I've been Ferrari'd
Ivan - 5/2/07 at 08:39 PM
I have just been for a ride in what the motoring press calls the best supercar in the world – the Ferrari 599.
Description
Dave, a nearby neighbour took me for a short but breathtaking ride towards Cape Point in his 599 with all the extras including power upgrade from 599
horse power to 640 hp, full carbon fibre brakes with 12 pot calipers plus several other performance enhancements.
I have never experienced acceleration and cornering like it – not even in a Reinhart Formula Atlantic single seater that I did 28 laps in. I was
totally gobsmacked and it left me breathless.
When driven as Dave was driving it to the limit of the computer controls in the Sport setting, the cornering and braking is totally violent – the
brakes lift you right out of the seat and leave you pivoting around your feet on the kickplate with only the seatbelt between you and a headfirst exit
via the windscreen. The G-forces generated in the corners are beyond anything imaginable. I thought his Maserati Quatroporte that I drove a while back
was impressive but this is a totally new level of performance and I truly believe that only the upper single seater classes can match it - what a
car.
With a 0 – 100 time of better than 3.5 seconds it took us no time at all to be traveling at around 200 kph and he was taking corners at 50% or more
faster than I would or could in a well sorted road car. I doubt that I will ever experience anything like it again – what a car and what a ride.
The unbelievable part of all this is that not once in the ride did the car ever feel like it was struggling for traction on all the bumps in the road
or anywhere near losing its composure and the computer intervention was so subtle that it was almost impossible to detect.
I dont think I'll ever stop smiling - no wait I will the next time I go out in my econobox
hector - 5/2/07 at 08:44 PM
The chap leaning against the car, Its Rolf Harris isnt it?
roadrunner - 5/2/07 at 08:49 PM
My mate took me out in his Bugati last week. I wish.
Lucky fella.
Are you sure it was'nt a Toyota MR2 replica.
stevebubs - 5/2/07 at 08:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by hector
The chap leaning against the car, Its Rolf Harris isnt it?
Yup...
Ivan - 5/2/07 at 09:07 PM
Now I know why I always liked Rolf Harris
Simon - 5/2/07 at 10:56 PM
Can ya see what it is yet
ATB
Simon
Phil.J - 6/2/07 at 11:59 AM
It's interesting when high powered road cars like this appear at hillclimbs in the UK Even fairly modest 600cc single seaters leave them for dead
on a course with many corners. I think in their environment of being on public roads they appear to be much faster than they are in reality. Road car
suspension, even in a vehicle like this, is relatively soft and squishy, and coupled with big horsepower they are exciting to drive. I think side by
side with the Atlantic car you drove the Atlantic would be way ahead.
ATB
Phil
andyps - 6/2/07 at 02:16 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Phil.J
It's interesting when high powered road cars like this appear at hillclimbs in the UK Even fairly modest 600cc single seaters leave them for dead
on a course with many corners. I think in their environment of being on public roads they appear to be much faster than they are in reality. Road car
suspension, even in a vehicle like this, is relatively soft and squishy, and coupled with big horsepower they are exciting to drive. I think side by
side with the Atlantic car you drove the Atlantic would be way ahead.
ATB
Phil
As a regular at Harewood Hillclimb I would say that the problem for the Ferraris are twofold:
1 - many of them are really too big for the narrow track and too heavy for the tight corners which are also prominent on other hills - small and light
with plenty of power often helps (and is why V8 sevens are rarely quick)
2 - the drivers are either worried about damaging their cars with the close proximity of walls and tyre barriers, or not capable enough to use them to
their limits - although some of them are definitely not in this category.
Would love to get a ride in a 599, I have only been in a Ferrari twice - once as a passenger in a largely race prepared 328 up Harewood hill climb
course with someone who can drive it well, and did. The other was a few passenger laps around Oulton Park in a 360 Challenge racer - that could only
be described as f*****g awesome
Ivan - 6/2/07 at 03:08 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Phil.J
I think side by side with the Atlantic car you drove the Atlantic would be way ahead.
ATB
Phil
There are always horses for courses but I do not recall experiencing the forces in the Atlantic that I felt in the 599 - of course the whole
environment was different and I was concentrating on survival in the Atlantic in a cokpit designed to retain you and not along for the ride like I was
in the 599.
Also as explained in my build diary no. 16 the track conditions where not ideal in the Atlantic (damp and windy on cool racing slicks).
What makes the 599 even more impressive was that the forces were generated on a poorly maintained (uneven and rough) road with the odd patch of loose
gravel on top of the tar in some corners. And on top of that at a relatively safe computer controlled setting. The driver readily admitted that he
lacked confidence and possibly the skill to control the car at the F1 setting or with the computer intervention switched off – i.e. with a very
competent driver the car would have been another step faster.
