Track day self support for F430C or 458C

I purchased a 458 Ch Evo after tracking the street version for almost two years. My experience is exactly the same as @gatorgreg. I was gonna hurt myself (or worse) sooner or later. I consider myself a skilled tracker.

Mine’s been on 14 tracks a total of 25 times this year, five more to go.

I had my choice of a GT3-RA, but chose the 458 instead. Great move, fantastic car.

It’s been super reliable, so far just a rear hub (in addition to maintenance and consumables).

I’m a firm believer (and user) of the brand.

 

I actually crashed during an HPDE event. I got advice from a professional corvette racer to go into Race 2 mode in my Corvette Z06 to get the best possible lap time. This disables traction control and stability control. I went on to set my personal best by more than 2 seconds...then the next lap I got on the throttle a little too early coming out of turn 9 and hit a concrete wall at over 100 mph. I learned 2 things that day. I am not at a professional level driver and NEVER completely defeat the traction control during an HPDE day. It's NOT WORTH IT. So these days when I track my F8, I leave it in Race mode, which gives me enough play to rotate the car with throttle and trail braking, but saves me from doing anything worse. 99% of the fun with a LOT LESS risk

 

Mmmmmmm, very sorry to hear. Was this in a Z06 or F8?

I ran the F8 on small track last week and decided to keep it in Race Mode, figuring a set of rear pads was far less risky than turning CT off. I burned through the rear (street) pads, and was quite surprised how quickly they wore out.

I generally run the 458 Challenge with everything off, but that car does not accelerate as violently as the 458.

I watched your video a number of times, it appears you may have still had a bit of wheel input coming out of that turn, and of course the massive power.

Part of the reason I tracked the F8 a few hot laps was to see the capabilities of the car. It is remarkably quiet which gives a false sense of control, given how fast the car is. It will not see much if any more track time.

Hope you were ok and the car is salvageable.

 

That was in the Z06. The car was totaled, but I was able to walk away with no injuries

 

Thank Gos for that! A concrete wall, no less. That car throws down an enormous amount of power, I’ve seen them.

I hope this isn’t the end of your track days, and you’re able to recoup at least some of your losses.

 

No. Insurance actually covered the loss and paid out more than I actually paid for the car. That was 3 years ago. I did 12 track days in the F8 this year. I'm just a little more cautious now, especially since the F8 isn't insured on track (Hagerty offers track insurance, but it's about 2k per day...a little more than I'm willing to pay)

 

The problem with tracking an F8 is even if you’re made whole, no one will want the car with a bad car fax. Happened to a buddy at Watkins Glen in his 812. A major bummer the car wasn’t totaled.

 

I mean, that's with any car. But yes, more expensive with a Ferrari. That said, I didn't buy a 710 hp supercar with race bred technology to not drive to the limit. HAHA

 

I do find that progress is a lot slower. I'm working the slip angles front and rear in the corners, but it's the high speed corners where I'm more conservative than I would be in a dedicated track car. So I incrementally improve in those corners. I'm already over 100+ mph and pulling close to 1.5 G in those turns, but im not feeling any slip on either end, so I can definitely take them faster...it's just going to be slow progress as I explore the limits in those types of turns

 

I heard this guy is really good and he crashed his brand-new Ferrari on the warmup lap. Amateur driver.

Charles Leclerc Devasted after DNF radio Sao Paulo Brazil - YouTube

 

I assume you were running an older Z06 when you crashed it ? The F8 is a brilliant car, I’m only going to track it sparingly, and not 10/10 at that.

I rented a C8 at NCM and wasn’t crazy about the car’s behavior under trail braking into corners. It seemed twitchy with the slightest electronics turned on.

Greg,

We actually had an occurrence at Watkins where someone hit the barrier during a Parade lap! WTF? Closed the damn track for an hour to fix ii!

if I found the person responsible I’d have rung his neck!

Best wishes to your dad, by the way.

William

 

It was a 2016 C7 Z06. At the time the current model. It's an absolute beast, but not enough traction for the rear tires. Track days were all about rolling onto the throttle out of turns

 

NA cars appear to be more linear getting back on throttle than turbos. The Challenge is a prime example, as Greg could opine. It is a predictable (but not overwhelming) acceleration out of turns when rolling throttle on.

The F8 has very little lag and is not as bad as expected, but I didn’t run with everything off.

I bet that blower in your car comes on quite strong, and perhaps stepwise, as appears from your video.

I don’t know what kind of wheel input you had, so hard to tell whether it simply stepped out solely due to hitting the power band.

 

Thank you.

 

We are starting our racing winter season down here in Florida. PM me for the events. We have about 5 Ferrari track cars in the group.

 

Just buy a Caterham for the track

 

I always show up trackside with my car fully serviced and a spare set of pads and tires. And I have a VCI to at least troubleshoot should problems occur.

 

I have this car available.
Image Unavailable, Please Login