100.000Kms in 2 years!

Ok this is not strictly Ferrari-related but it's very interesting. From an Italian newspaper, I read yesterday about a 62-yr old man from Italian Südtirol who owns an oil company, is a great supercar lover and hates flying.

The result? He's put 100.000 Kms on his Lamborghini Murcielago in little more than 2 years! And according to his experience, he has had "no trouble at all - just regular servicing". He says the Murci has proved reliable and driveable in all weather conditions, including in winter with snow tires! But even more amazing is that in the same 2 years he's put 40.000 Kms on his Pagani Zonda S!!!! Now that must be a record.

Apparently drives his cars everywhere, including Eastern Europe, without ever the slightest problem.

He explained that after 15 years of Ferraris, he got bored and moved to Lambo 10 years ago (5 Diablos and now the Murci). He finds Ferraris are "not so exciting"!

Does anyone have stories about Ferraris being driven with similar intensity?

 

Here's some numbers that I poached from this German forum: it's amazing!! (For non-German speakers, "ohne Revision" means without major rebuild).

308 GTS ~100.000 Meilen
308 QV 160.000 Meilen ohne Revision
ein anderer 308 > 180.000 Meilen
1985er Testarossa > 130.000 Meilen
F40 > 90.000 Meilen (viele davon auf der Rennstrecke)
1985er Testarossa > 260.000 Meilen
1987er 328 > 100.000 Meilen
308 > 265.000 Meilen (das sind über 425.000 Kilometer)
1979er 308 > 143.000 Kilometer
512 TR > 300.000 Kilometer, dieser ist mittlerweile ersetzt worden durch einen 550 Maranello, der pro Jahr 50.000 Kilometer mehr auf die Uhr bekommt

Astonishing, isn't it!!! I think the old lower-revving V8s and the V12s are the most durable. I suspect that the 8500-plus rpm V8s do not enjoy the same durability if driven near the redline too often (which they do, since they don't have much torque below). The big V12s have so much torque that most of the time they are hardly stressed.

 

Simon, I know you are right - I just wanted to stir things up a bit!

It is true though that recent 8-cylinders (355, 360) have shown to have some durability issues. I'm not talking only from my own unlucky experience, but from what I've heard from several sources. Between a 7700 rpm engine with 80 HP/litre and an 8700 rpm engine with 110 HP/litre I think they're crossing a significant threshold. We're talking very high average piston speeds (over 20 m/s for the 355/360) and very high peak pressures (120 bar for the 355/360, if I remember well) - numbers until a few years ago unheard of outside competition engines or superbikes.

I think Ferrari ventured into dangerous waters with the F355 - they came out with a mechanical jewel, but not an infallible one. Cracked manifolds, leaking valves leading to low compression, damaged bearings due to excessive revs from cold... all these problems reduce the average durability of these engines. Of course there will be "good" F355s that can do 120.000 Kms without a problem, but statistically I think they are a lot more delicate than V12s or even than the older less stressed V8s.

The 360 was already considerably better than the 355, and the "lessons learned" continues with the F430, which I hope will prove as durable and tough as a V12. Time will tell...