roadtrip was a success

i just got back from doing 3000 km over a week going from geneva to nice, then to verona, onto maranello, onto florence, onto rome, back up to porto ercole, and onto monte carlo, then back to geneva. i doubled the mileage on my newly purchased 456mgt.

the car was flawless ! the only things that i noticed were that the oil temp gauge lighting doesnt work and the surround for the back seat ashtray is broken. but overall it was a marvelous ride. so much easier than my previous trips in the 512tr - that car really beats you up after a few hours of pounding the road. the 456 on the other hand was luxurious. you can hear the stereo, you can have conversations in a normal voice, the seats are extremely comfortable. my 9 year old son and wife were comfortable throughout. we managed to pack in an enormous amount of luggage (and my wife's shopping !).

performance wise, in france i was getting about 700km out of my 110 ltr tank and in italy (where you can pretty much speed with abandon in a ferrari), i was getting 550-600km out of a tankful. top speed (that i cared to do with my family in the car), was 250km/hr in the flat parts around torino/milano exchange. the only area of slight disappointment was that the brakes did not seem to be as strong as those on the 512. but after i got used to the distances required i was just a bit quicker on the pedal.

the only regret i have is that i have a few more stone chips than when i started !
so in case anybody is out there babying their 456, there is no need as long as the services have been done regularly. it can take 3000 km at an avg speed of 100mph no problem, and still give you an elegant ride through town.

 

Great to hear it Ross. That's what these cars were built for! I'll be doing a similar trip in about 6 weeks or so, except that I'll be doing it from Holland so will put some more kms than 3000 on the 550. I'll be stopping at a mate at Lake Geneva, BTW.

I'm surprised at the size of the tank in the 456 - after all mine has 115 litres and no back seat, and also a lot less luggage space! That's the only drawback of the 550 in my opinion. The fuel economy you're getting seems to be a little better than my 550, although not that much.

Onno

 

Sounds like quite a trip Ross. Well done mate! Congrats. Take any good pics?

A