A Question for long Track days in Ferraris vs other super cars.

Ferraris are no worse than any other sports car. The big deal if you drive fast is keeping any streetcar cool in gearbox, diff, and engine. The only track ready streetcar IMO is the GT3 porsche. Everything else needs help. Brakes are typically one of the 1st things complained about but most less experienced track divers use too much brake.

 

I never have had a problem.

 

If you want to track all day and do many events a year a Porsche GT3…GT3RS or GT4 is awesome. They all need…Ferrari, Porsche Vette,…whatever proper maintenance and fluid changes but the Porsche is built for track events. You’ll have better feeling brakes, better brake cooling, better transmission with the GT Porsche cars.

 

Fear? Modern Porsche are balanced and incredible at the track

 

I properly destroyed a set of tires on my 599HGTE at a long track day in the summer back in 2012. Get the hood open and let the car rest when your run group is off the track, you'll be fine.

 

As well as Lotus out of the box… yes more of a momentum car but incredibly light feeling and agile.


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I brought my Cali to a half day one on one training to 3 different tracks like PPIR, HPR and PMP in Colorado for total 5x this Summer and need to replace tires and brake pads…. That’s what you need to worry … your cash to spent those items Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login


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That is impressive wear. Make sure that you have them check your brake rotors, carbon rotors will not have visible wear but there is wear. I think that the Ferrari rotors are based upon weight. The Porsche carbon rotors are based upon pitch when strike them.

 

That tire wear is nuts and should never wear like that. I think you have an alignment issue.


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With front engined cars, trail braking helps the car turning but it puts a lot of load on the exterior front tyre... mid-rear engined cars still benefit from trail braking, but they do not demand it to the same extent so that in the end they're more friendly with the tyres.

 

I replaced brake pads and tires and did not have alignment issue so far… we will see next month late April when I will bring to track again….


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I agree with this. While the factory setup (if this is what you were running) may be good for the street and tire longevity, it may not be the best track set up. Do you know how much toe and camber you were running? It looks like excessive toe-in, or not enough negative camber. Have you measured tire temps and pressures? You may also be “pitching” the car rather than rolling the car into corners with wear like that. Personally, when I rolled into corners more rather than throwing it into a corner, I picked up speed and my tires lasted longer.

 

The Cali has the tire temp and pressure and when getting really hot then I stopped for a break. That happened during half day private track lesson one on one with instructor and I believe that was mainly due to my rookie season that driving like “pitching” as you said thus I used hard braking too much plus cornering with high speed that I had to brake etc… it was a learning experience during my rookie season so hopefully this year I can relax little bit and driving better into corner…. Thus not wasting my money for brake pads and tires…. Again for this year…


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I'm reminded of a story. I asked a guy once who raced spec miata how he liked the car. He said he hated it, which surprised me. When I asked him why he raced a car he didn't like, he said, "When you race, you are doing your best to destroy the car. Why destroy a car you like?"

 

That’s true but because it’s a toy and you need to play with it to give you joy and satisfaction


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Was cole trickle driving this car ?

 

Anyone go to Willows Springs with Open Track Racing? They meet every other month on a Wednesday. I’ve been twice and had a blast. It’s $190 for all day and that includes a great lunch and T shirt. There’s beginner, intermediate and advanced sessions. In the beginner class you must pass in the straightaways only, the other two classes you can pass where you want.


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A lot of it depends on what car you are tracking, what tires you have on, how you drive, and how well prepared your car is for the track. Before I take my F12 out on the track, i do extensive tech inspection prior, especially if i am spending a full 3 days at an event. The Ferrari though is far better than the McLarens, Lamborghinis, and Aston’s I’ve tracked- those all had issues that ended the day each time.

That said, out of the maybe 30 days that I’ve spent tracking my F12, I’ve only had two issues: One was cooling the big v12 after running it very hard over many sessions and 4 hours into a very hot day at Road Atlanta - had some coolant overflow. This had happened right after a top off at Ferrari dealer prior for tech inspection, so while it appeared to “leak” a bit, all was fine after it got to the correct level when cooled down, and I usually open up the hood to let the engine cool down anyway. Second was a tire issue at Barber MP, where the valve stem got hit by some rubber and broke on track, so i started losing air very fast and came off to replace the tire before I bent a rim.

So for me, it’s mostly been cooling off the car when running hard and making sure everything is in track shape (vs regular road driving). If i wanted a really good track car ONLY, I wouldn’t be tracking a Ferrari; would be GT3 RS for sure. But most of the other times driving that car, I’d just be bored with it - and life is too short to be bored! Tracking Ferrari’s is expensive but quite fun.

 

Love your post and attitude. I’m doing the same with my 458 and plan on visiting Watkins, Atlanta and Barber soon with Chin. Life is way too short.

I haven’t seen any F12s out there yet (it is a bit heavy and yes I’ve tracked one during Corso Pilota ) and not a lot of Ferraris in general. I did see a 599 GTO at Sebring and an F8 at VIR last week - interesting comment about the Lamborghinis (I’ve seen exactly one so far) and McClarens (I see them more than the F cars). I actually thought about picking up a ‘Cheap’ 12C just for the track.

The 458 albeit lacking the power of the F12 is a lively track car with its mid engine, but to your point it ain’t no GT3 RS or blown C7. But it does ok, lol……

 

Yeah it’s a lot of fun! I’ve never seen another F12 on track ever, and it’s a very heavy car, but part of what makes it great for the track to me is wielding all that weight and power around the corners for sheer fun, less pure speed. I occasionally see a 458 or 488, but not many F cars really, never any Lambos, and the McLarens all break down

 

The C7 Z06’s always amaze me on track.


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C7’s are wicked fast on the track. It’s great some of you are getting your F cars on the track. I used to track my 360, but I found it’s not too good on long run sessions. Brake fade was a problem even with updated pads.

 

There are lots of folks out there with 458s and 488s. I changed out pads to Pagid RSC1s and am awaiting Surface Transform rotors. This combination (and SRF Castrol fluid) has helped tremendously, as does running with TC off.

Sebring is a bit rough on the suspension, not much one can do about that. I may be the first candidate to have to change out components on the 458 due to wear and tear.

Yes it’s always the big bad C7 Z06s and GT3RSs that hunt me down, lol……