Gen 3 coupe build feedback

[Mark Dougherty]

Hello all
Now that we have finished John Georges Gen 3 coupe build I felt I would supply some feedback the build.

FFR has pulled another rabbit out of their hat.
This new coupe puts FFR on a whole new level, and it shows that they listen to feedback their customers.
the Fact that the chassis is what 7 - 10 times stronger than the previous model is just over the top. The gen 1-2 coupes were, and are awesome machines and I would be proud to own one. Gen 1-2's make great street and race cars, and I never would have even thought that the new chassis stiffness would make much of a differnce.
Boy was I wrong.
Setting up Johns Coupe showed just how much it does matter.
when doing the alignment every small adjustment showed. A small turn here or there, a pound of PSI in a tire, where parts were placed during the build. All these things made significant changes.

As far as the build itself we were BETA builders. this means we received our kit before everything was finalized by FFR ( no Gen3 manual, a few back orders, and a couple parts we adjusted and shared with FFR). With this being said it did not hold us back. The quality of the thinking, and execution that went into this new car is unreal.

From the day John brought the Project to our Shop to the track was about 25 working days
( 3-4 guys) over a three month period. Then another 3 days on track testing and setting up the Coupe ( all setup info is openly shared on johngeorgeracing.com )
We like to call it the 30 Day build.

Huge improvements are.

1) chassis stiffness- this correlates to a car that responds incredibly well to setup changes.
2) suspension design - The new IRS, the adjustable suspension points, the packaging of all this just top notch.
3) interior room- way more room inside than the previous model or the roadsters. even with the mod engine panels. (the R model does make getting through the door tricky).
4) seat room we used the kirkey high backs and did not have to modify the seats AT ALL
to fit them in the coupe. anyone who has built a coupe before knows this was not the case previously.
5) body design and the shape of the new coupe has been cleaned up. Dotted the I's and crossed the T's kinda thing. better roof to rear glass lines.

There are still a few small items to be worked on, but FFR will most likely have them finished before you read this.

In conclusion.
My Hat is off to FFR. Take a bow. A job well done, by everyone there,
the engineers,
the welders,
molders,
assembly,
packaging/receiving,
maintenance,
supervisors,
tech support,
the office staff,
all of them.

last but not least Dave Smith for keeping all of this going. Not just sitting on an already great product, but continually improving it.
I can only imagine what is next.

Thank you
Mark Dougherty
and I can't wait to start the next one.
__________________

[Vette1972]

Mark,

Nice update on the build. It was great fun watching the build streaming. I killed a few days watching! The race test video were awesome. The car looked fantastic on the track. You guys did a great job on the build and sharing it with the community. Look forward to following John racing throughout the summer. Thanks!!

Len

[Garry Bopp]

Mark,

Great feedback on the build and testing process! Hats off to everyone involved at Factory Five on a great update. Also, hats off to all the Beta builders who are pioneering the Gen 3 builds, making the process simpler and easier for all us following in your footsteps.

I think it's very cool that the "R" model was developed so early on and actually hit the track before the street version! Way to go, John George Racing and the Traveling Builders!

Garry