Took my 348 to the trackday event organized by Driver Source and Houston FCA. Thread with pictures here --> http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=136497264#post136497264 I accomplished two firsts - first experience driving on a race track of any kind and first F-car drive on a track. The MSR Houston is what one would call a medium speed technical track. It has a Carousel (180 degree corner like the Parabolica in Monza), two double apex corners, two straights and a couple of neat chicanes and a blind corner that apexes over the rise over a hill. I think the top speed would be 130-145mph in a Stradale with no corner dropping below 40 mph. Owing to my lack of experience, I took it quite easy taking time to build up speed. Even then it was easy to drive the 348. It made me look like a better driver than I truly am. I spent most of the time learning the line, continuously improving with each session. My weakness is in shifting smoothly. So to avoid traumatising the gearbox with clutzy moves I was using just two gears - 3rd and 4th throughout. I was running with a very well driven 308 who was using gears 2-5. With the relaxed torque of the 348 motor and better lines I could keep up with him pretty easily. My favorite parts: - Fantastic steering feel - I really could sense what the front wheels were doing and the weighting was perfect. - Tackling the double apex corners - what a thrill! With the steering feel, it seemed easy to nail the apexes - Strong brakes - didnt face any fade issues at all - Long throttle pedal made it real easy to smoothly meter the throttle on the exit. It made me feel like a professional driver even though I was a rank amateur. - The car seemed unfazed by the race track work - water/oil temps was in normal range even though I was shifting at close to 7k rpms Overall, I had a blast. The car seemed wired to the track. Brothers take your 348 to the track. It is a religious experience. Some more 348/355 photos that I didnt post in the thread link above: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
While doing the tech inspection, one the track techs saw a bit of oil stain on front of the engine, a bit behind the timing belt. See the pictures below for more info. Is this something to worry about? Some more info: - My car had its 30k service in Feb 2005 (2 years back) with approx 13k miles on the clock then. - It has 18k miles today - I have been monitoring the oil levels about once a month - so far I have had to add very little oil: <0.5 litres = <0.4 quart since I owned the car. During this time I have covered 3000 miles. I make sure the oil is just above the minimum level. - There is zero oil drips on the floor - of course it is possible that the oil evaporates away before it hits the ground. Even so it is not cosuming much oil. - I drive between 50-150 miles every week on average - I was planning to do the next major service in Feb 2009 (4 years from last one). I will check the oil more often too Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Sy! I hope to go more often. I felt really relaxed driving on the track - much more than driving on the regular roads: the road surface is smooth, no nasty cops to worry about, no animals crossing the road, no grandmas hogging the fast lane.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE TRACK DAY!! Once you hit the track, you'll never go back. Hopefully, it'll also help to keep things in check on the street. Regarding the leak... my 2-cents are: Front right cam-seal leak. I think these are quite common on early 348's unless the updated drill hole and groove have been done. It can only be performed with the engine out. Mine has leaked for the last 3 years, and is now (in the midst of the 30K) getting fixed. See attached pics, of my car in the midst of neurosurgery, thanks to ferrarioldman. Required tool to drill holes (don't free hand it!) is here: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=262604 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Dan for the explanation. I will address this issue during the 30k. In the mean time I will monitor the oil levels more frequently
Be careful Sam. Quit while you are ahead otherwise you could end up like me. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for sharing pics mate. Looks like you had a great time. I wish we had a track here. Closest track is over 2000km away in Brisbane.
Awesome Sam!!!! When I was down there watching the F1 car go around I met one of the organizers of the event. He had invited me down on Friday but I had some kart testing to do in Henderson on Saturday to prepare for. I am looking forward to tracking our little jewel soon. JL Image Unavailable, Please Login
Man that kart looks like it is mega fast! The transporter carrying the FXX and F1 car was still at MSR parking lot. I was tempted to jimmy the locks and open it up to see the FXX
