I am pretty confident that I can say we did the 1st all OEM conversion, EAG took the ball and ran with it creating their own parts kit, others are trying their hand at doing it. Programming was the biggest hurdle and others here say its been corrected, which is good to know. FWIW, we have had several clients ask if we would perform the conversion using an EAG kit, which we will do. I've quoted the labor at $9,500.00 on the high side. ( I am willing to discuss if it proves to be faster ) Note: I would highly suggest anyone having the conversion completed, keep all the take off parts... Only problem afterwards is trying to keep from smiling as your accelerate though the gears, manually! ;-) Steve
I believe that EAG have suffered a few workshop setbacks- I'm told his team all walked out leaving Art on his own. Health warning - I did not hear this direct from source!
For info gents, Art (of EAG) reached out to me today to confirm the above. They guys basically demanded equity or they would walk. Art declined (which seems entirely fair to me), and the guys left. Looks like he's going ahead with just him and his brother running the show then. Without going into all the details, I suggest he's better off this way anyway. I expect its going to be slower working through all the conversions they have lined up though. Just to add - Thanks Art for getting in touch and clarifying.
If someone wants to purchase their conversion kit from Art, I am sure we can perform the conversion while he works out staffing. ( Obviously we are in Dallas not San Antonio ) Growing pains, after they are worked through, usually you come out stronger on the other side! Steve
From Art today (with permission): Image Unavailable, Please Login What they've done is a clever way to create an upper tunnel section for manual cars without needing to replace the lower section. For better or worse, it does create a fairly easy way to spot this as a conversion, as the factory cars have a different shape to the lower section. Factory manual's would also have little bezels around some of the buttons.Obviously I'm nit picking here, and most people would never know the difference. Seems to be a good match for the Ferrari carbon weave too, which is an easy thing to get wrong.
I would just like to add information to this thread as I don't often post on the 599 forum area. In 2019/2020 I spent the best part of $30,000 worth of labor in man hours perfecting the gated firmware conversion for 599. That means no fault codes, no dash lights and no "bolt in" childs toys botches into the CAN bus are required. I don't think I'll ever get my invested time back in $ perspective as the market is just too niche BUT anyone that does use my patched firmware approach is guaranteed of a perfect conversion. Its not just a single firmware, my patches need to be applied to your individual cars OWN firmware as the software in the ecu's is very unique to small batches of 599's hence the further complication. It was a real difficult one to do because the factory calibration parameters typically used by Bosch where factory disabled to prevent such conversions! As I dug deeper into this I also discovered that Ferrari themselves somehow 'messed up' on their own factory conversion. Yes that's right, barely believable but they didn't perform their calibrations correctly for rev-matching between gear shifts on the rare but stock 599 cars. No wonder the factory 599 gated cars don't drive so well. As a result I am happy to share with you that actually conversions done with my software are better to drive than the factory 599 gated cars. They drive more akin to a F430 gated car as the rev's don't drop like a tonne of bricks between gear changes so the car no longer bogs down between changes. As a result its much more engaging and fun to drive. I'll get some videos done to show this at some point but it really does work perfectly. Some tuners claimed they could do a 599 gated ecu conversion properly but they typically they all fail because it wasn't possible in the known ways which I'd already divulged on here in the past. However with a lot of patience and reverse engineering and eventually machine code patches to the firmware itself (not just calibrations) I succeeded. This was no easy thing to accomplish and burned tonnes of my own time and a few more gray hairs. This resulted in the very first aftermarket 599 conversion in the world (excluding the one at a dealer done with 100% genuine parts and no longer possible due to Ferrari blocking it now). That is using my approach it requires no genuine factory support to get it working (ecu's etc.). It was performed by Wil De Groot and his team in Exoticar USA, NJ for a customer of theirs, Joe G. a member of this very forum. Fast forward to today and EAG also have the capability to do fully working 599 gated conversions too so don't be surprised to see quite a few 599' gated cars now fully working without faults or issues. For a while now I have been providing remote technical support and over the internet reflashing services to assist in such conversions so yes in summary EAG and Exoticar both have the capabilities to do these services. There could be more but if they aren't using my firmware be very skeptical of how well they are driving, probably still running in F1 mode but tricked in someway to hide codes. Stay away!
I appreciate the write up. I've been wondering if NGS/Gated Six were working with you. I can't wait to see the video. The more the merrier!
Steve, Please forward your contact information for a 599 possible conversion in case Art is overwhelmed. Thanks, Jack, 433rdmaw 210-828-9097
They’ve been going on for months. No reports on progress. How long do these take? Is EAG still in the game?
OEM converted specimen arrived home a few weeks ago from Exoticars. It's magnificent. I need time to work up a full debrief... perhaps end of the month as things quiet down.
Yes they are but they just upgraded to a humongous new facility so probably a bit distracted by the move. Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk
This is the information I’ve been waiting to hear. I have a perfect 2008 599 that I’d like to convert. Otherwise I’ll sell.
I need 5 hours, a library of leather-bound books, and a good scotch to properly lay-out my thoughts. I will definitely get to a full debrief, but for now - the car is incredible. Engaging, enjoyable, daily drivable, and feels like a completely integrated, natural experience. The team behind the car is the reason. The weather has been atrocious the last two weeks and our roads just got a healthy dose of salt, so unfortunately it won't be back on the road for quite some time. That said, since we're in hibernation mode, it is a good reason to write a long-form review! Coming soon!
I need to give you my latest 599 GTO upgrades, takes it to another level above... Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk
