Tracked vs. Raced

Track time was a more aggressive activity 20+ years ago. But while today it's definitely more country-club oriented, many of those that participate have little to experience and are at higher risk of getting themselves (and possibly those in close proximety) into trouble more so than back in the day. Petrol muscles!

 

I think that’s an important distinction. I have no intention of tracking my car in the traditional sense. (as I once heard said, “I want you to break off the brake pedal with your foot and hand it to me out the window.”)
But there are plans to build a club track 15 minutes from my house. This seems like a great way to drive the car spiritedly without risk of tickets.

 

Because unlike the Porsche GT cars, which are built to track and are bullet proof, Ferraris are fast sports cars, not track built. Good for fast parade laps.

When I tracked my GT3 RS, I put 6000 miles on it at COTA and only used 2 sets of pads. When I pushed my 812 to nearly the same lap times at COTA I went through a set of brand new pads in one weekend. 3 sets of pads over 1200 miles at COTA. Also had 2 shocks busted because of the bump at turn 1.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

That and with modern car performance you really need a club track to get anywhere near its limits.




Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Are speed limited at club events? The few times i drove on the track with the Club in France there was not speed limit and you could push the car as fast as you wanted while following the track rules of course. That is certainly different than a car that was just driven to concours or starbuck or steak houses. Every component takes a beating compared to the 10 miles sunday drive. So maybe that's why a tracked Ferrari will be looked at negatively when compared to a same mileage model that was driven on sundays only to go get a hot chocolate.

 

At the end tracked doesnt mean much. As others have noted, a lot of people take their cars on tracks a couple of times during ownership, to be able to push a bit more. Most wont go anywhere near the limits of their car. And I'd much rather buy a car that has seen a track but was properly warmed up and prepared, and taken care properly during its routine use, than a car that was used only for very short trips, that never saw a proper track but was never brought to temperature, stayed in traffic most of the time and was rev'ed at red lights for IG content. for the same mileage, the second one will have seen much more wear.

 

Generally, there are different run groups.

BTW, best bang for the buck is a testing day, usually on Friday, before a race. Drive as much as you want, but keep in mind, there will be all kinds of go-fast cars on the track. Just stick to your line, boys.

 

The performance - top speed and torque of modern Ferrari's put it way above most owners capabilities - my own included. However driving a car on track - at 7-8/10th does take it out of the car ... while they may be designed for ultimate speed... they are not designed to do that for its entire life with no maintenance... so you will likely go through consumables like brakes, and discs, and pads, and clutches. shocks etc... are all consumable. on a Modern Race car - if you are competitive - you are constantly changing out those things. Porsche is one who designs some of its cars for more durability for track events - but even then you will wear those same things out. speed still costs ..$$$$$$$$$$ how fast do you want to go? driving a Ferrari ( modern Ferrari ) on track is fun - and impressive but you will rarely get to its potential... and when you do you are putting it all at risk. my advice is to buy a radical or a kart - and drive to the track in your Ferrari... or do some med speed touring laps at a track meet... you have to experience the car's potential in a safe environment - but don't get too crazy. bad stuff can happen instantly with 700hp.

 

Are modern hypercars -- unconstrainted by a "formula" -- actually faster than formula cars, perhaps even faster than Formula 1 cars?

 

perhaps in a straight line a Chiron or Bolide will out pace an F1 car... but for sheer speed around a track I'm not sure anything is faster than an F-1 car... the combo of weight, power and grip... hard to beat. a regular Hyper car is not going to come close... the new Lemans Hyper Car class - I dont think would eclipse a modern F-1 car... perhaps one of the Toyotas from 2-3 years ago... that would be very, very close.

 

I was quite surprised by how little two track days took out of my F8. 2nd track day of the year took the tread down to about 50% on PZero PZ4 tires (about 150 laps) and the brake pads down to about 80% remaining. It's pretty sturdy

https://youtube.com/shorts/LYa068zVvC0?feature=share

 

Thank you for the post.

 

Comparing the GT3 RS with the 812 is not really fair though - the 812 has a monster of an engine but its weight is a guarantee for increased wear on all components... While not as focussed as a GT3 RS, an F8 would probably cope far better than a 812.
The OEM Brembo Ferrari brakes are notoriously sub-par on all models though.

 

They are tuned for GT use. Not track monsters.

They are nice to use unlike some other manufacturers that have the grabbiest ****tiest pedal feel.

 

Truthfully the Ferraris I collect are such that if they didn’t have track (race) history I’d automatically see that as a negative. Of course my cars are mostly race cars, which I feel is most in spirit with the brand, so that’s got a lot to do with it.

 

Two identical production Ferraris at the same price and mileage. One advertised as tracked. Which one do you really want?

 

Not a chance. Downforce and low weight means there is no way to beat a Formula 1. Even with 2000HP in a 2 ton car. F1 are 800kg with close to 1000HP, but have so much downforce they are in a whole different realm of performance. They can pull up to 5G in high speed corners and braking, compared to a tad about 1G for the best hypercars.
Some hypercars can probably beat some monotype race cars like the 488 Challenge or equivalent, because these are constrained in power and are based of street cars.

 

Tracking is as intense as you can get = wear + tear. As always it depends on the previous owner's maintenance. I'm sure there are track cars more reliable then garage queens. YMMV. I personally wouldn't mind assuming I know everything about the track car.

 

The other thing is who was driving? a track car used by Charles Leclerc - had way more taken out of it than if driven by me.... I'd buy my car all day long...

 

very true!

 

Tracking for a good cause - 500 Ferrari against cancer, Sport et Collection, Val de Vienne track... the paying passenger must be respected