Ben Cannon was kind enough to host my last few videos of the year since my server space is used up. Went to Pocono International Raceway for the first time in the 355 and it was a blast. Wound the car out in 6th gear at nearly 7000 rpms. The last video is from Summit Point and contains video footage of me trying to keep up with FerriChat member Will575 in his 360 Challenge. I even tried loosening Will's lug nuts and I still couldn't catch him. Pocono (Giving chase to a modified F40) http://www.dreamns.com/ferrarichat/jon/POC.mpg Pocono (Following Squid Racing's Chris Sarkasian in his 355 Challenge and a 360 C) http://www.dreamns.com/ferrarichat/jon/POC2.mpg Pocono (drafting a 360 C down the back straight at 160+) http://www.dreamns.com/ferrarichat/jon/POC3.mpg (Chasing Will575 in his 360 C) NOTE THIS IS A BIG FILE http://www.dreamns.com/ferrarichat/jon/FOW.mpg If you are bandwidth constrained (dial up) you may want to just download the last Pocono video as it is a 1 minute clip and gives some idea of the speed down the back straight. Hope you all enjoy them! Regards, Jon P. Kofod 1995 F355 Challenge #23 www.flatouracing.net
They'll be up for quite a while. The Pocono ones are not quite as big. Just the Summit video which is an entire session. Regards, Jon
Jon, NICE videos! Many thanks for posting them. It is, as always, a pleasure to watch you drive your 355C!!!
Looking forward to them Jon, but even on DSL I'm going to have to download over night - we need to get you a good codec compressor Cheers, ~Chris
Jon, Just watched the first one - wow! Love the wide angle - one of the few videos I've seen that really give you a better sense of what those speeds really feel like...that and the sound of the wind That first tight corner coming off the giant carousel is really hairy! Especially the first time you took it in the video, you came in with a lot of entry-speed and went pretty deep. Big heel/toe downshift and hang on!! Awesome. Do you let your wife see these? Looking forward to the others, ~C
Jon, I just got to watch these myself, and, wow! They're being hosted on my O200 on a 100meg link, so they will be up as long as Jon wants! (I'd say, indefinately!) What rig are you using to film? I like the wide angle lense. Feels much closer to what you actually see on the track than most other video I've seen. Best! Ben.
Just watched 3 of the 4 videos, and all I can say is WOW! That is seriously fast down the back straight! You are quite a driver, Jon! Edit: just watched the last video. Will575 is quite a driver as well Im suprised there is that much of a performance difference between the 355/360 Challenge on the straights. The 360 was just much quicker! God I love the sound of a good heel toe downshift If only my mustang sounded like that when I did it!
Excellent videos! I downloaded all of them. Great driving. Gotta love that sound! It does look like you were really hauling on that back straight. Must have been a lot of fun Thanks for posting.
It's not even the straight away speed that really impresses you it's going 120-125 mph through the turns that's cool. I thought the straight really felt fast until another driver in an F40 LM passed me like I was standing still. He claimed to have been doing 190 mph +. Jordan, The performance advantage of a 360 is that it's about 350-400 pounds lighter than a 355 Challenge and has a much better torque curve. I also had a passenger in the car so that increased the weight. Also Will is one hell of a driver. Keep in mind that it was only his 3rd or 4th time at Summit Point in that car and he was driving flat out through the corners. Anyone who can flog a 360 C like that with little time in the car is fast. The 360 C is a much harder and less forgiving car than a 355 C. Will has raced everything from Formula Mazdas to F2000 cars. Will and I were running sub 1:20's that day and this is GT1/Trans Am territory at Summit Point (most cars running below 1:20 are 600 hp tin top cars or open wheel/spec racers). Ben, I used an I/O Port camcorder mount and a Panasonic DC252 Camcorder with a 0.5 wide angle lens which seems to work well. I mainly bought the lens to use in my Spec Racer where the camcorder is mounted above your head on a roll bar and as a result you can't see anything but about one inch of the front nose on video. I went to a wideangle to get the cockpit view. Glad you all liked them. Regards, Jon
Steeda30, What's that Mustang of yours putting to the ground? Nice car. I run with a guy at tracks here in the north at VIR and Watkins Glen that has a Steeda built Mustang. His car is insanely fast. He trailers the thing to the track with a Steeda modified F150 Lightening. Regards, Jon
Let me tell you all about Jon's driving. This guy is good. I had the good fortune of being a passenger at Summit last month and Jon beat that 355C like a borrowed mule. I was actually sore the next day from latching onto the roll cage blasting through the turns! Jon, tell 'em about the brakes... well, words really don't do them justice. Thanks again Jon! Kevin
Jon, excellent videos and a damn generous connection. They downloaded in no time and I am on cable. Do you have any VIR? Oh and fix the URL in your signature. You want people to find your site don't you.
Thanks for the compliment! It is fairly stock as it sits, (~235 rwhp). Steeda chipped, K&N filter and mufflers. It was one of their more basic models they had out on the lot. I'm saving for the Steeda tuned supercharger kit which usually puts down ~400 to the wheels, and is the safest kit on the market currently. While mine may not be fast in a straight line, I feel it grips the road pretty well. It has some suspension goodies on it and those 275's all around.
Wooow, these are great. Still have to wait another hour to get the big one, but lucky I'll have to go to soccer practise in a minute, so I can watch them when I get back. Thanks a lot, looks like you've had a blast this season. Bart
Steeda30, Two weekends ago a Steeda prepped race Mustang won the final race of the 2003 Grand Am Cup in its class at Daytona. The car had some prep work done by Roush racing (I know a bit strange since their street cars compete against each other). Rumor had it it was putting out about 450 hp. It looked like it wasn't giving much away to the faster 911 in GS1 and GS2. Bill, No videos of VIR but I am sure fellow Ferrari Chat and 355 Challenge owner Paul Prideaux might have some. Regards, Jon
