Ford Mustang Mach-E Goes to the Track, Not Bad for an SUV

But little did he know that some of us are a special breed: given the chance, we would drive the wheels off of any car. I can't think of any cars that I've driven, that I've never tried pushing beyond their limits. At least for a little while. I've even found myself going too hard behind the wheel of a rather large van. So, when I saw that someone decided to take their Mustang Mach-E out on the track, I was really happy to follow up on the story.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Terrance over at Signature Wheel is no stranger to the track. He owns several interesting cars, including a 2020 Shelby GT500, a 2017 Shelby GT350R, and a Porsche 991.1 GT3 as well. He took delivery of the Mach-E a few months ago, and he just recently took it out for a spin over at Sonoma Raceway! So it seems only fitting that he's referring to the Mach-E as the Track-E instead. Trouble is, how much track abuse can this take before it needs to be recharged?

The original tires and wheels were ditched in favor of something a bit more interesting. The car was fitted with 20x9.5 Square Signature Wheels, the Track Series SV502 version to be more specific. That means that instead of the OEM Michelin 225s, this car now has extra-added grip thanks to a new set of Yokohama 275/45/20 tires. The wheels were finished in Matte Bronze, and the color combination seems like a nice match.

As Terrance is based in Sacramento, the drive down to Sonoma Raceway was a rather short one, at just 70 miles (112 km). This was his third time ever on the race track, but the first time out in the Mach-E. Leaving his house, the car was 96% charged. As he arrived at the track, that figure went down to 59%. His worst fears came true when he discovered that there are no fast chargers on site.

Electricity is really just organised lightning

Describing the experience of having to charge at 110 volts he noted that it felt like "drinking through a coffee straw". As the Mach-E made the trip over on its wheels, it would also have to do the same on the return trip. And that meant Terrance could only use up about 30% of the remaining energy to have fun out on the track. It's a good thing that his goal wasn't to set the fastest lap, but to simply experience the car for what it is, and also extract some data from the whole experience.

It just so happens that this was the first time for a Mach-E to be out on Sonoma Raceway. All I can think about when re-reading this is that one day, Sonoma Raceway - and every other track in the world - will have one last ICE car on it before banning them for good. The track is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long, and it has a total of 12 turns. As Terrance describes it, this is more of a technical track.

As it turns out, the Mach-E felt quite stable in most of the turns, and the new wheel and tire setup probably played an important role in that. For a car this size, with a weight of about 4,400 lbs (1,995 kg), you would expect plenty of body roll, but the owner mentioned that this is not "as sloppy as one would think". He praises the AWD system on the car and even notes that he managed to focus more on his driving lines, as this car is slower than a GT500 for example.

We tend to forget that baby steps still move you forward

What's even more interesting is the fact that after 17 minutes of driving, there was no brake fade, and that's good to know for anyone looking to track their Mach-E. Even so, Terrance acknowledges the limitations of this vehicle, at least in its current trim as he added that "What I will say is the Mach-E is not a drivers car in this trim. There are no ways that I know of for you to disengage any of the nannies that make the car safe, but anger your inner Hoonigan".

It looks like the car topped out at 88 mph (141 kph), no matter how hard he'd push it around the track. It's a good thing he didn't go back to the future, given the circumstances. While you would expect to get an impressive throttle response out of an electric vehicle, that was not the case. According to Terrance, the power does not come on immediately as you're pushing the throttle, and the traction control sounds like a real buzz-kill to me.

After 17 minutes of fun, he pulled the car over, as the remaining 29% would have to be enough for the trip back home. As this is still a rare sight on public roads, other drivers that were on location came in to get all the details, and even though this is no GT500, Terrance seems to be happy with the way it handled itself:"For an SUV the damn thing is pretty good".

Patience is the best remedy for every trouble

We are all aware of the fact that the Mach-E was never intended for the track. The GT version may be a bit more capable, but I don't think we should be expecting any miracles. Also, an important lesson to keep in mind is that you should always check if the venue you're going to has charging options for your EV, otherwise you might end being stuck at the track.

Someone mentioned "Shelby Mach-E" in the discussion at one point, and although I wouldn't be surprised to see a toned-down version of the Mach-E 1400, I feel that it's going to take at least two more years until that moniker becomes reality. Terrance ultimately compared the experience to a wine and cheese tasting, whereas the GT500 felt like a frat house kegger.

The Track-E will be going to some autocross events soon, and it looks like we're going to see some videos of it in action as well. That being said, remember, it does help to have proper tires on the car if you're going to engage in these kinds of activities!

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