Every day tips for living with a 599

[cake eater]

I'm trying to find a technical bulletin for the Cup 2 tyres. I can find the 2R.



I'm basically following this for Cup 2 pressures. 36 psi square setup on track.

For the road I follow this from the F12 handbook


This is because the 599 manual doesn't give Michelin as an optional tyre


GTO manual gives the same as F12 so I think 32/35 R/F is pretty good for the road for the MPS4s and Cup 2.

[cake eater]

cgt2 said:

akadk said:

Not many people have done nearly 30k in a V12 Fezza

Respect

I did in a 550 and it ran better than any low miler out there.

For sure

My friends McLaren hardly leaves his garage. Every time he goes out it springs a leak. Garage queens are all the same

[cake eater]

supersport said:

cake eater said:

DeejRC said:

I think you finally have Triggers 599 Cake…

Is it the same broom if only like for like? Definitely a new broom but same skin.

Can we say that of ourselves?

We need to go and sail with Theseus

That’s the second time Theseus has come up in 24 hours in relation to the broom.

I’d never come across him until yesterday and now twice.

PH, source of intellectual mastication

[cake eater]

GusB said:

Great writing as usual.... My 599 is the same colour and I agree re using them, I've done c34,000 miles in 10 years... not a patch on you. Gus

10 years of pleasure I hope

[cake eater]

DeejRC said:

This made me smile
Keep on rockin Cake, you are driving for us both now. Immediately following Goodwood, I got a call from the Thatcher informing me that the roof patch up job would actually most likely be most of a new roof Car money is literally going into straw instead

Hi Brother,

For a moment I thought a former Prime Minister had called. Donkeys like straw.

Anyway, I think literally keeping a roof over your families head is a justified expense, no man maths required.

[cake eater]

ANOpax said:

Well Mr Cake - you’ve fitted F12 wheels to your 599. I’m going the other way. 599 wheels on the F12.

I managed to get hold of these barely used beauties and their Ti bolts but unfortunately, it turns out that they’re a mixed batch and I only realised after I cleaned them up outdoors that the paint match between fronts and rears isn’t quite right. I’m going to have the fronts resprayed unless otherwise advised by my mechanic.

The GTO rims are very nice but so hard to get! I think they suit the 599 better than the F12 rims but the F12 are even lighter.
If you don't get them painted you'll always see the difference and it will irk.
Looking forward to seeing how they look on the F12

There's a Capristo exhaust on collecting cars but bids have gone crazy already
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/capristo-exhau...

Edited by cake eater on Thursday 2nd May 04:49

[cake eater]

Hughesie said:

cake eater said:

New bulbs installed


This panel in the wheel arch needs removing


Which reveals the light cluster

D1S going in


H6W for the DRL


LED conversion isn't available and DRLs look distinctly yellow compared to the main beam

Just tried to change mine whilst it was in for a pre Sweden road trip at the weekend to those upgraded D1S, throws up an error for Bulb Failure, which is weird, did you get the same ??

Also i found some LED side lights, they look great, will post a pic when i get the car back as ut threw a gearbox oil
cooler on the way down, think it was a stone going through it

Not good on the stone through the oil cooler.
I never got any warning when I changed the main beam. The car is very voltage sensitive. I was actually recommended to go with OEM by scuding

[cake eater]

ANOpax said:

It’s been a while but they’re on. They’ve all been completely resprayed in order to avoid any colour mismatch issues. I also caved and ordered the GTO centre caps as well.

I decided to try the Conti SportContact 7 as all the reviews claim they’re better than the MPS4S. However, they aren’t available in stock F12 sizes so I had to size up by 10mm to 265 and 325 sections. I figured that the extra sidewall wouldn’t do much harm and my mechanic (who used to be a ‘ring instructor) confirmed that the car ‘drives very well’ and ‘feels good’.

Hi ANOpax,

Your donkey is looking really expensive
The GTO rims suit the car very well.
I'd also be going for the new Conti SC7. The extra front width is also has a big impact on the turn in

Enjoy

Edited by cake eater on Sunday 2nd June 23:18

[cake eater]

A little more on tyres. And British roads.

I have F12 superlight rims for trackdays, which match the GTO size. Offset is quite close to the GTO rims. This allows me to run GTO tyre sizes but unfortunately Michelin don't make these sizes in the newer rubber.

So I have cup 2 BMW * marked on the front and non OEM marked rear. Great tyres but only in the right conditions. You really need to work them and have them hot, but before that they're a little unpredictable. Worst of all is over the ruts, potholes and poorly laid concrete section of the M25. I'm already wary of damaging the rims but the noise and vibration is terrible over rough surfaces. Most of the time I don't want to be on cup 2.

Hopefully Pirelli will release the new Trofeo RS in the right size.
https://youtube.com/shorts/9xU2yQ0Nwhc?si=O7CUXrq3...

[cake eater]

Collected the 599 from Matt and Jack at suspension secrets. Car has been corner weighted. I specifically asked not to lower the car more than the current GTO recommend ride height as she scrapes her nose all too easily.



And I asked for more stable steering but still have a nice pointy front end.



Camber was increased as much as possible and toe in increased dramatically from 0.5 to 2.5 Deg in.

The increased toe should give more grip and stability. The camber help more in the corner without affecting braking.

Certainly after the HGTE suspension module upgrade and the geometry changes I can feel the difference in the corner and in the steering. The steering has less 'dead ahead' and is much more responsive to initial turn in and then loads up very nicely.

[cake eater]

Then to see Mark, Lee and Ryan at MDL Supercars for another brake service after Donington
https://mdlsupercarsltd.co.uk/



Brakes were bled and pads changed. The brakes seemed to be dragging a little but the pistons are free to move by hand



Pads only showed a little loss of material but were severely heat damaged, showing signs of crumbling, delamination and burn marks.





I don't know what changed after this service but for the first time I feel like I've got a proper pedal. Maybe the brakes finally bedded in at Donington?

Edited by cake eater on Monday 3rd June 08:46

[cake eater]

Mark Lee and Ryan are also in the process of restoring a yellow 348. So took a few pictures of their work.

[cake eater]

Hughesie said:

Just tried to change mine whilst it was in for a pre Sweden road trip at the weekend to those upgraded D1S, throws up an error for Bulb Failure, which is weird, did you get the same ??

Also i found some LED side lights, they look great, will post a pic when i get the car back as ut threw a gearbox oil
cooler on the way down, think it was a stone going through it

Hi Hughesie,

Did you manage to find the reason for the bulb failure warning? Was it the LEDs?

[cake eater]

I've been away to Germany for a couple of days with
https://www.granturismoevents.com/


Really good event, great people and made lots of new friends.

Including this random bloke


A total of 128 cars of which 98 were Porsche of which 69 were 991 / 992 GT3 RS.

Spot the odd one out


Lots of track time and pretty much felt like I had the track to myself. 20 laps on the first day.

Did a little old man fuel economy recording.
7 laps 66 litres
6 laps 58 litres

Making 2.2 km/ltr.


I also stopped off to see Freddy at https://www.special-brakes.de/
and showed him the damage to the pads. His recommendation was to spend more time cooling the brakes, preferably including one mid session. He said I could run RSC2/3 but these would destroy the CCM disks.

So I chose more time cooling and this has proven very effective.

Tyres have been great and wearing rather well. I have been told the I really need to run 2.5 Deg of camber as the outside edge is still taking a battering.




Suspension/ tyres is definitely decisive. When it's smooth the 599 is amazing and surprising a lot of Porsches.
Unfortunately over the bumps she's very very nervous.
I had coaching from Dominic who said "at the limit shes scary" and Heinrich who said "at the limit she a little ".
Coming down the hill to foxhole if I don't get the line just right she does a little skip. Heinrich's comment "If you crash here the fire brigade will never find you!"
Both were surprised by how fast the 599 is.

I don't drive CST off at the Nurburgring. Race mode and try to play in that area where the little green CST intervention warning comes on but you don't feel it. When the CST intervenes it's horrible and properly upsets the car.

Second day only 12 laps before the rain came early afternoon. So it's time to put air back in the tyres and tip toe back home.

[cake eater]

samoht said:

That's very cool to be driving the Nurburgring to that level in a Ferrari V12, I doff my hat! One day...

The nervousness is interesting, I guess it's probably in the damping?

Hi samoht,

I'm in agreement about the damping. The standard magnetorheological dampers are good but you can't separate the low and high speed damping.

With the HGTE suspension module sport mode is equivalent to race mode. So the car is a lot 'stiffer'. Turn it up to race mode and you turn everything up. Great for roll and pitch control but rubbish over the bumps.

The only solution is totally different suspension.

[cake eater]

ANOpax said:

Thank you for the great account of what sounds like a brilliant trip. I've always struggled with road cars on track (too many compromises) and get on much better with the dedicated track machines when going round in circles.

Chapeau

Hi ANOpax,

So many people today told me to get a GT3 for the track. Faster, easier to handle (confidence inspiring), more reliable, etc etc. And I agree whole heartedly.

But ....

She's different.
She's scary (exciting)
And bloody hell she's fast.
Still has rubbish brakes though


And compared to the aero dominated RS Porsches she is curvy

[cake eater]

Two old girls together



Admittedly, not the 599's best angle though the 430 scuderia looks really good to me.

And parked with more modern company

[cake eater]

Some random pictures over the two days

Under side of the car has taking a few hits

Old scrape


New scrape


Nice warm tyres




Hot exhaust


Looks like I've been on a forest stage


Getting the once over at ring toys


Front discs and pads.
Pads not showing the orange burn marks, looks half? used. Will have to wait to see the pad face.
Discs look okay, similar wear. The holes will need cleaned up as pad material is building up inside




Rears, discs and pads look barely touched by comparison

[cake eater]

As much as I have enjoyed the handling improvement, I think I spend just as much time cursing the pot holes and the 599s loss of ability to soothe.

In fact, going around the horrible concrete section of M25 it vibrated off a couple of the screws holding the leading edge of the rear under tray.

Luckily the sudden bang and scraping happened at 70 not at 190 going under the gantry. (Only did 190 once just to see how fast the 599 was but it was too scary to turn left and hit the compression after so went significantly slower all other times)





At least she's looking pretty, one of her best sides I think


The AA arrived very quickly (must be a quiet day) and sorted everything with a couple of tie wraps.


A comment from a guy passing by in an EQC of "not surprised to see one of those broken down" really got me on the defensive so I quickly replied "she's not broken down, she's got a screw loose!"

I'm obviously not too smart or quick witted

Not really what I meant to say so I blatantly lied and said she's never left me at the side of the road. And then messaged Lee at MDL to prepare the loctite blue 242