Manual conversion on a 599

These are always interesting to watch. It looks like he is starting with a GTO wanna be, which is not necessarily a bad thing. My one question with these conversations is that the car is so powerful, and the F1 transmission is so fast, are you not making the car slower with a manual??

 

I had intended to do this with my 599, but after so many negative reviews of the manual cars decided it wasn’t worth the effort. I’m really interested to see how this goes. Dan’s latest project is exactly what I wanted to see.

 

U certainly are but at least u get the full driving experience


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I'm extremely interested in this, as I have considered moving up to a 599 on more than one occasion, losing my gated manual being one of the drawbacks...however, so many of Daniel's videos are just horrible and unwatchable that I may just have to keep checking back for the cliffnotes.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love three peddle cars. It's just knowing the power of the 599 the idea is a little mind blowing. The 512BBi has half the power of the 599 and believe me you can get into plenty of trouble with it.

 

Agreed! I loved my Testarossa compared to my FF. FF just too darn fast!


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I will watch this with interest. I prefer manual cars, and yes I know I’m not as fast as a computer but I prefer the pure connection with the car.

 

The car he bought to convert is terrible

 

That's risk mitigation, the car being already ruined there is no fear of making things worse...

 

Actually its risk amplification not mitigation. Take a clean 599 and convert it successfully and you will definitely make some money. He shot himself in the foot with that thing.

 

Who makes that kit so I can know who to boycott?

 

lolol

 

I'm really interested in finding out where he's going to get the clutch pedal, the shift selector, interior parts, etc. Seeing that it's NLA.. I'm all ears. Now, if it's just go and spend $50k for the parts from the Texas convertor.. that appeals less to me.

 

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I designed and made a clutch pedal myself.

I still know where to get most of the parts. To be honest, that’s half the fun tracking them down.


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Eag in san antonio makes their own parts...i just bought there aftermarket conversion kit for my 430

 

looks like the vorsteiner kit. Rear bumper/exhausts looks cool but the rest is done just tacky.

 

So Dan just got his 599 moved back to EAG as “they’re still prototyping”. Which is totally fair enough; makes complete sense.

My question to the guys who’ve put down deposits for a conversion (I believe 5 or 6 now), is whether or not this bothers you? I mean, is this what you were sold? An almost ready conversion?

I’m pretty sure that EAG will come through, but I just hope the owners of these cars aren’t waiting around too long to drive their cars.


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I mentioned this before, Dario Franchitti in a recent you tube video stated that the factory manual 599 was not that nice to drive, as the flywheel is so small, being designed from the off for the F1 set up that revs drop off dramatically during shifts.

This will no doubt be the same on any converted cars, and I imagine the bell housing is designed around that small flywheel so probably not a lot of space to make it heavier to compensate, obviously you cannot go bigger due to the ring gear/starter combo.

Just something to also consider. I suppose it turns the car from a GT cruiser into more of a sports car, and the same matter does not seem to put off Mclaren F1 owners, as a small flywheel was part of BMWs design brief. Its less of an issue for the earlier f1 f cars as their flywheels are the same having started off as manuals.

They should not really be taking orders/deposits though until the kit has been fully tested and ready to go. These guys seem to be trying to run before they can walk. For a company in need of funding as displayed by the recent you tube request for investors, would I be laying out $30k plus up front....hmmm probably not.

Long term however, then well proven conversions though will find buyers, I wish them luck getting to that point.

 

Well on the flywheel side of things, 360trev sorted that for them (and tested as working on Joe’s 599; the trick is in getting the ecu function for rev decay to work properly). They’ve only just sorted the body ecu stuff, but clearly there are still a few other things to work through. Just seems mad that you would pay the deposit and leave your car on site for an undetermined period of time, when the conversion process isn’t fully understood. I could be talking crap here, so happy for anyone to chime in who’s got their 599 there now waiting to be converted.


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