The Myth of Tracking a Ferrari 458/488

Instructing might not be what it was due to corona. Follow the leader instead of in car. Or walkie talkie and data acquisition. Other issue is staying in hotel overnight. Lets say small prayer for hpde

 

Personally wouldn’t “track” a Ferrari unless it was a Challenge car...consumables too expensive for my blood.
Dedicated track car...I always enjoyed the Lotus, cheaper parts.


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i tracked my ferrari about 8 times yr for 6 yrs and now lotus same way for same time. other than blowing the motor on the ferrari first time on track they were same just needing tires, pads, oil change. tires for lotus are incredibly cheap and ferrari engine repair was $25k but that was one off damage that could happen to any car. gt3 was a problem for me stranding me at track and multiple repairs. maybe sometimes its just luck

 

Chin Track Days will be at Sebring May 30-31...event will sell out. My company is probably putting us sales guys back on the road in June. My wife and I are going out to eat Monday night when our favorite restaurant is back open.

 

I’ll be at Watkins Glen for an event on May 18/19 and already have my hotel room booked.

I cannot wait to get back on track!

 

Which hotel at glen?

 

The Glen Harbor. It is by far the nicest place to stay in town and the rates are very reasonable.

It also has excellent dining in the restaurant on the first floor adjacent to the lobby.

 

Oh yes its very nice there. Ive been many times. Montour falls inn is decent place if looking budget.
Will the event have novice groups or just solo drivers? Hpde cant exist for long if no novices joining to keep the ranks going into future

 

I have a few dedicated race cars (458 CH, Senna GTR, FXX, FXXK, a GT3) and still love tracking the Speciale and Pista. Tracked both just last week. Sometimes you can learn car control more safely and at lower speeds in these heavier versions. I don’t go even 8/10 though as it is unsafe versus a track car.

 

It’s funny when people talk about going through discs and pads when doing a few track days.
Have a look at the number of discs and pads you go though in a race car. After doing a season of 488 challenge I can tell you it’s a lot of brake pads and a few discs. Of course a road car is going to also need new brakes.


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How would you compare the Speciale to the Pista on track...knowing that the Pista is faster


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Odd post IMO, it's sort of comparing apples and oranges, cause a 458 and the likes "are" road cars, that are as close to track cars as possible. I've also been told, the spyders are not like the coupes in rigidity, handling, etc. Maybe that's one of the disconnects you are feeling...

 

I never saw Ferrari marketing the 458 spider as "a serious race car".
Even the track focussed versions are not marketed that way; regarding the actual capabilities the OP could refer to the thread https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/post-your-best-lap-times.510170/ (...post #226 ) to see what drivers of various levels of skills can do, and https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/pista-alignment-video-at-manthey-racing.619579/page-2 (specially post #41) to see what a skilled driver can do with a road Ferrari (with some tuning but no hardware changes).

 

I like the naturally aspirated car more, because the acceleration is more linear. Naturally the newer car is faster, and it is very good, it’s just that you are click, click, clicking as the revs skyrocket so quickly once the turbos kick in. It’s a different car and feeling in acceleration due to the turbos.

I have a naturally aspirated GT3 racecar as well and comparing that to the Senna GTR is similar. The Senna is faster but the GT3 is nice as it is more linear.

 

Nothing like NA! Even my Masi MC GT-Cabrio, w/ only 460hp, has instantaneous response off the line. It's coincidentally the same motor (F136) as in the 458, but obviously tuned down. All my friends that own or have driven, F8s and 488s, pushed me to find a low mileage, mint 458, which is exactly what I did!
They all miss the "real" Ferrari feel, etc. of the car...
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N/A vs Turbo...will never die....I guess it is good as it keeps us all engaged with each other. With that said I do not feel turbo lag in my 488. If I need to go I click down a gear or 2 and accelerate. I have had turbo lag cars before but the 488 is not a turbo lag car.

Coming from a 2018 GT3, which was fun, sounded awesome...I am enjoying the power of the 488 for sure. Heck I really like all sorts of cars and am a huge die hard Porsche guy, however I always thought Ferrari's look better. So far 5 months into my 1st Ferrari ownership I am enjoying the car.

 

Congrats and enjoy her, the 488s and F8s are beautiful cars!!! My friends have owned 458s previously and now currently own the later and the likes. Those are the ones that notice the difference. Better you didn't have a 458, so you don't notice the difference! I also have an '18 M5, which is a monster!!! However, even w/ a 0-60 at 2.8, I still feel a slight lag, compared to my NA '17 Masi MC GT Cabrio and my 458, which instantly break the rear tires loose off the line, with a touch of the gas. I'm a huge P-car guy too, owned many and currently have this 84 Targa, that I bought back in '11.

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Ferraris are not track cars, big whoop.

They're honestly all just very fast GT/Sports cars.

If you actually wanted to have fun on the track then get a Caterham or MX5 or Lotus Elise and track it.

I guarantee 99% of us would run out of talent long before the car would and even on a track, 500+ BHP is scary enough that there really aren't many tracks where you can comfortably use it all in a way that isn't just "wait for a straight and pin the throttle".

Ferraris, Lambos, Porsches, Mclarens aren't logical purchases. We try to legitimize the decision instead of just admitting to ourselves it's an emotional decision. Absolutely no one bought their Ferrari or Lambo or Mclaren because they weighed the competitors across some predefined grading/weighting system and then picked the one that came out on top. It just doesn't happen. We pick, and then justify it after the fact with whichever available metric allows us to do so.

None of us who go to the track (already a tiny minority) are in a position where tenths of a second mean anything monetarily or otherwise.

We pick/buy our favourite brand/model in the same way that we pick our favourite sports team/star. No one has a pre-defined grading system to figure out who their favourite NBA star or football team is. You pick, and then you find some convuluted reason to show why they're the best under this hyper specific scoring system.

 

Watkins Glen Harbor my go to bc is downtown.