks, making the gas gauge drop to empty. But since thankfully neither affect the drivability like the CVT did, I’m in no rush to throw more money at them.

However, a current expense has been for the air-conditioning compressor which was blowing only warm air. The dealer quoted us a price of $2,000 for a new compressor and to recharge the system, but I managed to replace the scroll-valve in the compressor for $30 and completely fix the problem. The take-away lesson from this is that the stealership would rather sell you a new part than fix an existing one. 

 

Over the summer we spent a week with a 2013 Chrysler Town & Country minivan driving it 2,500 miles round-trip to Washington D.C. and it gave me a new appreciation for the Freestyle. Over the hilly sections of North Carolina and Virginia, the constant upshifts and downshifts of the Chrysler’s conventional automatic really emphasized how smooth a CVT can be when it’s working properly.

Finally, as I was wrapping this article up, it was brought to my attention that the Freestyle needed new brake pads and rotors, a not-insignificant amount that totaled $500. But unlike the fuel sender unit or intake manifold gasket, it’s not a repair that could be postponed. And with news of the Freestyle’s transmission woes torpedoing resale values (a dealer recently offered us just $3600) it’s worth more to keep it than trade it for such an insulting pittance.   

Looking back over the past 100,000-miles of ownership, it’s a real shame about the rear brakes and CVT which were clearly faulty from the factory. And given the whole CVT ordeal, I’ve understandably lost all faith in Ford as a company, as have the majority of Freestyle customers. After owning a 1986 Bronco II, 1990 Mustang GT and now the Freestyle, this is the end of the road for my loyalty to Ford.

Barber Motorsports Park

I was recently in Birmingham on business, so I took the opportunity to (finally) drop by Barber Motorsports Park. Primarily know for its motorcycle museum, I had declined prior visits since I’m not very keen on two-wheeled vehicles. But, I noticed that according to our GPS, it was only 10 miles from the Grandview Marriott where we were staying. However, according to the website, the admission to the museum for my wife, daughter, and myself was $40 which seemed a little steep. After all, that’s how much we paid the day before at the Birmingham Zoo, and Victoria got to feed the parakeets and ride a camel. So, given my frugal nature, I decided to drive the ten miles there and then determine if I thought it warranted the admission price.

Since you can’t drop a race track in the middle of Birmingham, it had to be built in a more rural setting and getting there can be a little confusing. For instance, you head out of Birmingham on I-20, passing through Irondale. Incidentally, Irondale is home to the Irondale Café which was the inspiration for the popular southern move, Fried Green Tomatoes. In fact, it remains open and still serves roughly 60-70 pounds of fried green tomatoes everyday. But since we had just eaten what seemed like 60-70 pounds of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, we decided to bypass it. Next, we entered the tiny town of Leeds, which is what the official merchandise  lists as the location for Barber Motorsports Park. However, after a couple miles of rural roads, you eventually come across a sign that states that you are entering into Birmingham again. Despite that, I’m happy to admit that all is forgiven once you gaze upon the magnificent glass and steel facility. Set inside an emerald-green forest of Loblolly pines, it looks like a mirage, like discovering a beautiful oasis in the middle of the Sahara. Even my wife, who typically despises cars for anything other than shopping trips, agreed that it looked worthy of the admission price. 

Exit to Eden

George W. Barber Jr. traces his success back to his father who started the dairy business in Alabama during the height of the Great Depression. Over the next few decades, Barber’s business grew and today it’s the oldest dairy in Alabama. I can vividly recall drinking Barber’s Chocolate Milk in grade school and even now, the brand has a 92% recognition rate. This success helped subsidize Barber’s love for motorcycles and in 1988 he began the journey of moving his private collection into a permanent museum. As fate would have it, I actually enjoyed a private viewing of Barber’s collection in 1994 when it was housed in a non-descript building in downtown Birmingham. The occasion was a Ferrari meet and Barber had graciously hosted our dinner there. Later that year, he opened it up to the public before building the new complex in 2003. Even with charitable exemptions, it’s been estimated that Barber invested $54 million of his own personal fortune to fund the park.  

Last year, Barber Motorsports Park celebrated it's tenth anniversary and has quickly developed a reputation as a world-class operation. It’s hosted the Porsche Sport Driving School since opening, was used for filming of the new Need For Speed movie, and was instrumental in developing the new $75,000 Camaro Z/28. In fact, the week before we arrived, the Guinness Book of World Records organization was there, presenting the museum with the award for the world's largest collection of vintage and contemporary motorcycles. That official count was 1,398 but one of the security guards mentioned that there are another “80 to 90” stashed away in the basement. He said plans are to hopefully build another room to display them in the future. It’s hard to believe that with 5 levels in the Museum they don’t have enough room, but a quick look confirms that floor space here is rarer than Tokyo real estate.

We arrived on a Tuesday afternoon and had the entire museum to ourselves except for two other visitors. One was an American, about my age, but of slighter build. We briefly chatted and it was clear he was not very knowledgeable about exotic cars. The other attendee asked me to take his picture in front of one of the motorcycles. He volunteered that he was from Guatemala and that it had taken him 17 days to get here. That’s not surprising since the park drew 270,000 visitors last year and offers exhibits from more than 16 countries.

Aside from all the motorcycles (of which a significant portion are Harley Davidson), it’s clear Barber is also enamored with Lotus. There are no fewer than 60 of these, making the Barber Museum also the world’s largest collection of Lotus race cars. Upon viewing all of them, I lamented to my wife that I certainly wished he had been as passionate about Ferraris. That notwithstanding, there was one Ferrari present, a pristine, silver 1972 Dino 246 GT. The previously unloved Dino has become something of an overnight success story for lucky owners recently. Ferrari purists originally scorned the Dino due to its perceived lack of pedigree, which was punctuated by a lowly six-cylinder and a missing “Ferrari” name plate. However, the past few years have seen the prices skyrocket faster than shares of Telsa stock. Even into the late 1980s, a Dino could be bought for close to its original MSRP of $14,500. But now, concours-quality examples are trading for $500,000, representing one of the best Ferrari investments of all time. 

Barber also has a strong relationship with retired British Formula 1 driver, John Surtees. Surtees holds the unique distinction of being the only person in the world to win a Grand Prix championship on both a motorcycle and a car. As such, there are several showcases devoted to him including a classic Ferrari 158, the vehicle in which he won the F1 World Championship in 1964. Unfortunately, the Ferrari had been shipped to Europe to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the championship, so it was sadly not on display.

The actual 2.38-mile race course and its 16 turns is where the real fun begins. The surrounding 740 acres are as beautifully maintained and manicured as Augusta’s fairway. To that end, the painstaking detail extends to the use of a diamond grinder to smooth the surface of the track after each season ends. This tedious process helps prolong the life of the track as well as add grip for the vehicles that race there. 

The day we visited, the track was closed and security was tight. Did I mention that the guards actually carry firearms? The 1-day Porsche High Performance Driving School costs $1,800 or roughly what a family of three could expect for a week’s stay at Disney World. Those courses offered culminate in a 2-day, $12,000 package more suited for professional racers than weekend amateurs. But it does include track time in a Porsche 911 Turbo and GT3 Cup Car which almost makes it worth it. However, the real highlight of my visit came from watching the new Porsche Macan being exercised on the track. I was told that a group of journalists were in town to do a story on the new Porsche SUV and were spending the day lapping the course in it.

Originally, Porsche’s smaller new SUV was called the “Cajun”, which many thought was an Acadian follow-up to it’s successful Cayenne model. That begged the question if future models might be christened the “Tabasco” or “Coonass”, but it turned out that “Cajun” was a clever portmanteau of “Cayenne” and  “Junior”. Porsche claims that “Macan” was sourced from the Indonesian term for tiger. Unfortunately, their hopes of a dazzling model introduction with real tigers has turned into a Donald Sterling-sized PR nightmare. The hullabaloo began when PETA got wind of Reeves Porsche in Tampa, Florida using three week-old tiger cubs to promote the SUV. Concerned for the cubs’ welfare, PETA contacted Porsche officials who agreed to suspend the whole affair, including an event at Hennessey Porsche in Atlanta with a full-grown tiger.

Regardless, the Macan is a hit in Europe and the Middle East, selling 2,000 units in its first month. It officially goes on sale in North American this summer and seems a perfect fit for the white-hot U.S. crossover market. Based on the Audi Q5, the Macan is the first Porsche to utilize a four-cylinder since the 1995 968. However, Porsche enthusiasts desiring more can opt for a 400hp Turbo model that lives up to the marquee’s legacy.

I’m sure there are not many places in the world that offer a first-rate racing facility in such a remote location. In fact, Barber must have been quite a salesman to convince stoic Porsche execs to open their premier driving school in backwater Leeds. I can only imagine the horror on their German faces when they first landed, smack dab between such redneck afflictions as the giant Bass Pro Shop and Rusty’s Bar-B-Q (Motto: We Smoke The Good Stuff!). They must have thought their plane went down faster than Lynyrd Skynyrd’s and they ended up in Hillbilly Hell. Despite that, the improbable business marriage between American Dairy Magnate and Teutonic Automaker has been wildly successful. The museum is cleaner than some hospitals I’ve visited and the on-track activities make it a Disney World for adults. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend visiting it. The breathtaking inventory alone is worth the price of admission.

 

 

 

Saturn Ion Stage 2 Dyno

It’s been hit or miss for the past year as I’ve been trying to line-up a day to take the Red Line in for an updated dyno reading. My first (and last) dyno was in November 2010, just a few months after I had bought it. Save for a drop-in K&N air filter, it was bone stock and it blew 238 horsepower and 209 torque through the factory catalytic converter. Dyno readings can be a little confusing because they measure horsepower at the wheels. But when a manufacturer quotes their horsepower for a certain model, they always use the power developed at the flywheel. This creates better advertising since flywheel horsepower is before drivetrain losses and is usually about 15% higher. For instance, the new 2015 Subaro WRX STi is advertised as having 305 hp but dynoed at 247 hp. Now, the 15% is a standardized formula and no two engines behave exactly the same, but the 15% correction factor is widely recognized as the most accurate way to calculate the difference between power made at the flywheel and the drive wheels.

With that fuzzy math in place, my stock Red Line produced 273 flywheel hp, some 68 more that the factory estimate of 205. Granted, that is quite a bit more but GM’s guilty of famously underrating engines in the past for insurance reasons, and several other stock Red Lines have dynoed similar numbers. In fact, a dyno chart provided by GM even shows the RL’s power curve peaking around 6000 rpm and declining thereafter. On my last dyno, there is no peak, just a continued upward trajectory until the 6500 rpm redline when the rev-limiter cuts fuel to the engine. The Stage 2 upgrade raises the redline to 7000 rpm allowing the engine to continue making power. Larger injectors (42 lb vs. 34 lb) and a lighter, smaller supercharger pulley (Aluminum 2.9 in. vs. Cast Iron 3.35 in.) supply the necessary fuel and air. Finally, a long-tube header replaces the restrictive exhaust manifold and catalytic converter to help evacuate the spent gases as fast as possible.

But what these mechanical ministrations add up to have been quite a mystery until now. GM claims an increase of 36 hp for the Stage 2 package, but a dyno test by Modified Magazine demonstrated only a gain of 24 hp. And as for the long tube header, Modern Performance tested it and came away with a peak reading of 8 hp.

The Friday before the dyno test was Valentine’s Day, and I was in Wal-Mart buying seven quarts of Mobil 1 so I would have fresh oil for the punishing dyno runs. In front of me was a whole herd of henpecked husbands dutifully buying discounted flowers and cheap chocolates. When it was my turn to checkout, I placed the motor oil on the counter and quipped, “This is what I’m buying my wife for Valentine’s!” as loudly as possible. The elderly sales clerk stopped, looked at me, and then responded, “You can buy that for her, but I sure wouldn’t recommend it!”

With the bipolar weather the South has recently been cursed with, Monday dawned bright and balmy. Naturally, I was hoping for some of the chilly weather we had experienced the week before, since cooler air is more supercharger-friendly but that was not the case. I made the ten minute-drive to Johnson Motorsports (JMS), and in the nearly 35 years I’ve been in Hurley, it remains the sole significant place that I can brag about living close to. Everything else requires a minimum thirty minute drive east, south or west. 

Housed in a non-descript metal building with a barbed-wire fence, JMS is one of the premier aftermarket tuning facilities in the world. Yet, given the unassuming outward appearance you would never know it. The only tip-off is a small sign out front and a steady stream of high-performance cars that pack it’s parking lot. On the day I was there, it was mostly Mustangs, some of which had come from as far away as Louisiana and Tennessee. But the previous week, there was an exotic Ford GT that had been massaged to produce 1100 hp, or roughly double what it originally came with. A retina-searing Chrome Yellow with black racing stripes, it looked like it was going 200 mph just sitting still. Amazingly, it still had the stock clutch and was only now in for a stronger replacement. With an MSRP of $150,000 and just 4,000 built between 2004-2006, it remains the only modern Ford immune to depreciation.

Prior to the dyno runs, the mechanics had some problems getting my car properly lined up. Monty Johnson, the owner, admitted that front wheel-drive cars tend to move around on the dyno and as such, he’s much more comfortable with an 800 hp rear wheel-drive car than a 300 hp front wheel-drive car. Before the first pull, I asked him to observe a 6500 rpm limit so we could see where the air/fuel mixture was. Like all Saturns, the Red Line runs rich from the factory as a safety feature. The stock dyno runs illustrated this when the air/fuel ratio dipped into the 10s during the test. Ideally, you want a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio (14.7:1) off idle and cruising, and a leaner (11.8:1) under wide-open throttle. However, by running an unorthodox 2.9 supercharger pulley, I’m taking a risk that the fuel injectors might not be able to keep up with the demand as the engine reaches it’s 7000 rpm redline. And a lack of adequate fuel at such a stratospheric limit could potentially end with a catastrophic failure (i.e. blown engine). 

When my Saturn was finally ready for the first tentative run, it looked like an open-heart patient. With the hood popped, there were no fewer than three thick cables running from the engine bay: The first was the cable intercepting the tachometer signal, the second was to read the air/fuel mixture and the third one was new, a cable they had to splice-in which could display the supercharger’s boost (PSI).

Monty started my car, commenced giving it gas, and the front wheels began slowly turning the huge drums. He methodically shifted through the first three gears before he flattened the accelerator in fourth. The engine began rising to a crescendo, and it was here that I fully understood how much louder it was without the sound-deadening properties of the cast-iron exhaust manifold and the catalytic converter. It was roaring like Hurricane Isaac and in the small enclosed shed, it sounded akin to a giant circular saw slicing through sheet metal. After a seeming eternity, Monty lifted at 6500 rpm and I stole a glance at the monitor which read 269 hp and 242 tq, increases of 31 hp and 33 tq over stock. He also pointed out that the supercharger had made a maximum boost of 18.5 PSI, quite an improvement over the factory 12 PSI.   

After studying the air/fuel ratio and determining it was safe to press on, Monty was convinced there was more left in the final 500 rpm. Unfortunately, he didn’t allow it any time to cool down and these cars are notorious for heat soak. The second run, Monty took it to an ear-drum shattering 7000 rpm but maximum power dropped to 266 indicating that the extreme temperatures were causing the engine to pull timing on the top-side.

He immediately moved a mobile air conditioner in front of the radiator to pump cooling air into it, and directed a huge fan to blow on the engine. He came back in ten minutes for the final run, even though after four years of driving it, I knew it was no where near cool enough.  

Regardless, he pushed the engine until it bounced off the rev-limiter at 7100 rpm, but it paid off as it spun the rollers to 270 hp (or 310 flywheel) from 20.3 PSI of boost. Personally, I was hoping for 275 at the wheels, and I think that was attainable had the weather been more conducive and it was given enough time to cool down. For instance, the conditions during my first dyno in November 2010 were much drier and cooler. 

That notwithstanding, Monty and the mechanics present agreed that it was still a heroic output for a stock 2.0-liter engine originally designed twelve years ago. Current engines such as the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in the Focus ST benefit from new technologies such as direct-injection and variable valve-timing that help boost horsepower. But even tested the same week at JMS, a friend’s tuned 2013 Focus ST only made 241 to the wheels. Monty also mused how far four-cylinders had come with mine as it makes the same horsepower as a 2010 Mustang GT V8, but weighs 1000 lbs less. I also told him not to forget that it gets 30 mpg, a feat no supercar can replicate at any price. In fact, following the three wide-open throttle runs from idle to redline, it still turned in 28 mpg at the next fill up. Click the picture below for the full, record-setting dyno run.