458s on Fire

That's a lot of heat and horsepower in a confined space, under a glass lid . . . . and catalysts, while more free-flowing today, I would think still trap a lot of heat . . . ?

. . . lot of heat = lot of stress on parts = greater chance for things to fail and greater likelihood of igniting when they do . . . my guess . . .

 

If Ferrari made a car that ran on water it would still burn to the ground somehow.

 

These things are almost always caused by two things:

1) Spillage or overflow from the gas receptical.

2) Leakage in the fuel lines caused by improper assembly or incorrect repair or maintenance.


It can happen to any manufacturer. But, putting the fuel receptical near the engine bay is always problematic -- and a problem in general for all mid-engine cars. I'm not defending the marque but it happens to Lambo's and Audi's also.

 

. . . and Fieros . . .

 

seems they are prone to catching fire too:
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another
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Another 458 on fire thread! I think the threads outnumber the burned cars now!

 

What usually causes this?

 

My guess is fuel line squirted on the header...I'm suprised the rear tire didn't blow. Poor guy...makes ya want to check your hoses and maybe install an anti-fire system to reduce damage should you have a really bad day like this guy did.

Think defering maintenance is a good idea?....think again. Not sure that's what happened but usually that's what causes it.

 

Only reason to have fire supression is to protect the occupants IMHO...

In a modern production car... let it burn to the ground. Do you want it "repaired"?

FYI, Aluminum doesn't do well with heat...

I would wager deferred maintenance had nothing to do with this...

 

I'm guilty: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=291188

 

What kind of maintenance could have been deferred???? The oldest 458 is what, about 5 months old? This is inexcusable and to blame on some sort of deferred maintence is incorrect- whatever it is the issue should be found and all 458s should recalled to be fixed period.

 

Mid engine cars are more prone to fires, no matter who the mfr is....ask me how I know...

 

LMAO

 

That's not good.

 

While it is certainly cause for concern, I think declaring there is a problem is rushing to judgement. Statistically speaking, are a couple of burned cars meaningful? And, the 458's design heritage goes back over 10 years to the 360 and through the 430 lines. Any statistically meaningful conclusions with either of those models?

Don't get me wrong, I've witnessed a 360C burn badly when it backed into the armco at Watkins Glen. So, obviously, it can, and does, happen. But, is this just an inherent design issue with a rear/mid-engined car as opposed to something more sinister?

And, even more honestly, a burning Ferrari is a pretty BIG event in the autmotive world. Photos get snapped and end up plastered on the Internet for everyone to see. I'm not sure if burned out Fords, Toyotas or VWs get the same treatment. Maybe they're just so much better designed that they don't catch fire ever?

Anyway, I'm glad if the drivers are alright. That's the important thing.

CW

 

i don't see that many porsche 911s getting burned. i really don't understand why it seems ferrari has this fire problem. my buddy's F430 burnt also. he was on the highway and next thing you know, he sees smoke then flames coming from his engine... he will never own another ferrari after that incident.

 

Problem is that the engine and trans is different. This is a direct injection which has high pressure pumps providing up to 200 BAR

 

azmurci and diablo,

Just thinking out loud. I'm no expert on the subject and defer to those who are. And, yes, I agree that a high-pressure fuel system can certainly make a mess IF it's compromised. If it's un-compromised, you certainly shouldn't have spontaneous combustion. You'd hope that Ferrari's engineers would have designed a good car given their long experience with similar (if not exactly the same) designs. I mean a mid-engined car is a mid-engined car. The fuel tanks/cells are in relatively close proximity to the engine compartment. Let's hope the designers have considered that fact.

And, as for the Porsche, (again, I defer) I expect the fuel lines run from front to rear, because the tank is in the front end? The filler on our 911 Turbo was on the front fender, anyway. Perhaps newer Pcars are different?

CW

 

It was only a matter of time.... and the newest Ferrari proves again that Ferrari doesn't get it. They can't build a car that won't catch on fire. Most of them I've seen burning are the rear/mid engine types, although IIRC I saw a 599 burning thread a while back. I guess the state-of-the-art in technology hasn't helped in any way to avert this burning issue.

And every time we see more Ferraris burning there is the apologist crowd that comes out and says it's not a valid argument to make that they are prone to fires when clearly they do burn and catch fire. Ferrari ought to get a clue and put a "non-burning" setting on their "Manitetto" steering wheel control.

 

when I got the first run on my previous F40 GTE, the total team from JB Racing prepared an additionnal extinguisher to the mechanic going with the driver for the very first run around Le Castellet track just in case, in fact they were used to get fire inside their 360NGT, 575 GTC and obviously F40 rumored to get fire easily.
And it happens what should happens, just stopping in front of us in the stands, the F40 started to burn, hopefully several extinguisher were ready to be used, no problem!!!
just imagine my fealing as I was supposed to sign a very big invoice!
It's ferrari, just use them and take care.

 

I don't disagree that there may be an issue that needs to be further investigated. However, before declaring them problematic, we really need to know if there's a statisitically significant number that have burned. Photos of burned Ferraris turn up on the web because they're exotics. It's news. So, out of the roughly how many 360s made, how many have burned?

But, pour gas on anything, and it will burn. Could be an Audi. Could be a Bugatti. Could be a Chevy. So, just because something that leaks gas burns when ignited isn't evidence that there's a problem that caused the leak in the first place. A loose fitting on a fuel line is a far cry from a deisgn flaw.

And, I'm happy to say that after 20 years of ownership of multiple Fcars, the only fire I ever experienced was due to a blown motor on-track during a race at full-tilt, which the halon system addressed perfectly. Hopefully, that will be my last ever.

CW

 

I think it would be a simple enough affair to equip mid-engined supercars with fire/overtemperature detectors in various locations in the engine bay (near the cats, or wherever the most heat is generated). Bimetallic temperature detectors can be very sensitive to trip at a certain temperature. A big red flashing light in the cabin would complete the system nicely, or wire it into the dashboard display. There really is no excuse for these spontaneous combustions.

 

I agree with everything you've said. All cars catch on fire & all cars burn. I've personally seen several car fires, none of which were exotics. Just last weekend I saw a new Toyota Camry on fire at the local Best Buy. The firefighters were just putting it out as I pull into the parking lot. Did anyone care, take photos, or post it on the internet? No.. because it was just a Toyota. If a photo exists of a burning exotic, you can be assured it will show up on the internet in no time at all.