i've driven their entire lineup at sepang before ... & i gotta say that the e55 was the best ... followed by the cls ... but it's possible the c63 wasn't there then ... can't recall ...
there's riva pricing - which is justified ... & then there's hsm pricing - which is not justified ... why am i not surprised ... ???
presumably derek had a pre-track check done before heading up ... the brakes MUST have been found in good condition or he would have been advised to change them ... for him - or anyone - to nuke pads & rotors in ONE track day is not possible IMHO ... there was --- 1. either something wrong to start with which IA did not see/could not see/failed to report to derek --- i'm betting on this. 2. derek drives hard on the track but i personally don't think he's pushing it to breaking point. 3. assuming the pads & rotors WERE ok, that would then raise the question of the quality of the parts supplied by the factory. it will be interesting to see what IA tells him tomorrow.
i have heard this many times from my friends. my observation is HSM is nice to a bunch of customers and they are indifferent to the rest. I have heard this some many times and now MP is also saying this. While it is not easy to make everyone happy especially when everyone wants the latest ferrari from them in the past, their PR skills in this area is Fhorrible. When MP wants to look at your boat and they still dont know how to kiss arse, than Riva has the wrong partner. Melvin is different. when asked about the murci replacement, he told me he got to take care of those few big supporter but promise to do his best. That is the honest truth and you cannot fault him for that.
yes that sort of topped off the day! someone studies physics at school .. smarty pants! why does your 2 cents not surprise me surprisingly I expected you & Des to be in the same tree non OEM voids my warranty
Jon, can always rely on you for such a post. I had a full set of rotors & pads installed early December. After returning from the Ital KL trip (no tracking) 1 week later I had the pads replaced on Itals advice as they were ALREADY 80% worn! new rotors in December, 4 sets of pads, 3 sets immediately following track days. Prior to the new rotors I never had to replace pads straight after a track day. the Scud wheels went on at roughly the same time as the new rotors you calling me fat? I reckon I did no more than 15 hard laps on Saturday averaging between 2:34/2:35 according to the time sheet. I've pushed it harder before without incident. yeh I'm going to see what I can get OEM CCB's online for coz the Ital price is off the scale! I'm also concerned about how much the buggy can take which is why I am think it might be time to either retire it from the track and/or get something else.
There is no way that you should be burning through pads with just 15 laps mate and only a few KL trips, and new rotors after a change in December? How many km did u log mate and how many track days since the rotor change? Many are running through pads only after 8 or 9 track days and rotors are easily lasting more track days with minor cracking with sub 2.35 times and more than 15 laps easily per track day. Think u should forget about original ferrari discs and pads even if they void warranty. I would much rather know my car can stop than have a warranty with a car that has totally unreliable brakes.
Dude, don't get sensitive OK how much more does the spider weigh over the coupe? If you want to be anal, can always get a corner balancing alignment check or whatever they call that to balance the car with your weight 2.35s are very respectable IMHO, those used to be the timings of Stradales. But the excessive pads wear are extremely disturbing. Pads lasts for years on street use. Maybe it's time you find a 3rd party to have a look @ the brake set up. Did they show/return you the used pads each time? (some workshops return the worn parts) U didn't tell us but what happened this time. Did the brake warning light lit? Ditto on the last thought. I figure it's too much to do serious tracking on cars over eg. S$300K & especially when we need to use it next day! Best to get one set up for track or you'll see serious bills hitting your pocket. Harold's felt that I just saw a retired 993 race car in KL. Weighs about 900-1ton, whole body is in fibre & just S$100K including a rebuild + commission.
I agree I'd think that pads shud last more than 1 track day, irrespective of how hard I drive. This was my 3rd TD on these rotors & first on these pads, and no more than 1k km since they were installed. On the rest I'm waiting on the report from IA before I decide my next step.
sensative .. who me?? not with all the **** I put up with from you lot everyday corner balancing .. I'm not that anal .. what happens if I go on a diet? I didn't see the replaced parts, although I wish I did now. As I've said previously I'm amazed at how quickly I've been eating through the pads, including the time they needed replacing after 1 week & 1 Sgp/KL trip (without TD). At the time (December) I mentioned here how surprised I was about that. In a nut shell .. the car performed well on track although with hindsight there seemed an excess amount of brake dust .. and when I left Sepang everything seemed fine until I was in a traffic jam soon after joining the NS where I could hear a scraping sound WITHOUT the brake pedal depressed. With the pedal pressed this became a clear & loud metal on metal grind so I immediately pulled over (luckily there was a rest stop within 200m) and upon closer inspection it was evident that the front RHS pad had completely disintergrated & damaged the rotor in the process, whilst the LHS pad was showing signs of going the same way. Thankfully due to the traffic jam this was discovered whilst traveling at 10km/h rather than 270km/h which no doubt would have resulted in a far different result for both the buggy & me!
Wow that's really fortunate man! Glad to know that you're safe. Have you checked on the 430 section to see if this is normal on all 430 spyders?
Haha that is true..u're the last person I would consider sensitive Phew..that was a close shave mate..
Diet mate Damn. That was close shave! Sounds like the pads didn't held up well, I suspect all you need is a set of better pads. Stock pads aren't too good for trackdays. So how's the wait for the tow truck?
i think a number of us have a bunch of horror stories about hsm but, as far as i am concerned, they are yesterday's men until they secure another desirable dealership. having said that, unholy trident bucks the trend and is a buddy to a number of us here. my beef is actually with IA now that they have gotten the dealership. don't know about your respective experiences but to me, everything's changed and nothing's changed. their reps may be easier on the eye but they know sh*t about the marque and the cars. mel is an entirely different proposition but i have sadly yet to do business with him.
