My new Stradale survived!!!

Had another great day at the track! I can feel her loosening up... agility increasing. I'm still adjusting to the brakes... sometimes it just "wow"s me... I can't believe it stopped that quick. It does require a fair amount of pedal pressure to get full braking power... and sometimes I don't get all the way there immediately like I do other times... so, my braking has been a bit inconsistent. I'm getting better about that, though.

My new in-car video solution continues to be delayed by the supplier... so, I need to get my old setup into the car so that I can share a track lap with you. Actually, Saturday is the Poker Run... maybe I'll work on the video setup tomorrow.

On the way home from the track, the odometer rolled from 999 to...

 

Took these after I washed the car... still need to get the good photos developed... but I snapped these with my camcorder. Sorry to say that the car won't be nearly so clean for the Poker Run... lots of butterflies flitting across the track Thursday... my car is filthy! Just wanted you to know that I do wash it... I just don't leave it parked.

 

Thanks... perhaps... but I think the track shot says more about me than Stradale vs. 360. I expect some action shots from the Players' Run in a few weeks... that'll definitely provide some avatar fodder.

 

Before I got the car, I assumed it would be a lot louder and rougher and less comfortable on the road than the Modena... a price I was willing to pay for the improved sounds, feel, and performance on the track. My wife wasn't thrilled about the swap, as the Modena was already a bit "harsh" to her tastes.

However, despite the suspension being stiffer, it actually handles bumps better than the Modena! I am guessing it does because of the lighter weight parts making it better able to move with the road.

Despite the louder engine noise, the sound is sooo much prettier, that its actually more pleasant than the Modena. The Modena would drone somewhat at highway speeds. The Stradale just sounds awesome... and it continues to get better sounding, BTW!

The road noise can be a bit worse due to the lack of carpet and sound insulation, but the louder engine largely drowns that out.

Many of the basic controls have been refined. The Stradale is a track version of, not the 360 Modena, but rather the perfected 360! So many of the usability features and daily driver stuff has actually been improved.

The F1 is awesome! In both normal and race modes. Big improvement in both modes vs. the Modena.

The amazing road feel... the glorious sound... the overall excitement from all the sensory inputs... all of that just overcomes any negatives that remain.

And the ultimate test: yes, my wife prefers the Stradale!

 

I love this car!!!

First cross-country trip... joined the Players' Run in Denver, participated for the Denver to Aspen and the Aspen to Vegas legs. The car performed fabulous. It is really quite comfortable for long-distance driving. My wife and I easily packed all our stuff in the car, plus my huge track bag with helmets and driving suits. Even had a little refrigerator in there for food and drinks!! No cupholders? Actually, the bins in the doors are sized great for a soda can.

Tons of attention... pulling into the bar in Denver where the Players' Run was exhibiting cars, we felt like movie stars arriving to the Academy Awards... huge crowd of people that we slowly drove / waded through to a parking spot... all the people had out cameras and were taking pictures... of course, that movie star feeling went a way as we exited the car and moved into the bar... the crowd just kept photographing the car, didn't pay a bit of interest to us!

Everywhere I went, people were telling me that they think its the most awesome Ferrari made... all things considered. (Of course, there was typically a buddy who'd ask "Uhh, what about the Enzo?" And then they'd debate which was really better, "all things considered". )

We stayed an extra day in Vegas so that I could do the ESPN Russell Performance Track Day at the Las Vegas Speedway. Cool school... I'll post more on that in a separate thread. But everybody there just raved about the car's looks and even more so the car's sound. Its hard to talk during a track session, so in-car comments are usually restricted to the essentials... but every one of the pro instructors let out comments along the lines of "oohhhh, nothing sounds like a Ferrari" as I would get into it the first time OR "wow, I love the sound of it blipping the throttle on downshift" the first time it barks distinctly down the gears.

They also raved about the brakes! They just couldn't believe how well it would stop. I scared the first instructor the first time I went deep into a corner, he thought I'd long blown the corner... "STOP!! BRAKES!!" I made the corner easily... after that, the various instructors were having to figure out how to best leverage the awesome braking power... it seemed to throw them a bit as it changed the strategy on a few of the corners. They all wanted to shift me to much later braking and a lot more trail braking as the brakes were so good and the car turned in so much better with more weight on the nose.

Got an opportunity on a private road that I will not divulge to run the car up to near top speed... 184mph... above 175 I started wanting a wing on the back... but up to 175 it was rock solid... and it was pulling strong right up to 184... and that was with the car fully loaded with all our stuff.

Wow!! I love this car!! Here's a pic of it in its Players' Run garb...

[ Note most the pics in this thread were lost in the disk crash... but they are now available here. ]

 

Glad to hear that! I assume you mean in the Hotel Jerome garage in Aspen? Yeah, I stood there at one point pondering the same question.

Both of the other two garnered a bit more attention than mine... but not by much... I certainly got my fill. The S7 in that deep red color was absolutely gorgeous... in its "loud" sort of way. And Roland's F40 screams racecar like no other street car (IMO). But I love the looks of the CS, obviously; so, again fairly close call. Roland's F40LM would certainly leave my CS behind on the racetrack; but then he couldn't stand to drive his from Aspen to Vegas, choosing to trailer it instead (it being far too harsh on the road). The S7 was driven... but didn't survive some hideous bumps along the way... ended up not surviving the trip.

Being able to fit our week of luggage, enjoy the awesome mountain drives through Colorado, and the awesome canyon drive through Arizona, and then the track day at Las Vegas Speedway easily made up for the other small deficits IMO.

So, I came up with the same answer as you... but then I'm biased, so yours probably counts for more!