My NARTy 575 Build Thread

Replacing Xenon Ballasts

The headlight nightmare continues! After determining that the xenon bulbs were actually fine, I diagnosed the problem as the xenon ballast itself. To do this, you will need to find on eBay the following part:

Valeo 89002070

This part number was shared across several early 2000s platforms such as Nissan Premier and Audi A4. An alternative part number is Valeo 89001411, which is a slightly earlier version of this xenon ballast. It is distinguished by a slightly different igniter wire that’s silver. Both of these ballasts represent Valeos now defunct ‘6 pin 35W’ design, which they do not make anymore. I’m looking into converting this system into a 4 pin 35W setup so that one can use a more modern and reliable ballast - a deep dive for another day.

Instructions

First you will want to check fuses and relays. Remove passenger floormat and remove two 10mm nuts holding the cover in place.
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Check fuses F7 and F8 (in my case) after popping off the leftmost cover. Both looked good for me so I put the old fuses back.
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Next, I checked to see if the relay for the headlight switch was broken. I swapped R5 and R6 which are exactly the same, then tested headlights. No difference observed. Thus I put everything back and removed the ballast holder for passenger side. I unplugged the igniter and 6 pin plug, and extracted from the car. Then I removed all the torx bolts and swapped the new ballast in. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Then reinstall and plug everything back in.

 

500 mile review & first roadtrip

This weekend I took the 575 on a proper roadtrip to the White mountains in NH and got more familiar with the cars performance and handling characteristics. Suffice it to say that not only did the car crush it, it exceeded my expectations in a few delightful ways. I’m definitely more smitten with the car now than when I bought it, which is an amazing thing.
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Firstly, the positive impressions - stuff that really sticks out to me given my experience driving a lot of modern Porsches and classic bmws:

- By far the biggest surprise for me is just how nicely the car handles both around tight corners and high speed sweepers. While there’s a slight body roll and hard acceleration/deceleration can upset the balance due to porpoising, with sport mode on the car is a fiend for turns. A big GT has absolutely no business being this nimble or engaging. The steering is beautifully communicative as well, maybe slightly light but perfectly acceptable. I felt that I could push the front end of this car far more than I would have anticipated, and understeer kicks in progressively and predictably. You get a good sense of what the car is doing underneath you. Then when you power out of the corner with that stonking V12, you’re left smiling ear to ear at Ferraris masterful engineering.

- High speed stability is excellent, which was also surprising given the quick steering rack, wide tires, and short wheelbase. I was expecting a tango especially when pushing 3 digits but instead it felt very much on rails and capable of hitting its top speed comfortably. Some cars give me sweaty palms when you go very fast, but not this one. You could drink a coffee with one hand while cruising at 100 if you wanted. The fact you can do that AND behave like a little sports coupe is the real genius of this car.

- The F1 slams gears properly when shifting near redline WOT. It’s damn impressive, and I think its character around town is dramatically different than when you’re driving it hard. I think the people who wrote off the F1 never experienced this effect.

- This was to be expected, but the sheer torque and high rpm power is so intoxicating. It’s such a nice step up from the old bmw M cars I’m used to. It interesting how at 4500 rpm or so it gets a second wind and extra shoves you back, and the delivery is perfectly smooth.

- The glass house effect from the big windows makes the cabin feel light and airy more so than any car I can think of. Visibility is great, and it’s almost like being in the worlds finest Imax when driving through scenic valleys and overpasses.

Of course, there are a few gripes I have with the car which I’m looking to remedy. Some of these things might be inherent, but for others I’m sure there’s a solution:

- The lack of cruise control is baffling to me, given how even my old crappy e36 m3 with a throttle cable had one. Definitely need to figure out how to add this.

- The steering wheel, while sexy, feels flimsy to me. At 9 and 3, if I push one hand and pull the other, it moves around a bit in the column and makes a sort of creaking noise. Adjusting the columns telescoping makes no difference. I’m not sure if this is down to a loose column or if it’s inherent to the wheel itself, but getting this to be perfectly rigid would be wonderful.

-The pedals are a bit close together and with my club feet’s it’s easy to hit both pedals simultaneously. I find I need to take off my shoes to get the best accuracy. The throttle pedal itself has an absurd amount of travel, and I don’t think I like non floor mounted pedals.

- The sin visors obstruct quite a lot of precious visual real estate especially if you’re tall. Since I sit higher than I’d like but want to keep the normal seats, figuring out a way to redesign the visors to be lower profile would be amazing.

- There’s a fair bit more road noise than I was expecting.

- The buttons and electrics can be temperamental. Sometimes the trunk or gas cap release don’t feel like it and pressing it several times doesn’t work. Sometimes when I try to lock the car, the windows crack open a little. Sometimes trying to start the car, when hot, will just turn over. Just odd, Italian things.

Despite these critiques it’s by and large a sublime car that I feel lucky to own. It’s just missing a few touches I would like for it to be the perfect car, but out of the box one can be extremely satisfied with it. You are also a celebrity wherever you go, which is a new and fun aspect to car ownership I’m not used to.