Fastest you have gone in your 458

You are correct, the track is definitely what boiled the fluid, but it just goes to show that any small mechanical failure at those speeds on a public road can be deadly. If I had not had the runoff area I would have been in huge trouble.

Having never been to Germany and therefore never driven the autobahn I can not speak to the conditions of the road, but here in the US I would never consider going that fast as the road conditions do not favor well to it. Expansion joints, potholes (Patched or not) just do not permit it. A small bump at 190mph+ will send you out of control very quickly.

 

Didn't I ask you not to be "that guy" a few weeks ago? LOL.... Be safe, dude!

 

Well, maxed out the Speciale yesterday, the road that I use was completely empty. It's a dead-straight, 4 lanes, smooth tarmac, not entries or exists, so made for that stuff. This was as good as it got. Doesn't mean it'll become a bit faster later on, I reckon?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The engine will probably loosen up a bit more with more miles on it. Still, that is very fast indeed!

By the way, did you run out of road or the car simply would not do any more than that?

 

At least for a regular 458 anyways...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I'm jealous about the temperatures you have in Dubai
I'm looking at 7 Celsius and rainshowers...

I don't think she will get significantly faster, maybe a few kph.
The Speciale produces more downforce, even in DRS-mode due to the higher rear-spoiler and the reshaped front. Plus the drag-coefficient is slightly higher than in the Italia and the tire-size is bigger hence more drag.

 

28 Celcius is way too hot mate! Not good for top speed runs either...

 

28 C is actually pretty good for here. We are used to 50 C in Summer.

Btw, I was unsuccessfully trying to chase down Tom in my red Italia. I didn't have the guts to go much over 300 so soon enough I lost him. We both lost the other members in our driving group. Tom is very fast on the twisties too.

moral here: white cars are faster than red.

 

This is not nearly as fast as some of the others, but here's what I did at the Ferrari Driving Experience at COTA.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It wouldn't do more than that at that moment. Haven't tried the other direction...

 

Impressive. But how is 200 MPH (312 KM/H) faster than 333 KM/H? ;-)

 

So the problem was not the color of the car but the weight of the driver's right foot
On a straight line Tom shouldn't be able to pull away too much... Surely expect it to be different in the twisties


btw 200mph equals 322 kph. Topspeed according Ferrari is 202mph for the 458 Italia and Speciale...

 

There was only so much straight line stuff. At 300 k we ran out of those stretches quickly, the rest was twisties where Tom kicked every one's a..! Not because of the speciale. Even if he were driving the Italia and every one else the speciale, he would still lose them all. Driver skill is key.

 

It will do more mate in due time. Take care.

 

Sorry mate but 200 mph equals to 320 kph. Still, what you say is right!

 

It looked like the 322kmh was a speciale, mine is just a regular 458 coupe.

 

Let me clarify here. Tom did 333 km/hr on the regular 458 coupe. On that piece of crap speciale he only managed a measly 331 km/hr (at least for now).

 

Well dang! Sounds like I have to step my game up!!

 

Not to sound like a naysayer but there is absolutely NO WAY you were able to actually get a GT3 up to 170 on the back straight of Wakins Glen. I have logged more than 10,000 miles on that track and pretty much know what every production car is capable of.

My highly modified, race-prepped ZO6 that eats GT3's for lunch all day can't even get to 160mph on that track and I enter the bus stop at almost 100mph. My car, of course, has full slicks, 500 rwhp and weighs less than a GT3. Was at the track when Lou Gigliotti was testing his Lemans car and he just barely broke 160mph.

You either have a hugely optimistic speedo or are completely delusional. Sorry, just have to call BS when I see it.

 

You kind of do sound like a naysayer.

 

Who cares what Lou Gigliotti was doing, he is not a great driver. I have personal first hand experience of this at COTA. Don't compare what he has done...

 

Indicated, not data. Can't speak at all for accuracy of the speedo, other than I have found it to be optimistic. And with non stock tires.

I can tell you with 100% certainly that the car I'm driving now (Lotus Exige cup) struggles to make 130 on the back straight...I have full data on that one and am pretty sure it's right!

Cheers,

Ron

 

That Lotus is a great track car...closest you can get to the feeling of actually grabbing the front tires and steering with your bare hands!

Have you been to other tracks with that car?

Watkins is a pure horsepower track so the true capabilities of your Lotus may be overshadowed by lesser drivers with tons of hp. I used to drive a momentum car and would get frustrated by guys blowing by me on the straights only to catch them in the next set of twisties and not get a point-bye from them. Remedied that situation by building my race car. Turning sub 2 minute laps at the Glen never gets old!

I have seen the Exiges do very well at more technical tracks like Limerock and Le Circuit Mont Tremblant (one of my favorites).

 

I've been to NJMP, VIR, Summit Point, Mid Ohio, and Mosport with it. And yeah, it's frustrating not getting a point by and it happens more than it should; but I've been down the high HP route and still like the Lotus better. And if it gets really bad, there are always paths to turn the Lotus into a monster car, I know of one person who has close to 400 RWHP in my car (sub 2,000 lbs).

See you on track,

Ron

 

Captured with Speedpro+ on iphone.

Speedo reading on 458 was 311km/h, and GPS reading was 301km/h.

It seems the F speedos are pretty accurate.

Image Unavailable, Please Login


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk