What was your closest call when driving your Ferrari?

I thought this would make an interesting thread.
I haven't had any REALLY scary moments (the type where it feels like your heart stops for a few seconds), but the closest was definitely when the intrusive stability control kicked in at the worst time possible.
I was making a left turn across a two lane highway (55MPH road) where the typical speed is probably between 65 - 70mph. I forgot how intrusive the stability control is on the car when not in sport mode (I wasn't in sport mode because of the bumps in the area), and I gave it a lot of gas to jump across traffic. Just then, as the traffic was barreling towards me, the throttle went dead on me!! I was not happy, but fortunately I had enough initial speed where it carried me almost across the intersection. Of course the car coming didn't even think of slowing down (NY drivers!), why would he? It would be my fault if we crashed....geeesh. Finally when he was within a few hundred feet, my power kicked back in and I was able to get out of his way with very little time to spare.
That was way too close for comfort for me. I hate that feeling of not having full control over my car. That was the day I decided to replace the 8 year old, barely used tires, with brand new RE-11's! They were ordered within 24 hours and installed within the week. They definitely stick much better and the stability control is much less intrusive when not in sport mode.

How about you guys?

 

Driving on the other side of McClure Pass about 70 mph. Saw something out of the corner of my right eye. A huge buck was crossing the 2 lane highway. slammed on the brakes and swerved into the left lane. there was no way I could stop. luckily the buck stopped and just looked at me as I went by. then he ran back the way he came.

you couldn't get a pin up my @$$ with a sledgehammer.

it was an FCA event. Nobody else saw the buck.

there were Fcars behind me but could not see any ahead.

 

my close call - 1985 308 GTS November in Pennsylvania - leaving Pittsburgh I-79... 5 AM ... some idiot in a white toyota supra comes up on me - wants to race me... I ignore him... he keeps pulling up and dropping back.. he is about at my 2 oclock position when we crest a rise and there is the remenants of a large a large deer in the road... I could not miss it becuase the idiot is in the clear lane... I slammed into it at about 50 mph... tore the spoiler to shreds ... but made it all the way to Ga.... close call if you ask me.

 

Not in the 360 that I can remember.

In the 928 worst was passing 4 cars at a time just to get ahead on this one jacka**. If there would have been another car in he other direction, I wouldn't be typing this. Stupid.

Lawng island, ESP Nichols road.... Soooo many close calls.

 

Whipping down a rural road near my farm with the 308 and although the other car had an unobstructed view of me he backed into the road directly in front of me. The only place to go was into the oncoming lane and this was going over a little rise so I couldn't see the oncoming traffic. There was a car oncoming but I got back in my lane just in time and then the oncoming guy clipped the guy that had backed onto the road initially. I stopped and checked everyone was OK, the guy that backed onto the road never even knew that I had nearly hit him or that I had been there at all.

 

In 3 lanes of traffic and the car in the inside lane starts trying to barge his way out. The guy next to me in the middle lane swerves out slightly just as a cyclist is passing. This causes the cyclist to lose his balance and fall directly in front of my car.

Thank goodness Ferrari brakes are so good, otherwise it could have been horrible. I got out to check that the cyclist was ok. The other two guys in the cars which caused the incident just sat there and watched.

 

At the A6 & A81 interchange east of Heilbronn, Germany.

40 MPH. On the on ramp toward Nurnberg/Wurzburg.

The van in front of me was watching me (my 308) and not the road and hit a construction barrier breaking the driver's side front wheel completely off the vehicle.

The van followed, silver surfing along the barrier, coming to a stop. The errant wheel did not.

Close Call.

No one hurt.

 

Not in a Ferrari but was driving at around 125 in a convertible with top down, hit an odd slope in the road and went airborne. Will Never do that again!

 

Driving Northbound Dallas North Tollway in an Rossa 458 in the right " slow " lane.

Just North of Keller Springs is a reducing radius left hander.

Hired towncar passes me in center lane only to slide over and take me within inches of the right barrier, as we apex the curve in the road.

My foot was to the floor, the brakes allowed me to back out of the situation, as the towncar itself amost hit the right barrier, had I maintained speed, he would have put us both in the wall.

I regained my composure and quickly caught back up to him, only to find the driver still texting , no idea of what he had just done.

It was such a close call that I honestly had to check the passenger rear view mirror end, as I was sure it had scraped the wall!

To this day, I time that curve, even if I'm the one being passed!

S

p.s. No damage to car and I gained yet another level of trust in these fine Cavallino's!

 

Only had my scud two weeks but was almost hit by a new McLaren this weekend. A group of us went up to the mountains for some spirited driving and I was passing on the inside of a tight turn. The McLaren driver didn't see me and he cut across my lane toward the apex of the turn. I slammed on the brakes and he missed me by just a few inches. It would have been an expensive incident if we had made contact!

 

That can be a sketchy turn for sure. I always try to avoid being next to another car right there since they could very easily not make the turn or over do it.

I've seen guys in cars that should no longer be on the road try to take that at 70-75+ and I try to keep my distance from them.

 

In 1981,near Vienna,did a 360 spin in a Daytona while doing about 140km/h on autobahn (heavy rain).
Traffic was fairly light thank God,did not hit anyone and did not damage the car (dealer's car).
I could taste my stomach......

 

messed up tamburello my first time out at imola in the cs....spun 2x360 and into the grass, without the ability to do anything about it....stopped about 3 feet from the wall with my heart beating through my chest. not fun.

btw, overall imola is not that much fun. too many surface changes, off camber curves, slick parts, walls everywhere....i was scared for 2 days.

 

funny you would ask, it just happened 2 days ago.
I was driving down the right hand lane of a lane road, planning on turning right in about 2 blocks. Saw a car stopped in the left hand lane, and didnt know why at first. But when I got closer, a car darted out from in front of that stopped car across the middle lane and in front of me. I braked hard coming to a stop. The idiot teenage diver didn't even look my way, she just went straight across into the shipping area.

 

This past summer I was in the 308 with my daughter and I almost nailed this deer that seemed as big as a horse. What would've been bad is that the impact would've been on my daughter's side, and the roof was off, it could've ended ugly. It didn't help that it was 9pm and the car had old halogens with the lighting power of candlesticks. So the next day I ordered some LED headlights, which I installed shortly after to help avoid another similar issue.

 

This summer. Was sitting at a light when I looked up and saw a cloud that was just a tad off-white. Knowing what was coming a raced home and got it safely into the garage just in time. It rained the next day. Boy, that was a close one. Had nightmares for weeks.

 

2005, Autostrada traveling from Sienna to Venice, fell asleep.......

Was driving a rented pos econobox, left lane, fell asleep and slowly drifted into
left guard rail luckily going straight. Did not panic when the bang woke us up,
no one else on the road, pulled to the right shoulder and only damage was to
hubcap and scrapes on the wheel.

Apparently attending mass in Rome earlier in the trip worked !

I still think about that once in a while, how close my wife and I came to a much
worse ending.

 

That's funny ! No matter who you are, lol......

 

LMAO

 

Doing 2 360s in my CS about 6 years ago at Sebring doing about 110 mph - trail braked too hard going into a turn, realized it and poped off the brake too fast and there went the back end - just missed the wall - exhilerating but close - my next lap was the fastest I ever did in that car at Sebring

 

Around 1995 was feeling out my Boxer on a parkway. Beautiful set of curves two lanes each direction no middle barrier. The tires were probably the original rubber from 83, trx suck and boxers have alot of tail weight up high. When it let go it was far sooner and far more abrubt than the warning signs would have led me to belive.

I caught it, but we used the two on-comming lanes in one 30 degree ass high tail out skid before the grip returned. Thank heavens there was no oncomming traffic. Moral dont dance around the limits in boxer on a road you dont know intimatly especialy with old trx's. Or grow up and play at the track, or both.

I was younger then and returned many a time, till I got used to the car enough that I could get all 4 tires slightly crabing on exit to the bend. Its an example of how and why you bond with an older car in way just not likely with a modern. Looking back now, I cant belive I did all that, was I shaper behing the wheel, that much more stupid or what.

I can ay on a boxer, not only dont lift, dont even think about feathering when near the limit, just the flattening of toruque to the rear can put you into a snap spin. Thats why these days we run modern rubber and if you were so inclined the car can be slid on or off throttle.

Once also pulled off the gas in my 68 beetle on a bend, we rerally were not going fast at all, but those swing axles did their thing into postive canber and was 90 degrees before I even knew it was happening.

There have subequently been a few moments on track. But that comes with the territory, and why as a "mature" adult I think pushing any car hard on the street is just unwise. You can still go 8/10ths fast though, as and where condtions permit. Its also why my son gets taken to go kart tracks and will g to skip barber school. All kinds into cars want to wring them out and see what they will do. The reality is that between traffic, road coditions, the laws you name it, the street is a really not the place, so I think its better to provide a positive outlet.

When I was young growing up in South Africa you could exit a city and have miles and miles of varied road to yourself. The accidents that happened in such an enviroment did not harm others, but there was certainly a darwinistic attrition in terms of drivers. Seems ther are far better and safer ways to learn these days.

 

Wet night, intersection on a crest, about halfway across when a car comes at me driving on the wrong side of a divided road and then turns directly in front of me! Fortunately travelling slowly as it's a blackspot intersection and just touched the renta-box as I stopped. Turned out to be foreign students who'd turned onto the wrong side at the previous intersection and then panicked when they realized what they'd done. Small bit of paint lost but easy fixed.

 

When I used to have my 308, I was behind an SUV, and the lady shifts into reverse, luckily there was no one behind me and I was able to go into reverse and avoid getting hit.
I had only had the car for a week at that point!

 

This didn't happen on the street, but on-track at Road America during an event. I was driving another's Scud gong into turn 3 and a 355 in front of me blew a tire. This was the 2nd lap of our session so we were starting to push and I was reeling him in. Just before the T3 braking zone I saw a wisp of tire smoke come from his drivers side so I shifted to the right and went for the brakes early, not at full application-just to bleed some speed and put some distance between us. I knew this move would put me off line on the entry & kill my exit speed, but I wanted to be clear of any debris should any come off his car. Sure enough, not a moment later the tire blew and I narrowly missed the chunks and I passed him on the inside of that turn. Overall, I guess it was more of an 'Aw Crap' moment than a scary one and my passenger took it in good stride!

 

You are really fortunate to have a track like RA so close to you - was there this summer with the Ferrari Club and loved it
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