I like Ben's in Giallo Triplo Strato, or was it Giallo Modena? I forget, but it looks pretty. Still not sure everybody understands the GTO chassis is different from the 599's, but matters little. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like Triplo Strato to me, it's much deeper than Modena (and prettier, in my opinion!). How different is the chassis? Is it just suspension geometry or does it go much deeper than that? I remember when I first heard of the GTO, and that it was only going to be 100kg lighter than the GTB, I thought it was quite pathetic, a sales story to get rid of the remaining chassis. Not quite. After it came out it has quickly become one of my favourite Ferrari's ever, one I lurk after constantly. Not bad for a flappy paddle car .
Is it correct that the actual frame of the 599 GTO is different from the GTB and if so how is it different? I know the suspension parts are different.
I think the frame is different, as well as the suspension, but I do not have access to a GTO parts catalog to see all the differences. 599XX chassis. Direct quote from the sales brochure: "....exclusive limited series of 599 cars built on the platform of the production car, but developed with an entirely different concept in mind. It is more closely based, in fact, on the 599XX, the experimental car destined exclusively for track, but not competition, use." Kind of ambigous, I guess. Not so on the engine. "The 599's engine is derived directly from the 599XX, albeit with certain modifications necessary for it to comply with Euro S and LEV2 standards and thus gain road-going homologation."
I'm also a big fan of the GTO. I've been fortunate enough to drive both the standard 599GTB and GTO back to back and they are night and day in every respect, particularly with regards to the steering feel. Taz, I didn't know that it was a whole different chassis! Interesting! Do you mean that it's a 599XX chassis? I thought the FXX chassis was Enzo-based. Cheers
Yes, I was misquoting FXX vs 599XX. Too many Xs for me. Ferrari quotes are kind of ambiguous on the chassis/frame, like my edit above showed.
I would love to love the 599 in any of its guises but for its size. For a car of its class, to my eyes it is just too huge. Look at it compared with the Maranello, still the most beautifully proportioned and designed Ferrari of all. The 599 is h-u-g-e! I believe the photo is from Terry's archive. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Seems to me that it's mostly the suspension that has been altered. Just speaking my mind here, but I would think that the frame of the XX would be largely identical to the GTB? Perhaps a few things went missing in the name of saving weight or even added for a stiffer chassis, but the bare basics would be the same (not speaking from any knowledge, just logic. I don't see many benefits in changing large part of the frame). The engine of the XX is a development from the GTB (so it maintains the basic structural bits that make it an F140 engine). Love the fact that it's XX derived. Certainly sounds as mean as legally possible .
Bas- Like I said, I would need access to a parts catalog to see how different the frame is. One reason I believe it is different is because the GTO exhaust will not fit a 599. If the frames were the same, that should not be a problem. Of course, that could be due to underbody changes, but right now not enough data.
The main difference engine wise is the intake which on the FXX is carbon and the catalytic converters fitted to the GTO. Remove the cats and there is apparently some power to be found...
I would agree with that. It most likely has a milder map than the XX, so together with removing the cats, adding the XX intake and remap for it, it should be on XX levels. Not that it needs it...
This was my understanding as well but my knowledge just comes from reading publications from Ferrari and in the press. I've been lucky enough to drive both cars and to me the GTO really shows its teeth when you are pressing hard on it. Going slowly the cars present similar experiences.
Similarities between 599 XX and 599 GTO are huge. Owned a 599 HGTE together with a 599 GTO. Cars are totally different. HGTE gone ... GTO will never leave the stable. Also driven the 599 XX and I couldn't get over the fact how many things felt like the GTO. The GTO is the street legal version of the XX. No doubt and logic as it shares 90% of the XX DNA and only 10% of the "standard 599". Said it so many times ... but will repeat it again: It's not because the 599 GTO looks so much like a 599 that it is one. Keeping the beautiful lines of the 599 intact and deliver a performance result such as the GTO does is a major achievement by Ferrari and makes the GTO even more special in my opinion. It really is a special car and I'm glad to see in this particular thread that most of us out there start understanding what many GTO owners have been repeating from day one ... this car is all about emotion = what a true Ferrari should be.
Well said and as usual your remarks are spot on,M. The 599 GTO really is an incredible Ferrari by any standard. Most of us who own them plan on holding on to them for a very long time. That fact alone should speak volumes about how much we respect and appreciate the GTO.
M and you remain committed. So do I--its not leaving the stable and price, at least while I'm able to drive, is simply not important. Great car, which continues to feel better each and every time.
At the F12 presentation in March 2012 in Maranello Felisa said to me with a big smile on his face, "the GTO is a keeper, you have to keep it!"... Image Unavailable, Please Login
