Is it reasonable for a Shelby GT350 to overheat after 15 minutes of running on the track? To a group of American clients this seems unacceptable. After four years of process, Ford representatives will sit in court seeking compensation.
It is well known that cars destined to be driven on a circuit (and at high rates) must have components designed for this, the torture they must endure is very high. One of those cars is the 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, touted as a car suitable for driving on the track.
However, there is a problem with these cars when they do not have the Track Pack, and is that the kinematic chain does not hold fast driving on the track or circulating on public roads at very high rates (something that in the US is not legal). Gearbox and differential are overheating.
In these circumstances, the Shelby GT350 electronics act to protect the mechanical organs, forcing the engine to only respond to the throttle at low revs, forcing the driver to slow down and overheat. Over there they call it “Limp mode”, translatable as “to the lame leg.”
In this video we can see how the limitation of benefits works from minute 4:25
2016 Shelby GT350 Owners Invited to Join with Base and Technology packages, likely to have this problem. These firms seek to obtain a refund of, in their opinion, the surcharge they paid for a car that does not support strong driving on the track or going fast.
They argue that Ford knew that, without the transmission and differential radiators of the Track packageIt is not such a capable sports car, and that not installing those components in all Shelby GT350s makes them more of a car like a Pinto than a Mustang, despite having more than 500 hp.
The case “Tershakovec et al versus Ford Motor Company” (1: 17-cv-21087) was admitted in the Court of the District of the South of Florida. Judge Federico A. Moreno will take it, and the parties will meet in court in September. Four years have passed since the lawsuit was filed.
We can see this case from the opposite perspective, that the owners or clients of leasing that were made with a 2016 Shelby GT350 without the Track package cannot expect the car to hold the same without the aforementioned improvements (among others).
Anyway, if we go to the press release of that model, “The new Shelby GT350 Mustang, with the most powerful naturally aspirated engine ever built by Ford, is a world-class high-performance car, designed to handle the world’s most challenging roads; a car for a whole day of circuit that is also registrable ».
If we take the latter into account, the fish died through the mouth, and Ford came very high promoting the benefits of its latest sports car, unable to spend a whole day giving it a ride in the circuit without tripping the overheating protection.
But the last straw is that this happens on a road, even if the user goes well above what the signs allow. If the judge comes to the conclusion that the advertising was misleading, Ford is going to get all of this out for a good spike. Possibly this ends with a private agreement and a few million dollars so as not to exhaust the judicial process.
In the United States, you have to be very careful when promoting a good or warning of any danger (however evident it may be), since its judicial system is very prone to suing, and when you win, large companies lose huge amounts of money. money.