Well I just came back from the "event". We were not impressed at all. We have been to a number of these since 2000 when we bought the ST. The first one was called the No Boundaries Experience and that was the first time I drove a ST. After that we have been to driving events for GM, Chrysler and about a month ago for Mercedes. The all were much better then todays Ford Innivation Drive.
Maybe it was the weather today, 98 degrees and humidity around 50%, but the people workign the event were not very helpful. Dont get me wrong the "greeters" in the registration area were very nice. And the people who scan your driving card were very nice, but the people who take you to the car/truck were far from helpful if even present. My wife drove the automatic Mustang first, a lady gave her a 5 second intro then off she went. I stood there next in line and it was like a ghost town, they all wondered off. I waited for one of them to return, a kid about 17-18 yrs old. I said should I just get in and drive? He said, "Go ahead." as if he didnt really care.
It is just a straight away about 200 feet or so then a U-turn, then another straight away then a little S-turn and its over. Not really enough to get a feel for the car. I gave it some good gas then braked hard enough to take the turn at a managable speed and thats about it.
Then I asked if I could drive the standard shift Mustang since there was hardly anyone there and there was no one waiting in line. The lady said, "Sure go ahead." once again with absolutely no instructions. I rolled up to the start and old grey haired guy waved for me to go as if I was bothering him. I never drove a standard shift Mustang before, other than my '68 Fastback so I wanted to see what it had. I let the clutch out fast as I hit the gas. I did NOT rev it up and pop teh clutch, I did no different then I do to my own car on the street. The tires gave a split second screech and I took off. I could see on the ground exactly where everyone was shifting into second gear from the rubber on the ground. I shifted there also and gave the tires a small "chirp".
Took the turn the same way and it was over in a few seconds. They old guy runs over to me and says, "Thats it! You're done! I told you not to spin the tires! Give me your driving card!"
That guy, or anyone else NEVER spoke a word to me, I recieved no instructions at all. On top of that I didnt even beat on the car.
Well that did it, I went there to drive the 2006 Expolorer in anticipation of the '07 ST since my wife and I want to replace our '01 ST soon and now I cant even drive it. I told my wife you are going to have to drive the explorer so I can atleast go for a ride. Off to the lame excuse for an "off road" course. A person drives with you in the passenger seat. She had her seat all the lay back and reclined about 80% of the way back. I tried to squeeze in the back with my 36" inseam legs and said can you move up alittle. I got absolutely NO reply from her. Wjile waiting in line to drive I started asking questions about the differences between the '06 Explorer and previous years. She tried to answer but didnt have anything decent to say. She said there were some changes to the outside and the inside. I said like what? She didnt know. I asked if it was wider or longer and she didnt know. I asked if all of them cane with All Wheel Drive or if ti was an option. She didnt know.
Time to drive. Starts off with 2 ramps one alittle ahead of the other to show off the AWD. Lifts one tire up and you hit one ramp and then lifts the other as you hit the next. I did the exact same thing with the new Mercedes ML350 & ML500 at the Mercedes event.
My wife pulls up to the first ramp and there is a "Guide Man" on the other side. He motions for her to go alittle to the right then shrugs his shoulders and just waves for her to go, as if he either wasnt sure or didnt car. My wife has driven with me at the other driv
Maybe it was the weather today, 98 degrees and humidity around 50%, but the people workign the event were not very helpful. Dont get me wrong the "greeters" in the registration area were very nice. And the people who scan your driving card were very nice, but the people who take you to the car/truck were far from helpful if even present. My wife drove the automatic Mustang first, a lady gave her a 5 second intro then off she went. I stood there next in line and it was like a ghost town, they all wondered off. I waited for one of them to return, a kid about 17-18 yrs old. I said should I just get in and drive? He said, "Go ahead." as if he didnt really care.
It is just a straight away about 200 feet or so then a U-turn, then another straight away then a little S-turn and its over. Not really enough to get a feel for the car. I gave it some good gas then braked hard enough to take the turn at a managable speed and thats about it.
Then I asked if I could drive the standard shift Mustang since there was hardly anyone there and there was no one waiting in line. The lady said, "Sure go ahead." once again with absolutely no instructions. I rolled up to the start and old grey haired guy waved for me to go as if I was bothering him. I never drove a standard shift Mustang before, other than my '68 Fastback so I wanted to see what it had. I let the clutch out fast as I hit the gas. I did NOT rev it up and pop teh clutch, I did no different then I do to my own car on the street. The tires gave a split second screech and I took off. I could see on the ground exactly where everyone was shifting into second gear from the rubber on the ground. I shifted there also and gave the tires a small "chirp".
Took the turn the same way and it was over in a few seconds. They old guy runs over to me and says, "Thats it! You're done! I told you not to spin the tires! Give me your driving card!"
That guy, or anyone else NEVER spoke a word to me, I recieved no instructions at all. On top of that I didnt even beat on the car.
Well that did it, I went there to drive the 2006 Expolorer in anticipation of the '07 ST since my wife and I want to replace our '01 ST soon and now I cant even drive it. I told my wife you are going to have to drive the explorer so I can atleast go for a ride. Off to the lame excuse for an "off road" course. A person drives with you in the passenger seat. She had her seat all the lay back and reclined about 80% of the way back. I tried to squeeze in the back with my 36" inseam legs and said can you move up alittle. I got absolutely NO reply from her. Wjile waiting in line to drive I started asking questions about the differences between the '06 Explorer and previous years. She tried to answer but didnt have anything decent to say. She said there were some changes to the outside and the inside. I said like what? She didnt know. I asked if it was wider or longer and she didnt know. I asked if all of them cane with All Wheel Drive or if ti was an option. She didnt know.
Time to drive. Starts off with 2 ramps one alittle ahead of the other to show off the AWD. Lifts one tire up and you hit one ramp and then lifts the other as you hit the next. I did the exact same thing with the new Mercedes ML350 & ML500 at the Mercedes event.
My wife pulls up to the first ramp and there is a "Guide Man" on the other side. He motions for her to go alittle to the right then shrugs his shoulders and just waves for her to go, as if he either wasnt sure or didnt car. My wife has driven with me at the other driv
