fhturner

Okay, so you want to know how a Mercury Grand Marquis, loaded down w/ 4 adult occupants, handles on a road course??? Well, feast your eyes to this video of the Corvette-eclipsing Merc makin' laps at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend!

Grand Marquis @ Barber Motorsports Park!

Slalom4me

Answers the question 'What do troopers do in their spare time.'

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vette6aut0x

Fred, great video! We all had a great time at Barbers this weekend.I forgot to ask you if you were going to help at the PCA event? I think it is the same weekend as the time trials. David.

vette6aut0x

I will bet you they can't drive the car like he does!

fhturner

Hey Dave!

As long as my garage isn't filled w/ a large oil puddle right now, I'll figure on running PCA. Hell, that's the last event at Barber until September, so I guess I have to run it! I believe the TT is the weekend before.

No doubt! Funniest part is how he intentionally throws the car into the turns to get the *** end to slide out! Might be the most hilarious thing I've seen on a racetrack...

P.S. Thanks for takin' my car out for shakedown laps...I know you hated having to do it!

larryfs

I took skip barber 20 years ago. They took us out in a 9 passenger van as an introduction, and the driver was faster than any car out there.

xsiveone

What was the deal with that car? I haven't been to a DE yet that allowed someone to have rear passengers.

One time I was paddocked next to a guy with a beautiful M-B S Class AMG. I wanted to go for a ride in the back seat of it around the track, but it was against the rules. They were pretty lax rules too for a DE.

Slalom4me

Same rules at my events - for participants.

Instructors have been permitted to carry multiple occupants.

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Slalom4me

I'd be curious to hear about the various fluid temperatures.

Judging by the tail lights, the driver was judicious with brake
applications.

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vette6aut0x

I was one of the insructors at this event. All of the passengers in the car were instructors including the driver. Also it was the last run group of the day. The instructor driving is very good. It was approved by track management also. I have been to many different track events where multiple passengers were allowed. I see it no different than going to driving school where they put you in a van and take fast laps around a track as part of their teaching.

Slalom4me

Perhaps it would be timely to discuss the rationale behind restricting
participants to lap either solo or with an instructor, not with third-party
occupants.

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fhturner

Yeah, as Dave said, this particular outing was not typical for the event, had specific approval from the event's chief instructor and track management, and was only allowed during the last 15 minutes of the last session. In fact, they were required to sit in Grid for about 7-8 minutes while waiting for 4:45pm to roll around... What a riot tho!

BTW, don't ya just love him honking as we entered the track (my role as "filming chase car" had been previously established)?!

VetteDrmr

That was an absolute hoot to watch! I wonder if that GM had the "sport suspension" option?

Thanks for sharing; that was the funniest part of my day today!

Have a good one,
Mike

No Go

I can recall 10 years ago during a NASA Track Day event at Laguna Seca...a turbo Volvo Wagon with 4 helmeted folks on board passed us in my GTI...embarrassment? No...I was too busy laughing.

I thought that was great. I think more the merrier...be fun to take 3 non drivers for rides...but then again...passengers do just get in the way. :-)

xsiveone

Ok.. This leads to my next question. Why would anyone that tracks a car want a Mercury Grand Marquis? I can't stand a car that doesn't handle.

vette6aut0x

Well, beleave it or not, the car does handle well considering the weight and size of the car. Before one passes judgement one might want to ride in the thing. It really doesn't handle all that bad.

VetteDrmr

Well, I have a Crown Vic, which is the same platform. It's a great family car, it pulls my 3500' ski boat with no problems, it's about as reliable as they come (last one went almost 300K miles before I got sick of it, original engine, one tranny replacement), gets decent mileage, and is cheap to buy.

A heck of a lot better "compromise" car than a pickup.

That said, *none* of Ford's other cars come close to the quality/engineering solution that the CV/GM/Town Car platforms provide.

Have a good one,
Mike

fhturner

Can you say "rental"? Actually, I know it's gotta be a hoot to ride in, and even though it is rather piggish, it certainly gets a good laugh from everybody. It's not something I would do myself, but I do think it is hilarious and a fascinating thing to see!

0Randy@DRM

Now that is driving a slow car fast!!!!
Randy

fhturner

Bet yer ***! Oh, almost forgot-- he reprogrammed the computer to adjust the shift points and give the motor more pop... LOL!