Back in a 599 GTB

It's been great to be back in a 599 GTB after 9 years from owning my last one.

I was very fortunate to find a pristine 2008 with dealer fitted HGTE pack (Not including the wheels, front grill & exhaust). The car had a massive spec from new and only has 4,100 miles on it.

The car has been babied it's whole life and I really appreciate the care that the previous 3 owners have given to her.

My first 599 GTB was 2007 with steel brakes in a very unique and rare color of Grigio Alfieri. I later upgraded the brakes and installed a Fabspeed Center Resonator delete and a Valve Controller.

After owning an F12 and now an F12 TDF. I never thought that I would go back to a 599 GTB, however there is just something I am absolutely loving about this car. They are so rare and you hardly ever see them on the road. Oh and that Enzo derived V12 is an absolute peach and I love it!

I had planned a series of mods to make the car perfect for me and so far this is where I am at;

1. Fabspeed Center Resonator delete.
2. Forza Motorsport Valve Controller.
3. Hill engineering 20mm Spacers on all 4 wheels.

There are all being installed on Wednesday when she gets her annual service which was due this month.

I am still tossing up whether to convert her to manual as this was always my intention. My 575 is currently at Exoticar having the conversion done and I am super excited to get her back!


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Today I took her to get the smog done and she was very dirty from the Wet Sunday drive out to Malibu.

I feel as though this would have been the first time the car was driven in the rain!

The hardest thing for me is the mileage..... I don't know if I should keep it super low or just don't worry and put 50,000 miles on the clock over the next 10 years!

I am going to Las Vegas this weekend and I feel that the 599GTB is the perfect car for such a trip.
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Here are two pics showing how bad the wheels sit in the arches. Especially the front wheels.

I can't wait to see the result of the new spacers!


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Curious to hear your thoughts on the 575 conversion.
I have driven a 550 during some time as well as a manual 360 modena, and the gated gearbox is a delight, but I have heard that the 599 is a better package with an F1 gearbox. For some reason I struggle to see the interest in converting a 599.

 

Congratulations. I love my 599.

 

Congrats, the 599 may currently be the most underrated Ferrari - but I guess all those having driving one know how special it is.

 

I used to own a 550 and 575 Manual at he same time and I preferred the 575 way better. The guys that are doing my 575 are doing an OEM style conversion, so I am sure it will be as I remembered.

As for the manual 599. I have only driven one car and it was not very nice at all. The clutch was so heavy and the friction point felt like with was 5mm from the very end.

Definitely was not a great drive. Having stated this, it was a particularly bad conversion that had seen 3 x different mechanics who all had a go at trying to get it done right!

 

Thanks Guys,

It was a car that is very under valued and missunderstood.

I just love the style and class of it and the fact that you never see them on the road makes them even more special! Let's not forget that they were in production when the world was going through a major financial crisis so this really kept the numbers down.

 

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20mm spacer on the back. I used 15mm in the front. Looks great, makes a huge difference. IMO you could even go with 25mm in the rear and 20mm in front.

Sorry, these are the best pics I have.


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I picked up the car from service today.

Had the following worlds done.

1. 20mm wheel spacers all round.
2. Fabspeed center resonator delete.
3. Forza Motorsport Valve Controller
4. Installed the @360trev tune.


All I can say is…..


The car is night and day different!

The spacers are a nice addition as is the exhaust valve controller.

And the center resonator delete really clears the throat of the car without being too obnoxious.

With the biggest change for me being the tune!

OMFG!

I knew within 1 minute that it was better!

The gear changes are now really easy to time to be nice and smooth when driving normally. This simply happens as the car changes gear quicker and the throttle is now more in sync with this.

The auto mode now is useable and OK to use when required.

And the gear changes in Race at full noise are brutal! They crack into gear just like an Aventador!

Oh yeah…. Did I mention increased HP. Something happened there too???? @360trev in a genius!

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May the Horse be with you

 

Let me know if you have time for a meal here in LV.

 

Now that I have installed the spacers I think 20mm on the rear and 25mm on the front would be the acceptable too.

 

Thank you Ryan,

We actually decided not to go as it is going to raining pretty hard here tomorrow night when were planning on leaving.

I think we will push it back for next month.

Thank you for the invite!

 

So pleased you like the bespoke calibration. It really does make the car fundamentally much more enjoyable and engaging for driving enthusiasts.

The extra throttle response you get from the instant torque is one of my favorite call outs and modifications to improve the shift strategy, eliminating the ignition side delays really do help to get rid of the annoying "head whack" that was present before. I didn't focus on outright peak power gains at max rpm in top gear but actual usable mid range shove and drivability as this is where you spend 99% of your driving time in the real world!

Trev

 

It definitely gives it a much more modern and useable feel!

And yes the mid range is where you need it given thats where you drive the car.

It would be great to do a dyno run with OEM and then your tune.

 

Let’s talk about Rubbing alcohol!

Totally does the job for those pesky sticky buttons!!

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May the Horse be with you

 

Looks good.

 

I’ve seen situations where isopropyl alcohol removes the white lettering. What’s your trick?


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So the sticky stuff is the outer coating that basically rubberizes and goes gooey. Once you remove this sticky residue the remaining bottom layer is the original plastic.

I suppose the only thing that I recommend would be not to rub too hard….. having stated this I was having a good go at it.

Perhaps on the older cars the plastic underneath could be less durable??


May the Horse be with you

 

I went for a drive today.

The new Tune is awesome…. It would be hard to image driving a manual in some of the situations today.

I have to say that the car is now perfect.

I really don’t know if anything else I could possibly do to this car. Perhaps a full body wrap.

It is definitely my wife’s favourite car to be a passenger in.

I asked her what car we should drive to Pebble this year out of the 296 GTB, 575 Maranello and the 599 GTB and she said definitely the 599!

I am thinking the 575 so that I can have some sort of chance of keeping my license!!

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May the Horse be with you

 

That wheelbase stretch does give the 599 some more room, even if they did push the engine back.

 

Your license plate has my 55th birth date
03.27.



Daniel

 

That’s cool! However it is only a temporary plate from the selling dealer in Utah.

Also this car was made in May 2008 and my first born daughter was born in May 2008.


May the Horse be with you

 

Aaron

If you have not to give the plate back to the dealer or before you throw it away after it's valid time, and you don't need it, i would be happy to paypal you some money to get this plate.

Let me know what you think.

Daniel

 

Good news, my concern was that the gas logo, "off" logo or the arrow of recirculation for example would disappear (it happened in my modena, the "lock" inscription on the door handles disappeared).