599 Deficiencies? Owners please advise.

Dear 599 Owners -

About to finalize the order for an 09 599 - love the car - its virtues are well reported. I'm wondering what negative usability issues owners are living with. I've heard that headlight illumination is not great as an example. How bad is front spoiler lip clearance? How is rear visibility? - had a Murcielago that made each lane change to the right a harrowing experience! (but it had a front suspension lift feature that helped navigating spoon dips, etc.)

Also, I'm awaiting pricing on the new blue carbon fiber option - anyone seen it / photographed it / have it?

Many thanks for your input.

 

Only niggles I have had, in no order:

- car is very wide, takes a few weeks to get used to the size, still frightens me on some tight local roads near my house!
- leather is not of a great quality (compared to Bentley, Aston Martin) and appears to crease and 'look old' quicker than I would like
- front and rear parking sensors a must
- Bose a must, stock system will drive you mad, unless you dont really use the radio, or dont care for the sound
- If you are 'into' your music, make sure you make your mind up RE iPod or CD Changer, only one or the other. I went for the Ipod, then changed spec to CD Changer, but now wish I had gone for the iPod connector in the first place!

Thats all I can think of - all small things really. Main thing is: enjoy!!!!

 

Perfect input - what about the headlight beam projection? Heard the Bluetooth interface is not great - looking at the SmartMirror.

http://www.azentekonline.com/cms/content/view/79/180/

Many thanks, Maff

 

When I first drove the car at night I though the headlights were poor - but after a few night drives I've not got any issues with them at all now - which is strange! Maybe I have got used to them. Certainly when jumping straight out of my BMW and into the 599 at night I dont notice any difference.

Bluetooth works fine, with my 8800 Nokia and now my new iPhone, worked 100% every time and I make/receive a lot of calls. (some people ask me to speak up, but I sit quite far back due to height, but once I lean forward to a 'normal' driving position they can hear me fine.

HTHs!

 

Also, front lip is a lot lower than my old F430, catches on one of the local car parks which 'hurt' the first time I visited it, no other grounding issues, but it does make me think when I see a low spot in the road etc.

Oh, and stone chips, my 10 week old car is now peppered in them. If I had my time again I would get a wrap put on the front half. Had this on my Aston and was great if you can live with the small lines where the wrap ends half way up bonnet. But no stone chips

 

Again, great input, thanks. I'll have the mylar coating applied.

 

Brakes like a little heat in them before you threshold brake from high speeds. Tires like a little heat in them or she'll wag her tail like my avatar does. Do not be indecisive when driving hard. Commit, or abort.

Bluetooth is great, voice control too. I voice accept phone calls. Transfer of calls from car to phone when you're getting out are seamless.

Get stone guard on hood/bumper/sills/behind rear wheels. Sills get hammered if you drive on macadam, front wheels throw a lot. flat area behind rear wheels gets peppered too. I have 180+bug hits that nearly went through the clear-bra.

Front overhang is shorter than my Superamerica and Maranellos were, but it will scrape on steep ramps. I scrape every day leaving house, but it is the wind deflctor in front of the wheel. I scraped the underside of the nose on the damn curb at my office parking stall. You need the park sensors. Really not too wide, just hard to judge hard points with rounded rear fender.
Rear view mirrors are HUGE, passenger tilts down in reverse like a real car. Wide angle corner mirror on driver's side gives you great visibility.

Headlights are fine. Make them check alignment at PDI. They're not active, but they're good. No headlight is good enough to stay ahead of this thing though.

Leather on full power seats is nice, adjustable bolsters. iPod adapter is nice, but it doesn't charge it best I can tell. I used to leave it in the car, and the iPod would be dead after a few days. Bose is necessary. Nav stinks, save your money.

I ordered a lot of stuff that was unpriced. If you want it, get it. Rear undertray was not available in CF when I ordered (still is not a "standard" option), but I'd probably have ordered it and perhaps the CF mirrors.

I drive really fast, and I had a mirror vibration problem on driver's side, replacing mirror guts fixed it. Steady as a rock even near Vmax.

Avoid runflats at all costs. Bridgestone 050's suck. The Pirellis are great.

I love mine, use it daily. Mileage estimates of 11/15 are optimistic for my driving style. 7-9 what I usually see. Used to see 9-10 in Maranellos. Price to play. If I wanted mileage, I'd buy a Prius and stuff a blown Tundra motor in it...no that's not right.

Enjoy. Take a couple good driving schools before it gets here.

 

Agree with Sfumato's points, and add...

* respect the loud-pedal. Car is terror-fying [sic] getting "on it" hard. Maybe it's the size of the car, the noise it makes once the first-LED lights up on the 'wheel, or the fact that you can get TC to kick-in in 3rd gear if you're driving like a hooligan. I've glanced down under hard acceleration expecting 65 and noticing 105; car hides a lot of the sensation of driving fast -- good when driving on the autobahn at 150+ for long stints... here, not so much.

* headlights are fine; they won't be a concern. Bluetooth works great too; cabin is very quiet when big-torque lets you chug along at 2000 rpm and still give you access to instant power (I think there's a plutonium power source somewhere in this car).

* the wind-deflector thingies in front of the front-wheels will drive you nuts if you have any curbs to go over; it's even worse than CS in that regard.

* I personally think that the Bose system is a complete waste; it still sounds crap, it just sounds like louder crap. The cabin is quiet for a Ferrari, but it's still a harsh/noisy environment, that drowns out the V12 symphony. Put the money toward a better home-audio or home-theatre system would be my advice, unless you have money to burn...

 

The factory stereo head unit (Bose/Becker) is awful. I immediately removed it and replaced it with a Clarion unit with Sat radio, iPod input and easy to use volume and sound controls. I retained the factory amp and speakers which are perfectly adequate.
I tried to get a unit with a Nav screen but the position and angle of the dash opening doesn't allow a Nav screen unit of any type. No worries because I use a portable Tomtom 930 which blows away factory installed Nav systems by a long shot. The GPS MPH reading indicates that the car's speedometer is optimistic by approx 2 MPH when traveling at freeway speeds.
I love everything else about the car. The Pirellis don't really last much more than 5,000 miles in the rear. The treadwear rating is 60 which is ridiculously low but new tires every 5,000 miles is a small price to pay for the pleasure of driving the 599 every day.

 

Many thanks to Maff, SFumato, BritBlaster & 410SA - you guys are providing quality input that a pending new owner REALLY appreciates.

 

I had mine wrapped so didn't suffer Maff's chip problem, I don't find the lip a problem, no worse than 355, 550 or 575. The only real problem is the Nav, absolutely hopeless when you have become used to a screen/ map based system, I've just changed mine to a Kenwood system which has made the car perfect

 

I agree with all the input plus don't forget the full electric recaro seats, especially the lumbar support feature. I skipped it on my order and now regret that every time I take a long drive. also consider standard 19" front and 20" rear pentogram wheels if roads in your area are not great, they make the ride much softer.
LED's on the steering are a must.

good luck

 

Which Kenwood nav system were you able to retrofit? Would it be possible to post pictures of the finished product?

The only problem I'm currently having with my 599 is that it's stuck in my garage courtesy of an incredibly brutal Chicago winter.

 

Tire chains.

 

I could put up with those deficiencies. For sure. Eyeballs rattling against your skull from acceleration. Makes up for a lot of "deficiencies". Sign me up.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Why are LEDs on the steering a 'must'. Seems to me it'd be just one more distraction.

 

Gary

I've fitted the KVT522, it's nearly finished so will post pics when done. Due to the overhang it does have to sit out ftom the dash so you can't use the CF door. It will end up looking pretty much like this one
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks Mark. I didn't think a flip-out screen would clear the overhanging aluminum piece that says "Ferrari."

 

Keep us updated on that stereo install, please. I hate the standard unit, and would like to replace it - especially since I plan to keep my 2nd 599 for a few years.

 

You don't understand how fast this thing revs or goes. Looking at the dash is imprudent when driving it hard. Lights start at 6k, so they're not on if your piddling around. Very useful actually. F1 superfast is exactly that, and you need it. A 599 with a stick is a waste. I don't look at the tach when I'm driving hard, I use the lights. I have to look down once I run out of gears, as I keep trying for 7th. Damn. You can turn lights off in TFT menu, as well as speed repeat.

 

I'll keep you updated, I'm away skiing for a couple of Weeks though.

For info in the pics posted the shop removed the CF door mechanism, to the point that it could not be returned to standard, I don't want that as I think it could affect resale. I've fitted the unit in the Dash with the Nav/ TMC units under the Passenger seat and the Bluetooth unit under the Steering column and it all works fine, the screen on mine seems to sit a bit lower than the pics allowing a bit more exposure for the vents, it just remains to create a surround in the dash to fill in the gaps.

I originally tried to fit an older Kenwood 920 that came out of my 550 and 575 and set that up so I could slide it out when I wanted to use the screen but when not in use it dropped into the correct place in the DIN slot allowing the CF door to come down, it all looked good but for some reason the Tuner signal was badly affected by something in the dash making it unusable. The 522's fascia sticks out too far even if it was all the way back in the dash for the CF Door to close. Both Kenwood and Pioneer have new ranges due in March that might offer some options

 

Hey, Mark, have you ever seen the F40 with the ski rack on the roof...? Just wondering...

 

Hi Carbon, no, not seen it, we're taking something a little more practical, Landrover Discovery

 

That works, too.


I was wrong anyway, it's a bike rack, not a ski rack. And the horse on the back.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Carbon- Wonder if he has a trailer hitch for it as well? Horse is certainly different.

Taz
Terry Phillips