FF on the 'Michigan Mile' 176 MPH!

A 'Michigan Mile' event was held this weekend on the Battle Creek airport air show. They setup the mile on a 10,000 ft runway with a speed trap near the 3,000 foot to go mark. I should be posting all of the times within a couple days. I think 25 cars were there each day of three, I ran Saturday only. In F cars there was a 360, a modified 458, and my FF.

My FF's fastest mile was 176 mph!!! Most of my runs were 173 mph, the 176 had a bit of a tail wind I think. The modified 458 was hitting 170 ... so my stock FF was 3 to 6 mph faster in a mile than a 458 ... YESSS! This mile run was totally unbelieveable, adrenaline pumping, and at 170+ mph things are REALLY flying by, again unbelieveable.

I have a GoPro video of my first run but have to find a way to resize it as it is 1 GIG now but will post it within a few days.

This was WAY FUN!!!!! And the FF clearly is the BEST Ferrari ever made! Most everyone came over to tell me how they couldn't believe an unmodified Ferrari 'grocery getter' could have such super performance. My ego was very happy with me. The 458 owner said he was going to the shop to add more modifications last night. He already had a HP gaining exhaust system fitted to the car, not sure if there was anything else do to it.

My first run I used launch control however the guys that set this up put a chalk line across the runway and the traction control REALLY didn't like the traction loss for the first 150 feet. That run was only 170 mph. Only The next run I didn't use launch control and put the transmission in full automatic, manittino was in sport all runs. In full auto I got 172.5. Third run I used auto again but was a little slower on the gas at the start, got 172.76.

We had three rounds, three runs each of the first two rounds, two runs on the last round. On the second to the last run (176 mph run) I did a launch in the lineup area just before taking the starting line to let the computers know what kind of traction was available. Then did launch control, not in auto mode as launch control requires auto to be off. Doing this I noticed seriously harder shifts too!

Each run had me shifting to 6th gear within 5 or so seconds of hitting the mile. Each run took about 30 seconds from start to crossing the finish line.

If you have a Ferrari and this kind of event comes within a few hundred miles of you sign up! This was tremendous fun with police everywhere, just watching the fun, and no animals to run in front of your car ... as safe as you can get. There was even a police escort from the HQ hotel to the airport ... at a rather brisk speed too.

Again, when I figure it out I will post video for the first run. I put the speedometer in the digital mode and the video clearly shows my speed during the run with the camera mounted to the glass just behind my left shoulder.

Rick

 

that's awesome. gotta love V12 horsepower

 

Awesome ! That 458 belongs to my buddy here in Chicago. I missed out on this event was going to bring my scud. Quite impressive for a 4000 lbs plus car.

 

Ferrari FF one mile run 176 mph - YouTube for a video. Note I open the window over 100 mph, thinking I was going slow .

Let me know if I have to improve the quality. The goofy sound at the beginning is my office trying to call me on my cell phone .

Rick

 

Big fun. What does that do to your tires? Can you make multiple runs on them like that and still drive the tread off or do they lose their rating?

 

Tire temps really were little higher than normal driving. I was looking at them at the end of each run. PZeros basically brand new.

Rick

 

Totally awsome! great stuff! love it.

 

Thanks for posting! Looks like great fun and the V12 sounds amazing!!

John

 

Awesome. Love the FF. Really want to get one but just can't make the numbers work right now.

 

Freakin Awesome, Rick!!!

Count me as totally jealous!! I really need to find one of these events nearby, or organize one. My FF needs to see some really high speeds like that.

Stunning how totally calm the whole thing appears at those speeds.

 

What temps were you seeing? At a track day a few weeks ago I saw temps of 185 after some of my more "spirited" laps.. Wonder if you saw similar.

 

It was uneventful in the FF. However stuff was REALLY flying by. It was difficult to spot the flags they had setup but since it was at the 3,000 ft to go sign that made it much easier. I am sure there were a number of people there but I really only saw them in later runs. And I used the comfort shock setting in the sport mode in later runs which even made it more comfortable. You gotta do it!

Rick

 

Very Cool, what did the Ferrari 360 run?

 

I hope to have all of the times this week from the organizers.

Rick

 

I forget the numbers but they seemed not bad so I ignored them.

Rick

 

I was really impressed with how your FF did! I was just there spectating and yes it was a great event! I plan on running next year if they manage to host another one! I was hanging out in the pit area... had the red Z06!

Calvin

 

great video! that thing pulls hard to 150 mph...very impressive.

nice helmet too. your design or...?

 

The design came from Custom Helmet Painting by Mike for your Ferrari, Viper, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, or other sports car or racing race car example #12 in Gallery 1. There was a subtle Christian fish on the top I deleted and put the Porsche Stuttgart horse in its place since I have been a PCA member for 27 years. Mike Charness owns that business and obviously his work is REALLY good!

The biggest problem getting a helmet is the size. I got it from OG Racing and returned probably six of them until I got the right size ... really big head to fit my inflated ego .

Rick

Here are photos of the helmet, first is in work, only the base colors.
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What modifications has your friend done to it?

Greg A

 

Looks like a lot of fun Rick!

Must try it myself!

Glad you're enjoying your FF to the max.

 

That's awesome, Rick! Glad to see you're driving that car the way it was intended.

That high speed must have been due to the 22ple application reducing the drag...perhaps that's the next mod the 458 owner needs to do.

 

Rick
Very impressive. Nice to see you enjoying your Ferraris as usual and not making them resale museum pieces. You are the perfect Ferrari owner.

 

Good run Rick!

I was in the modded yellow 360. I threw a wheel weight on second run and didnt get a chance to break 157 because of it

My buddy at Cauley let me use his Gopro and recorded you staging behind me.

Michigan Mile 2 - YouTube

Good times.

 

That was a cool view from the rear! Too bad on the wheel weights ... those speeds are VERY cool!

Next year!

Rick

 

A couple of years ago I ran a Gallardo Superleggera to 207 mph at Mojave Spaceport. There was a strong tailwind, so the car could manage only 180 in the opposite direction. The runway is 14,000 feet, and I needed all of it for the runup and braking. The engine was over redline in top gear and I remember wondering what would happen at this speed if the engine blew....