Thank you Nick and Mike Anderson

I'm thankful for the opportunity to have purchased my 2020 GT500 from you. Yesterday was a great day.

For anyone here that doesn't know Nick, his family runs a Ford dealership in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. I had the pleasure of meeting Nick and his father there yesterday and left with an Oxford White beast. I'm still a zombie after spending more than a day traveling there and back to Upstate, NY. I was in a hurry to beat some nasty weather and it somehow worked as planned. I'll share more after some cognitive function returns but this was how it played out in a nutshell.

The car was manufactured a couple of months ago at the Flat Rock plant.

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Once produced, it sat there for about a month. It finally shipped via railcar to the Voltz yard in Missouri where it then had a "Hold" placed on it from Ford meaning it would be a prisoner there for some time. After another month of sitting, Nick was successful in getting mine and another member's car out of there and to his dealership. Shots from the prison yard...

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I planned on flying in and driving home some time ago but the delays here pushed me from November to the end of December to mid January. Mother nature had to cooperate as there was no way I was driving home (1,000 miles from MO to NY) in snow or on ice. I saw a two day window where temps looked to be either right at freezing or slightly above so I quickly got a ticket and flew out yesterday, early in the morning. When I landed there was snow on the ground at the airport but some afternoon sun turned much of it to water. Anyway, it was a good day, albeit a long one. Nick and his father made it one of the most enjoyable buying experiences of my lifetime.


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And now at home...

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The answer I'm getting from FP is that they were supposed to be in the car, but were accidentally left out of A LOT of cars. Still waiting to hear how I can get you this mysterious box.
Nick @13COBRA you think I can get one of those mysterious boxes too. It would be nice if Ford got them out before I go to Barber in April.
Don’t need front license plate holder.
 
Well, Nick made this happen. Tonight I received a box of camber plates as well as the front license plate bracket that never came with the car. My next Ford will absolutely again be coming from his dealership in Missouri.

Thanks Nick. I truly appreciate you following through with this.

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Well, Nick made this happen. Tonight I received a box of camber plates as well as the front license plate bracket that never came with the car. My next Ford will absolutely again be coming from his dealership in Missouri.

Thanks Nick. I truly appreciate you following through with this.

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Glad they FINALLY got to you.

Now, installing them will give you something to do this weekend!
 
I have 3 out of four CFTP springs as they have been slow to come out of Ford, the CFTP rear bar, and am working on seeing how I can get the CFTP Vehicle Dynamics Module calibration loaded to replace my Base calibration - it's a bit tricky. If I can get the module reprogrammed I'll also get the CFTP struts/shocks. If not, I won't try to change calibrations and so no commensurate damper change. So once either plan takes shape, I can do the plates as it would make sense to do them at the same time.
 
I have 3 out of four CFTP springs as they have been slow to come out of Ford, the CFTP rear bar, and am working on seeing how I can get the CFTP Vehicle Dynamics Module calibration loaded to replace my Base calibration - it's a bit tricky. If I can get the module reprogrammed I'll also get the CFTP struts/shocks. If not, I won't try to change calibrations and so no commensurate damper change. So once either plan takes shape, I can do the plates as it would make sense to do them at the same time.

Sounds like you have plenty to do haha

Here I was bitching because I had to pull the seat in my ACR and move it on the track 2" then reinstall.
 
I have 3 out of four CFTP springs as they have been slow to come out of Ford, the CFTP rear bar, and am working on seeing how I can get the CFTP Vehicle Dynamics Module calibration loaded to replace my Base calibration - it's a bit tricky. If I can get the module reprogrammed I'll also get the CFTP struts/shocks. If not, I won't try to change calibrations and so no commensurate damper change. So once either plan takes shape, I can do the plates as it would make sense to do them at the same time.

@Tob,
Have you confirmed that the struts are different between the base and CFTP?
 
They have different part numbers.

I spent some time speaking to a gentleman (that posts here) that helped me with some As-Built code before. He has spent considerable time testing GT350/R dampers along with DSC's Sport Controller (programmed and test-driven over 225 different calibration files with it as of 2018). We talked about the difference in the GT350 dampers as well as the GT500 dampers. Typically, there is a physical size difference in the "slot gaps" between the two dampers. The R or CFTP slot gaps are smaller than the regular GT350 or Base GT500 dampers. The slot gap is where the fluid passes through the magnets for charging, which then changes damper response or stiffness.

This quote from him says a lot..."From a body motion control standpoint, you can control big motion with either shock by just pumping more current through the one with the larger slot. That's why both variants are excellent at high lateral G's and dynamic situations. Where the differences emerge is when you try to manage the small motions that affect harshness and comfort. My experience is that the less current you need to push to keep the chassis stable, the smoother the ride. Hence, the shocks with the (presumably) smaller slots actually ride smoother."

Rick at Trackmustangsonline said that "I had a direct conversation with a Ford Vehicle Dynamics Engineer, one that worked on the GT350 suspension and also gave me a ride in an R at Laguna Seca, and he said the difference between the two dampers is the "slot gap" is smaller on the R dampers. The slot gap is what the fluid flows through and get magnetized. So what that means is with no current applied to the two dampers the R damper will be stiffer. It's not a huge difference but they are not the same."
 
They have different part numbers.

I spent some time speaking to a gentleman (that posts here) that helped me with some As-Built code before. He has spent considerable time testing GT350/R dampers along with DSC's Sport Controller (programmed and test-driven over 225 different calibration files with it as of 2018). We talked about the difference in the GT350 dampers as well as the GT500 dampers. Typically, there is a physical size difference in the "slot gaps" between the two dampers. The R or CFTP slot gaps are smaller than the regular GT350 or Base GT500 dampers. The slot gap is where the fluid passes through the magnets for charging, which then changes damper response or stiffness.

This quote from him says a lot..."From a body motion control standpoint, you can control big motion with either shock by just pumping more current through the one with the larger slot. That's why both variants are excellent at high lateral G's and dynamic situations. Where the differences emerge is when you try to manage the small motions that affect harshness and comfort. My experience is that the less current you need to push to keep the chassis stable, the smoother the ride. Hence, the shocks with the (presumably) smaller slots actually ride smoother."

Rick at Trackmustangsonline said that "I had a direct conversation with a Ford Vehicle Dynamics Engineer, one that worked on the GT350 suspension and also gave me a ride in an R at Laguna Seca, and he said the difference between the two dampers is the "slot gap" is smaller on the R dampers. The slot gap is what the fluid flows through and get magnetized. So what that means is with no current applied to the two dampers the R damper will be stiffer. It's not a huge difference but they are not the same."
@Tob
Do you have a list of the part # you ordered to replicate the cftp suspension?

I’m going to do my first event with the stock suspension however I do have Cup2 tires on 11.5x20 signature wheels to tryout. After I see how that works I will make modifications.

I had no idea that the actual shocks were different. There’s probably a nice difference on just replacing the shocks.
Thanks
 
I'm cautiously responding as "replicating the CFTP suspension" would be fairly involved. As far as swapping on the CFTP springs and rear bar (the front bar is the same between the CFTP and Base cars) here are the CFTP part numbers:

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The last item (MAT - FLOOR) is for the rear seat delete. It is the same part for both the GT350R or the CFTP GT500.

Hardware specs are as follows...

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