Manual Hybrid 599 Project

Will be watching.

 

Very cool stuff! And I had no idea that Ferrari made a hybrid 599 concept!

Should be an amazing project to follow.

 

I was curious how a hybrid 599 might go together. So I checked out the Mountain Pass Performance YouTube channel and found that these guys added a hybrid system to their Nissan 350Z track car about five years ago. On the Z they mounted the motor to the bell housing. They started with the battery pack from a BMW i8, but are presently running this:

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They're presently considering adding another module to to this pack, as well as a higher voltage inverter, which together should produce about 200 hp.

It looks like a fascinating project to add these mods to a 599. But according to the video @Nuvolari linked to, they're first going to do the gated six conversion -- using @brogenville's Out of the Gate parts -- and install some Fiammenghi headers and see where they are after doing these mods, before they dive into the hybrid stuff.

I hope they're aware of the fragility of the 599's differential and half shafts. The DDE channel had two 599s that EAG's Art Bartosik converted to gated six, and the DDE shop also installed some Valvetronic exhaust systems. DDE's Dave Fryer serially broke each half shaft on his car -- I mean, the shafts themselves broke in half -- and then both side gears in the differential. Three major failures, and Dave wasn't really abusing the car that much when they happened. Just a good hook and a clutch drop is all it takes. Adding a couple hundred pounds of battery and electric motor to the 599's 3,700 lbs, plus the instant-on torque of an electric, plus possibly some wider than stock tires (the boys mention some body mods are in their 599's future), will stress these components even further. I would recommend some upgraded axle shafts from the jump. There's not much to be done about the side gears, except to replace the $7,500 complete differential assembly when they break. (That's the only way Ferrari sells the repair parts.)

 

Having the differential as the ‘fuse’ in this new setup could get REALLY tedious by the sounds of it!

 

You know, when you think of it that way, it’s probably a better idea to leave the stock half shafts alone, so that they’re the first thing to break. No doubt they’re not cheap, but a lot less than $7,500. Still, DDE Dave managed to break the side gears in his 599, as well as the half shafts, and at the time the problem made itself known he was merely driving out of the garage in normal fashion, meaning that the exact failure event was unknown.

P.S., it’s Dave Coulter, not Fryer. Fryer is the last name of the DDE boss, Damon.