Anyone track their 458 Speciale regularly? | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Anyone track their 458 Speciale regularly?

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by MTribe, Oct 3, 2019.

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  1. Alamo Gear Head

    Alamo Gear Head Karting
    BANNED

    Sep 28, 2015
    65
    I have tracked my Speciale heavily and the following is what I can tell you. The braking system as someone previously noted is that of the LaFerrari with integrated dedicated cooling ducts to each caliper. So although the 488 is basically the same it is without the cooling ducts which dramatically effects braking response, fade and wear in track conditions. I use only hi temp Brembo brake fluid and flush the brake system before each track event. I have used both the OE Brembo brake pads and the aftermarket Pagid pads. Can't say there was a noticeable difference between the two in performance but was a big difference in price! The Brembo kits do come with sensors and all new hardware whereas the Pagids just come with the pads. I did notice that as the carbon ceramic rotors wear; they loose density and pad life becomes shorter and shorter. Probably due to the rotor's decreased ability to dissapate heat and the coefficient of friction going up(rougher rotor surface). Overall, this brake system does hold up well with repeated track abuse however there are some wear and heat related issues to consider. The caliper pistons are subjected to extreme amounts of heat and noticed that after only a few track days the piston dust seals were cracking and becoming brittle. Eventually so much so that they were no longer there. Secondly the parking brake pads on the rear calipers also prematurely wore due to the heat generated. It becomes essential to ensure not to engage the electronic parking brake after each session to allow the brakes to cool down. So after two years of tracking the car, I've gone through at least 8 sets of brake pads up front and 3 sets in the rear running in CT OFF mode, 1 set of parking brake pads and rotor wear is at 62% front and 45% rear.
     
    3POINT8, mdrums, MTribe and 1 other person like this.
  2. MTribe

    MTribe Rookie

    Mar 18, 2013
    24
    San Francisco, CA
    Great info—much appreciated. I had forgotten about the cooling ducts but seems like the airflow would make a big difference. I was pleased to see that setup! A few questions:

    - How did you check the rotor wear %?
    - Do you know approximately how many days over the two years you have on your rotors?
    - What kind of temps are you running in, i.e. hot weather, mild, etc.?
    - How many days are you getting on tires? So far looks like about 3 for me, depending on the track.
     

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