I reminded myself how amazing this car is yesterday.

[our guile]

I went for a mountain drive yesterday. Something about being alone, focusing only on the road, the tach, and the location of the shift knob is cathartic and calming (and fun as hell, let's be real).

A few months ago I stumbled upon a video by Ed Bolian of VINwiki fame where he discussed one of his favorite driving roads in North Georgia. I'd run his route once before, early on in the pandemic and had a blast. Recently, though, I hadn't had a chance to get away for a solo drive and was feeling antsy. Over the last few months I've been aching to take the car out properly, but either needed to change the oil, or rotate the tires, so the timing never worked out.

Yesterday, however, the stars almost aligned perfectly. I'd changed the oil a few weeks ago, and replaced the stock transmission fluid with Ravenol 75W-80 MTF2 then too. Side note, do this if you haven't yet since it significantly improves the shifting feel in my experience, and use the full 2L. In early September I finally had the chance to rotate my tires, so I felt the car was in a good spot to be pushed, so push her I would.

Hurricane Delta making landfall in Louisiana tried to throw a wrench in my plans though. The last time I made this drive the weather was in the low 70s and the roads were dry. I woke up early, filled my stainless steel travel mug with coffee and cream, and started north on GA400 towards Dahlonega. About halfway through the drive, I happened upon this view:



This time, though, it rained the night before. The roads were saturated and the fog hung low in the mountains:



Since swapping out the stock wheels and Bridgestones, I hadn't aggressively driven the car in the rain so I was a little concerned on how my Konig Dekagrams and 205/50 Indy 500s would fare in the wet. I figured that even if I couldn't drive like a hooligan I'd still enjoy the twisties and the views, so on Saturday I woke up early, filled my stainless steel travel mug with coffee and cream, and again started north on GA400 towards Dahlonega.

I took the first few miles of the mountain roads relatively slowly. After a few miles on US-19 though, I was gaining confidence in the car on the wet roads and pushed it a little more. I didn't feel the car lose grip so I went a little further. Same thing. By the time I hit A-75 I reached the limits of my skill level, but the car kept begging for more. No matter how much I asked of the car, she begged for more.

I've owned Grace since new (bought in December 2015) and in that time I've taken her on roadtrips up and down the east coast, and countless spirited mountain drives so I knew how capable she is. This trip blew me away though, and cemented to me that I'll never get rid of her.

To date I've only done a few performance mods: pedal spacer, wheels and tires, and transmission fluid. AP and tune, radiator, and intercooler have all been part of the plan but my extra money has always had higher priorities. It looks like I need to reprioritize some things now.

A screenshot of my route Saturday morning is below. Sorry for the enormous size I'm not sure how to resize it.




For those of you in or near Atlanta, detailed instructions of the route can be found here.

 

[2Noob4U]

I feel the same way. I drove the FiST to Breckenridge last weekend. Narrow winding CO-9 over Hoosier Pass and in between gears the whole way. The joy of this car lies in throwing it around through hairpins and how well it just hangs on as you push it. I have a lifted Tundra that is now my wife's daily. People laugh that I drive the little jelly bean and she's in the monster truck. Definitely a drivers car.

 

[Crystals]

Hell yes! I had the same feeling bombing down Tuna Canyon Road in Malibu last Friday. It's a one-way road most of the way down, so you can use all the road and clip apexes. First time I've driven my car hard in months due to work and heatwaves.

Edit: Also, there were no cyclists this time!

 

[jmrtsus]

I think modders trying to make the Fist into drag racers have never understood that the FiST was designed to eat up curvy roads and shines like the brightest star in that role. But I accept that to many, including one son, "performance" is defined by 1/4 mile times. Never has been a thing for me. Is it the fastest at the job, no. But it is a car that can be driven at its limits on those roads and is a delight to do so plus affordable performance thanks to Ford.

I agree we have an amazing car. It is perfect for my uses, grocery getter, vacation mobile and fun road car. It is very inexpensive to drive 37 mpg over this summers 4K mile road trip. Total cost for tires, new brakes and rotors was a little over $1K in 4 years not including oil changes every 3500 miles. It held our clothes, food and camping equipment plus a soft cooler behind the passenger seat for easy access. That includes 6 (yes SIX) bags for my wife plus laptop and tablets. The camping stuff was a large 2 man tent, 2 thick sleeping pads and and 2 large sleeping bags, stove and cooking stuff. A ton of stuff! Never from the inside do I feel like I have a tiny car. Not having a new car since 1979 for me but many for other family members I finally bought Fifi. The stereo was more than acceptable, The Sync 3 was all new to me, the tranny was as good as the Getrag in my 320 iS BMW but with shorter throws and out ran, out stopped and handled better than the BMW. Voice commands, auto updates and free Nav with Android Auto plus a CD player and I love the interior. Like many others I will keep my FiST until I cannot drive it!

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^Ironically, even when I owned a car which was known for/expected to be used for, and was thought by most to ONLY be 'good for' quarter mile blasts (a 2000 Z28 LS1), I had it set up for handling, and road course use, despite it's solid rear axle, long-ish overhangs, and rep for not being able to turn. LOL

SURE, I took it to the Tuesday night test and tune sessions at Atco Dragway, just to 'see what she could do' in spite of the launch and 60 foot OBLITERATING huge front sway bar, big sticky front tires (and stiff sidewall tires all around), and road race coil over suspension, but that is NOT what I bought even that car for in the first place.

 

[jmrtsus]

I think modders trying to make the Fist into drag racers have never understood that the FiST was designed to eat up curvy roads and shines like the brightest star in that role. But I accept that to many, including one son, "performance" is defined by 1/4 mile times. Never has been a thing for me. Is it the fastest at the job, no. But it is a car that can be driven at its limits on those roads and is a delight to do so plus affordable performance thanks to Ford.

I agree we have an amazing car. It is perfect for my uses, grocery getter, vacation mobile and fun road car. It is very inexpensive to drive 37 mpg over this summers 4K mile road trip. Total cost for tires, new brakes and rotors was a little over $2K in 4 years not including oil changes every 3500 miles. It held our clothes, food and camping equipment plus a soft cooler behind the passenger seat for easy access. That includes 6 (yes SIX) bags for my wife plus laptop and tablets. The camping stuff was a large 2 man tent, 2 thick sleeping pads and and 2 large sleeping bags, stove and cooking stuff. A ton of stuff! Never from the inside do I feel like I have a tiny car. Not having a new car since 1979 for me but many for other family members I finally bought Fifi. The stereo was more than acceptable, The Sync 3 was all new to me, the tranny was as good as the Getrag in my 320 iS BMW but with shorter throws and out ran, out stopped and handled better than the BMW. Voice commands, auto updates and free Nav with Android Auto plus a CD player and I love the interior. Like many others I will keep my FiST until I cannot drive it!

^^^Ironically, even when I owned a car which was known for/expected to be used for, and was thought by most to ONLY be 'good for' quarter mile blasts (a 2000 Z28 LS1), I had it set up for handling, and road course use, despite it's solid rear axle, long-ish overhangs, and rep for not being able to turn. LOL

SURE, I took it to the Tuesday night test and tune sessions at Atco Dragway, just to 'see what she could do' in spite of the launch and 60 foot OBLITERATING huge front sway bar, big sticky front tires (and stiff sidewall tires all around), and road race coil over suspension, but that is NOT what I bought even that car for in the first place.

I keep preaching to my son his 650 Hp 2002 Trans-Am can be made to handle and run like a bat out of hell. But he just steals my Fifi for road runs!