Testarossa is a drivers car.

I just feel i have to post the truth about driving a testarossa. It's saint Patricks weekend here in Ireland and being in the chill out mode i took out my testarossa for a drive up into the mourne mountains in County Down right up through silent valley and clocked up 176 miles of beautiful joyfull miles. the thing is all i ever hear or read is the nonsense of opinions that the tessy is wide and basically a handfull to drive and i think this is an image that is unjustified. I am no lightweight at 16 stone and i can honestly say that i felt 100% when i had clocked up those miles and could have went further. The fact that the car has no power steering etc is for me part of the experience of driving. If i wanted comfort i would look for a lexus or merc or something. The roads i was driving on were narrow and twisty but despite what people fear i got home safe! To drive those twisty roads with those twelve cylinders singing behind me was amazing and the car just loved it. I reckon if testarossa's could talk to their owners they would beg to be taken out of the garage and let loose on some roads. I even got some traditional irish rain before i got home and belive it or not the car didn't dissolve or explode or anything and survived until i got home and wiped her down in five mins. So come on any of you guys who have a testarossa and are afraid to drive it, take her out and let her do what she does best and you WILL enjoy it. I know i'm now planning my next trip to the hills of Donegal hopefully on Sunday
and can't wait

 

You cant drive far in Ireland without getting rained on, I had a Trans Am in the Shannon area and the twisty roads were always a treat as long as there were no sheep trying to share them with your car.

Martin

 

are you in Dublin ?

I may be visiting Dublin sometime this year

 

Can i get a Amen ?

Amen brother....sing on !

 

I've never read that. What I've read is that 'for a Ferrari' it is 'soft' ie. too comfortable and isolated and not raw enough.

Heck I wouldn't know as I've never driven one, but it would be interesting for you to jump from your car into say a Boxer and compare experiences.

Pete

 

My Chevy truck has 4 wheels, a steering wheel, brakes, an engine and seats 5...................it is able to be taken out on the roads and highways of upstate NY.............................My TR only has seating for 2 persons. Other than that it possesses the same basic items that allows it to be also driven on the roads of upstate NY. It's a Hell of alot more fun and after all.........It's a CAR, a MOTOR VEHICLE......................I drive it every day that weather permits...............it's a CAR.......it's a FERRARI............I bought it to be able to experience the excitement of driving one of the ultimate and most exciting cars on earth....................Garage it and stare and boast?..........No..........Drive it!
I like the seat of the pants feel of the TR. No power steering, or ABS, or traction control, the notchy shifter, the rage of the flat 12 when it is called upon to propel me faster and faster and faster. Being part of the machine.......riding it, rather than just being transported by it. My "Darth Vader", my testosterone injection, my dream, my experience, my CAR......

For transport I own a Chevrolet.

For driving...........I DRIVE a 1987 Ferrari Testarossa!

Kerry
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Big Red and kerrywitting you've got what i'm saying. I just think lots of people are loosing out by hiding their testarossa in a garage until conditions are absolutey perfect or peoplle are opting for a more user friendly car and are missing uot big time on an amazing experience.
WilliamH i am about 3 hours from Dublin which is nothing when it is driven in the Italian beast!

 

Amen. Hallelujah. And Praise be to Enzo.

 

Here is what my TR engine looked like last month before the service...7 lovely years of driving a full 15,000kms.

The second pic is after it was done, boy i cant wait to hammer out another 15k....too bad its gonna get drity in there...lol !!

Drive an enjoy them in good health my friends, i know i will !!!
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How 'bout some pics of the emerald Ile?

I can't remember, did you find that the dirty area at the front of the engine was caused by a broken canshaft seal or something else?

-F

 

Seal leaks all around.

 

Big Red do you have any pictures of the front of the engine? I need to change my accessory belts would like to see what I am working with.

Thanks,
Bill

 

like this Bill ?
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this is the only front pic i have before we went into the belts.
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Thanks. That is exactly it.

 

it is a handful to drive in the city. on open roads it is easy, but i always get the feeling it is a heavy, ponderous car. not so with a 550. even though they weight about the same, the 550 seems very nimble. probably the power steering. but it's that lack of power steering that makes the testarossa feel more connected to the road. i like its brutish nature, heavy steering, smooth V12 song, but my 328 is a far better driver in the city, on twisty roads and the highways. i'd like to get another testarossa, because for all its shortcomings, it is still devastatingly beautiful and offers a change of pace from normal cars.

john

 

a good driver in a 512TR or 512M can carve roads almost as well as a 308

difference is the massive power on the exit

 

I was afraid to drive mine, but I think I had a valid excuse - I was about 5 years overdue for a major. It has since been completed, and I drive it frequently now (maybe not every day, but we are taking it to Vegas next weekend)

 

I understund that you drive along 7 years with your testa without big service, is it true?, in the manual service book say that you must to change belt at 20.000 km or 3 years. regards.