Coast to Coast record broken in Ferrari 550

Where are the pictures, time stamps and what not....Good Bullrun publicity, right?

 

Isn't Nero DS, Nero Daytona?

If so, I have a 99 550 Nero DS..

Cool stuff.

John

 

I'm not surprised that a modern Ferrari could beat that record... but I do think that talk is cheap, and I'd like to see time stamps and some sort of third-party verification before I get too excited.

So they went from the Red Ball Garage to the Portofino Inn?

 

I knew Texans like to do things on a big scale - Congratulations!
Any tickets?
What onboard counter measures did they employ; V1, Lidatek, etc?


I've seen several other Ferraris in Nero Daytona and it is a fantastic color.

 

I just find it so hard to believe...plus the press release got the facts wrong. In 1979 the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash started in Darien, CT. (In the previous years it started at the Car and Driver parking lot in NYC, but not in 1979.)

Dave Heinz and David Yarborough (both Jaguar dealers at the time-- Heinz died in the 1990s, Yarborough is now a Lexus dealer) averaged just under 90mph for the entire journey. That is nearly impossible given modern traffic. They averaged over 90mph through California!!!

They were literally blocked at a standstill by truckers in Needles, AZ for 10 minutes who were upset at their speed. (A guy in a motorhome behind them threatened to shoot the truckers if they didn't move to let him through, at which time the Jaguar slipped through.) Just think of what would happen on modern day highways with cell phones to call the police!

The key to Cannonball (and most rallies) is fuel economy. Almost any modern car is capable of grossly illegal speeds, but few can do it without burning fuel at an alarming pace. My question is how did the 550 complete the journey in record time at an average consumption of around 10mpg? (Which is ballpark what it would be around 92 mph average....one of the 550 owners might be able to give a specific number.) In comparison, a C5 Corvette with a 6-speed can return 30mpg at 90mph with a 19 gallon fuel tank. (I get over 35mpg at 65mph --- that's a lot better than my 328 GTS!!!)

So I wonder how real this all is...As I like to tell people when I'm unsure: it's POSSIBLE, but not necessarily PROBABLE!

Sam

 

As I posted elsewhere, I think it would be EASIER today than it was in 1979. Traffic and fuel stops are your enemy, as you pointed out, and with GPS and XM real-time traffic, not to mention the internet as a tool for plotting the initial route, I think it could be done. I'm not sure if these guys actually did it or not, but I certainly think it could be done.

I am interested in the fuel economy of the 550, though. I find it hard to believe it would only get 10mpg. My 1969 365 2+2 can get 15mpg under optimal freeway conditions (75 mph average), and I can't believe the 550 would be worse.

EDIT: Incidentally, don't assume that city driving or mixed city/highway driving would give you any sort of idea about the actual pure freeway consumption. My 365 gets under 10, probably around 8mpg, in the city. The mileage basically doubles on the highway. All of these big 12 cylinder engines are very inefficient in stop and go traffic.

 

The 550's fuel consumption is not that bad! 90mph = 144Km/h, that's the sort of speed I always drive mine on Swiss highways (due to frequent police radar controls), and I get a lot better than 10 mpg!!! As an example, I drove from Geneva to Lake Constance and I used 50 litres of fuel for 375 Km, that makes an average of 7.5 Km/l, which equates to roughly 19 mpg.

I only see 10mpg or less when I gun it at high revs in the low gears on my favorite mountain passes otherwise it's reasonably economical during cruising.

 

The 550 was (according to the press release) outfitted with extra fuel cells, which could help answer the fuel consumption question. I do think that they could have broken the record (and my hat's off to them if they did), but I agree with the others who want to see some timestamped video for proof.

 

Fuel cells are definitely important.

Thanks to those who cleared-up the 550 fuel economy. I've heard from owners in the past about a 10mpg ish average, but in retrospect, these were guys who had trouble keeping their foot out of it!!! I suppose it also has much to do with the terrain, the gear etc...

By the way, I strongly recommend Brock Yates' book called "Cannonball" about the race. It has contributions from the people who ran all the races, including Dan Gurney (who drove the winning 365 GTB/4 with Yates-- the car is now owned by Bruce McCaw), Yarborogh, Hal Needham, the members of the Polish Racing Team. Some great and very funny stories!!!

Yates also writes about why he ended the race after '79. He cited increased traffic, too much publicity...and a phone call from a producer friend of his with no driving experience who wanted to enter his Lamborghini Countach in the next race. (The Lambo is the one featured at the beginning of Cannonball Run II -- it has that front-mounted wing.) Yates simply decided that the chances of someone dying was too high.

I also am of the position: if they actually did it, that's fantastic. Records are made to be broken.

 

The 550 also has a large reserve tank.

+ I usually avg 16mpg to 19mpg at adequate speed.

 

This just reminded me of something else... last year after a trip to Tuscany we were driving the 550 on a dangerously crowded highway in Italy, heading towards the Alps (it was high summer, with lots of late-braking idiot tourists going too fast for the traffic conditions, wavering campers, crawling station wagons full of diaper bags, you know, those typical "accident waiting to happen" conditions) so I drove very cautiously, keeping a distance from the idiots around me and feathering the throttle at 75-80 mph most of the time. I later calculated that over 200Km (125 miles) driven at steady legal speed I had used about 23 litres of fuel. That equated to 21.5 mpg. I bet I did better than most SUVs in the same conditions...

 

The fuel consumption of my 456GT in the Gumball 2007 from Monte Negro to Belgrade was about 12-15lt/100km.. which is same as my Infinity FX 35. Curvy mountain roads with fog and rain speed was average 70km/hr for about 8 hours. My 456 even has performance chip installed..
Of course when gunning it to 250-290km/hour is a whole other fuel consumption story..

 

At first I read that in the "Euro standard" for quoting fuel consumption (ie. 7,5L/100km) and was ready to shout out a great "WHAT!?"