John Hubertz
Well-Known LVC Member
I swiped that thread title from a very hot debate on the Cadillac side... and here was my reply:
I am afraid that I'll have the final word on this....
In 1991, 1992 and 1993, I was part of the introduction and reliability team for the Mark VIII product launch. At the time I was senior Lincoln Engineer for the Ford Motor Company's Parts and Service Division, and was based in our Florida office (Orlando).
Four times during that time period, we leased the Sebring International Raceway, and once we leased the Daytona Speedway, to perform performance testing and dealer ride-and-drive demonstrations of the Mark VIII.
We also purchased two new Cadillacs - an Eldorado and a Seville - (both were top performance models but I can't remember if they were the full STS that year or not...but they had the fat tire option for that year, whatever it was) along with a new Lexus Coupe to use as comparison vehicles.
Lynn St. James (an experienced road racer and one of Ford's factory drivers in the early 90s) drove all three cars back-to-back at Sebring, and if memory serves, was consistently lapping the track between 3 and 4 seconds faster in the Mark VIII. That is a HUGE difference on a racetrack.
In fact, even my personal company car, which was a Town Car with the high output interceptor 4.6 and heavy duty "limousine prep" package, was marginally faster around the road course then the Cadillacs (with four mad-dog half drunk car dealers on board...but that's another story).
We could not get the Cadillacs up to full speed at Daytona, as the suspensions bottomed on the banked turns at about 110 MPH and we broke a front A-Arm on the Eldorado, and suspended testing after 3 laps. They were simply too dangerous to drive under those conditions.
We also boiled the brake fluid out of both Cadillacs several times at Sebring - a problem we did not experience using the same testing protocols and number of laps with the Mark.
Sorry guys....but the truth is, real men don't SPIN their FRONT wheels!
I am afraid that I'll have the final word on this....
In 1991, 1992 and 1993, I was part of the introduction and reliability team for the Mark VIII product launch. At the time I was senior Lincoln Engineer for the Ford Motor Company's Parts and Service Division, and was based in our Florida office (Orlando).
Four times during that time period, we leased the Sebring International Raceway, and once we leased the Daytona Speedway, to perform performance testing and dealer ride-and-drive demonstrations of the Mark VIII.
We also purchased two new Cadillacs - an Eldorado and a Seville - (both were top performance models but I can't remember if they were the full STS that year or not...but they had the fat tire option for that year, whatever it was) along with a new Lexus Coupe to use as comparison vehicles.
Lynn St. James (an experienced road racer and one of Ford's factory drivers in the early 90s) drove all three cars back-to-back at Sebring, and if memory serves, was consistently lapping the track between 3 and 4 seconds faster in the Mark VIII. That is a HUGE difference on a racetrack.
In fact, even my personal company car, which was a Town Car with the high output interceptor 4.6 and heavy duty "limousine prep" package, was marginally faster around the road course then the Cadillacs (with four mad-dog half drunk car dealers on board...but that's another story).
We could not get the Cadillacs up to full speed at Daytona, as the suspensions bottomed on the banked turns at about 110 MPH and we broke a front A-Arm on the Eldorado, and suspended testing after 3 laps. They were simply too dangerous to drive under those conditions.
We also boiled the brake fluid out of both Cadillacs several times at Sebring - a problem we did not experience using the same testing protocols and number of laps with the Mark.
Sorry guys....but the truth is, real men don't SPIN their FRONT wheels!
