Top Speed

Ford has released that the 2020 Shelby GT500 will be electronically limited to 180 mph.  So does that mean that my 2014 GT500 wins?? It goes to 200 mph.  :P

Am I Trading my 2014 Shelby for a 2020 Shelby GT500?

So the new 2020 Shelby GT500 has been announced and it’s coming with 700+ horsepower as we’ve all heard.  So many people have been asking me, “Chad, are you going to trade in your ’14 GT500 for the new hotness?” The answer is pretty easy.  No.  My 2014 GT500 taught me a lot about high speed, high horsepower cars. 

One is that cars are no fun if you can’t connect that power to the road.  Having a car that constanstantly smoke the tires sounds awesome until you realize that’s about all they can do.  My GT500 with its 662hp can roast a set of tires in multiple gears but it’s hard as hell to launch.  So when you’re lined up next to someone you really have to count on the supercharger to pull you out of the hole because you most likely aren’t going to win the launch.

So what if the 2020 GT500 has amazing launch control?  Then would I get one?  Still no.  My current GT500 is freakin’ fast .  It claims 0 – 60 in 3.5 sec, a quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds, and a top speed of 200 mph.  None of that can be experienced when I pull it out of the garage on a sunny day.  Mainly I just experience the excruciating frustration of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic with very few openings to actually enjoy what the car was built to do.  Certainly there could be track days I suppose but the closest drag strip is over two hours away and requires driving across Toronto.

My 2014 Shelby GT500 is a really cool car with incredible abilities that I never get a chance to use.  It mainly sits in the garage which is exactly what the 2020 GT500 would do if I bought it.  There was a time I really craved having the highest horsepower machine I could buy.  I was drooling for it, but then I got it and it was all a bit of a letdown.  On the other hand my 2017 Focus RS is an absolute blast and a car I can have a lot of fun with no matter where I’m driving it.

So I’ve kind of learned my lesson.  I’m sure the 2020 GT500 is going to be incredible, it certainly sounds incredible but I’m going to let it pass.  I’ll still be interested what others think of it though.

Do Police Have a New Trick Up Their Sleeve to Catch Speeders?

Last month I took a long road trip from Toronto to Iowa to visit family.  I drove the Focus RS and was sure to bring my radar detector which is an Escort Passport 9500ix.  Along the way I got the normal chirps for X band warnings which are usually not important as well as some Ka & K band warnings that are usually the police.  My detector also has GPS to warn of common police hiding spots and speed/red light cameras.  So I feel I’m pretty well covered.  Many times during the trip I would get very aggressive warnings which were usually caused but those speed warning signs they put up next to construction zones.  You know the, “Your Speed is….” warnings.  Everything seemed to be working well.  I still keep an eye out but I’m certainly more relaxed when I’m using it.

However there were three times during the trip that the highway patrol was out in force.  Many patrol cars not even trying to hide pointing the radar guns right at the oncoming traffic but my detector didn’t even chirp.  What the hell?  Not even a sound.  If the officers were using laser my detector warns about that too (often too late) but it does warn me.  Are they using something new?

I went to the Escort website and looked at their top of the line model.  The Escort Max 360c is $599, connects to wi-fi connected ability as well as linking to your smartphone the thing seems really advanced.  But just like mine it covers X, K, Ka, & Laser bands, with no sign of a new band.  I’ve emailed Escort about this and have yet to hear back.

Here in Ontario radar detectors are illegal and believe me the police look for them.  If you are caught you are fined and the device is confiscated.  Because of this reason I only use mine in “dark mode” and at night.  But in light of my last trip I feel much less secure and wonder if it’s even worth the risk if its missing something.

I'll update when I know more.

I've Posted My 2014 Shelby GT500 FOR SALE

I’ve decided to finally put my triple black 2014 GT500 up for sale.  As I say in the ad it’s a very nice, very fast car that sits in my garage and does nothing.  So why do I have it?  I’ve posted it as $69,000 but that is negotiable.  I'm really just looking to get the loan paid off and out of my hair.

 

It’s stock expect for a few small cosmetic additions like headlight covers and fender scoops added by the previous owner.  It has the supercharged 5.8L rated at 662hp. There is really nothing wrong with it but the front spoiler is scratched up I assume from driveways, they were there when I got it.

I’ve really enjoyed the car.  It’s one of those vehicles that no matter how much you drive it you still get butterflies before starting it up.  Here in Canada we don’t get enough nice days to justify having a rear-wheel drive monster which is why my daily is the Focus RS.

If you're interest I'm in the Greater Toronto Area here in Ontario.  You can view the ad posting HERE

Car Mechanic Simulator 2018

As some of you may or may not know my day job is a game developer.  In my free time I also play around making gaming videos but so far it’s not really popular.  Recently I wanted to give YouTube streaming a try and also wanted to give the game Car Mechanic 2018 a try so I did. 

Is it fun to watch someone work on a virtual car??  Is it like watching someone do virtual taxes?  Well you be the judge.  haha

Barrie Ford Really Disappointed Me

UPDATE:  This morning I received a message from Barrie Ford about my negative service review and it succeeded to make me more upset than I was.  It was from service guy Brian.  Brian was very upset not that I had a bad experience but that my review reflects badly on him.  Brian said, "I wasn't there when you picked up your car but I'm in charge of your service ticket so it reflects on me." 

The survey I received wasn't asking, "How did Brian do?" The survey asked, "How did Barrie Ford do?" If Brian is in charge of my service ticket then Barrie Ford must expect Brian to make it right either by calling the customer and apologizing &/or talking to the people that were there when I picked up my car and explaining they screwed up.  Brian should NOT be calling me up as if I did something wrong by giving a bad review.

I'm not asking for money back. I'm not asking for something free.  I'm just asking for Barrie Ford admit their fault and say they are sorry.  I'm not an elitist, I don't expect the dealer to kiss my butt when I come to visit because I have performance cars.  I just want them to care for the cars as much as I do.  I want to get my car back and have a feeling it was well looked after.  I did not feel this way when I picked up my car.  I felt like I was another person they needed to get out the door.

Last Wednesday I took my Focus RS into the Barrie Ford dealership because of the head gasket recall.  Barrie isn't close to where I live, it's about an hour from my home and several hours from my work. They had to do a pressure test and kept it overnight.  In the morning informed me that it failed the test and needed the head gasket replaced.  They offered a rental car but I said I’d just drive my Shelby.  Monday afternoon I received a call that it was ready for pickup  So they had the car 6 days.

I arrived Tuesday afternoon and when they brought the car around it was a mess, covered in dirt, water spots, and bird poop.  It also didn’t have a full tank of gas.  What they hell?  Where is the customer service?  I take my car in for a recall so something Ford screwed up.  I don’t use the rental service so saving them money and they don’t even wash off the bird poop??

Mechanically it seems sort of okay.  However since I got it back it seems to sputter a lot when you first start it until the revs drop.  We'll see if that develops into something bad.  Also I asked, "The head gasket change required they change the oil didn't it?" The guy said, "I dunno." "Well is there anything I need to watch out for or should a take it easy for a few miles?" He said, "I don't know. I didn't work on it."  WTF???

Barrie Ford is the only SVT dealership in my area so I suppose they suck up more to the higher paying customers but I bought the high priced Focus RS from them and I have a Shelby GT500 that I might want to trade for another someday.  But after this experience I REALLY don’t know if I will be returning to buy from them.

The GT500 has an airbag recall to fulfill and I haven’t decided if I’m going to take it there or not.  On the one hand it costs them money for free fixes so that’s nice but do I want them touching my Shelby??

My girlfriend has a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander and her dealership in Newmarket is really awful.  They talk down to her, talk her into doing unnecessary repairs, tell her they fixed something when they didn't, etc but even they always wash her car when they give it back.  lol

Newmarket Ontario Car Show June 10th

Think I'm going to pay this car show a visit and grab some nice car photos for Instagram.  Anyone else going?