Every day tips for living with a 599

[cake eater]

cake eater said:

cake eater said:

DeejRC said:

Right then Cake, the bonkers trip you did/do upto Scandi…what routes do you take, where did you go?

I may be back in the game and planning something

Of course

I'll send a DM as I have a few different routes depending on time etc

Hmm, can't send you a DM.

Brother DeejRC, If you send me a DM I'll reply with the files.
I have also found an online site that converts word to PDF so will upload the images here just in case.

For a Scandi trip, I have looked / planned several different options including doing Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland in combination. All depends on whether you want a city break trip or a hard driving trip. The 'files' I'll upload here are centred around Norway.

I use https://www.bestbikingroads.com/ to help identify 'fun roads' in the country I am planning to visit as well as general google searches. PH forums have also been helpful.
For Norway I also add:
https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-...
https://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/

I had to modify my Norway plans while on route so the history in this thread will not match the plan. What is it they say, "Tell your plan to God so he can laugh at them!" or "no plan survives first contact with the enemy".

[cake eater]

Norway route 1 images

[cake eater]

Norway route 2

[cake eater]

And one final recommendation for Stavanger, use it as a base for a couple days.

Do a hike to pulpit rock, Preikestolen
https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/fjord-nor...

and hike to the famous boulder Kjeragbolten
https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/fjord-nor...

Enjoy Michelin starred sushi at https://omakase.no/ and add the wine tasting menu.

And a boat trip here for a walk around the garden and enjoy the lunch
https://florogfjare.no/no

I love Norway and know that I have only just scratched the surface. I'm definitely going back for more.

But also beware. In Scandinavia they are very very strict about speeding! The fines are crippling as well as losing your licence and car and going to jail. My understanding is that they only use a 3% error also.
https://speedingeurope.com/

Don't forget about the tolls.
https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/getting...

https://www.autopass.no/visitors-payment
https://www.epass24.com/

Also I had a nightmare with paying for parking, it is easier on the app. Look at Parkopedia, easypark and autopay

Hope this was of help

Edited by cake eater on Saturday 5th October 10:34

Edited by cake eater on Saturday 5th October 11:05

[cake eater]

DeejRC said:

I may be back in the game and planning something

So what did you get? Did you get the 296?

[DeejRC]

Yer a leg end Cake You have a mail sent.

I haven’t bought anything yet, the roof still has to be replaced next year and that is Priority One. I’m just in the process of taking on a new client in Finland though and there has been deemed to be enough excess dosh in the kitty for a potential “silly” purchase.

[Hughesie]

Well mines gone back into winter hibernation now only to come out on bright sunny saltless days for the odd trip out.

How's yours getting on Cake ?

Got much planned over the winter ?

Plan to have my saggy dash done & sticky buttons whilst they are at it and that's pretty much it done for this year

I also lost my case against the 'specialis't that fooked up my Gearbox in 2023 at the small claims court on a 'technicality' the sneaky lying bd.

Hughesie

[928 GTS]

Few things about Finland, Sweden, roads and ferries etc. Both Sweden and Finland are much faster to drive through than Norway. From Noodkapp I would use E45 to get to Finland. Down on Finnish side of the river should be faster option to Tornio. Then choose Stockholm or Helsinki.

For example Nordkapp-Oulu-Helsinki route can be done in two days without too much difficulty. Especially once one gets out of Norway. Oulu is large enough place that there are multiple hotels and few fairly secure parking garages. Kemi and Oulu has some motorways around them. There are few reasonable routes south from Oulu. Roads are mostly single carriageways other than short motorways around Jyväskylä. From Heinola (north-east of Lahti) and Tampere roads are motorways to Helsinki. Oulu-Jyväskylä-Heinola-Lahti-Helsinki is faster than possible Tampere routes if one follows speedlimits. If not and local Police stops you they will ask how much you earn in a year. This is used to calculate how large fine you get for +20km/h over the limit. There is day fine calculator online at Finnish Police website for estimates and entertainment.

Nordkapp-Stockholm is about same as Nordkapp-Helsinki. Equally boring forests everywhere and not much to see. Sweden has been slowly building motorway up from Stockholm near the cost but it don't help much as their speed limits are really slow. Though during night some faster averages can be achieved and they do not lock you up like Norway. South of Stockholm is almost all motorways.

Having used Travemunde-Helsinki ferry many times on both directions its very boring trip. 28h on boat with nothing to do. Ferries are fine but its so boring that I prefer driving just about any route other than Russia rather than take that ferry if car is ok for long road trip. I have driven Stuttgart-Copenhagen-Stockholm-Tornio-Helsinki just to avoid using it for 5th time in so many years. 3400km in 36h with friend and his BMW E60 535d. That's bit much in one sitting.

Both Turku-Stockholm and Helsinki-Stockholm ferries are very different experience than just about any other ferries in Europe and possibly world. They are more like cruise ships with car decks added in than normal ferries. 200m long with indoor shopping promenade on some of them. All have multiple restaurants, saunas, swimming pool etc. Youtube has many videos about these by travel bloggers. Get B level or better cabin and its easy replacement for similarly priced hotel night. Turku-Stockholm takes about 12h and Helsinki-Stockholm 18h. For example night ferry from Turku arrives to Stockholm in early morning around 6am. By evening its possible to be in Hamburg or even further south. Have done Stockholm-Nurburgring more than once using it. Helsinki ones leave around 4pm and arrive later in morning. Silja Line and Viking Line are operators. There isn't very big difference between them and their boats are biggest ferries anywhere.

For even more driving there is Baltic option. Helsinki-Tallinn ferries run several times every day. There is maybe 15 possible options. It takes about 3h. Viking Line, Tallink and Eckero Line all have multiple options. Videos about these also in Youtube. Tallinn has two ports also but Muuga is mostly for cargo. First ferry in morning takes passenger cars and is in Tallinn around 8am. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania are all slow to get through. In Poland roads are mostly faster but its also much bigger. To Berlin or even little further west in one day is maybe possible. Then Hook of Holland by 1pm on next morning etc.

No matter which ferry route one uses make sure you know from where boat leaves. Helsinki has four ports. Three of them has lines to Tallinn and two to Stockholm. Travemunde ferry leaves from gargo port in Vuosaari in eastern suburb.

Edited by 928 GTS on Wednesday 30th October 12:17

[cake eater]

Hughesie said:

Well mines gone back into winter hibernation now only to come out on bright sunny saltless days for the odd trip out.

How's yours getting on Cake ?

Got much planned over the winter ?

Plan to have my saggy dash done & sticky buttons whilst they are at it and that's pretty much it done for this year

I also lost my case against the 'specialis't that fooked up my Gearbox in 2023 at the small claims court on a 'technicality' the sneaky lying bd.

Hughesie

Hi Hughesie,

Plans are all changed and on hold at the moment because of work. It's worked out because of problems with the brakes, so the 599 is going to be stuck in Romania for a while. I'd like to get her back to the UK so Lee at MDL can get some winter servicing done but that's probably going to be next year.

I've been lucky with mine, buttons and dash are okay. I think exposure to sun and heat in the cabin accelerates the sticky button issues so I expect that I'll be doing this in a while also.

Sorry to hear about your claim. Getting someone to work on the car that you trust is hard to find. Even main dealers can struggle and they're very difficult when dealing with problems. That's pretty much why I stick to MDL Supercars and Graypaul Ferrari Nottingham. Stratstone Ferrari Manchester is good for parts because of the relationship MDL have with them. In Europe my experience has been very positive.

I do have some major service items planned.

The engine is getting more and more tappety and I'm worried about timing chain stretch. Normally an oil change and it goes away but the tapping comes back sooner now. I'll do the oil again and see as it's a big expensive job that's supposed to be engine out.

Brakes
I have purchased a set of refurbished 599 front CCM discs from Rebrake. Unfortunately their service seems to follow the reviews of over promise and under deliver. I expect the final product is quality but we'll see. Discs are ready and supposed to be with race finish, luckily delays in delivery coincided with delays with work so helped the decision to cancel my October trip. Also Rebrake are missing one 'bell' and Ferrari Forza Rossa Bucharest have refused to build up the discs and bells and rebrake won't ship until they know they can get my old discs back. I'll probably drop past Rebrake on my way to the UK and get it sorted then and there.

I've purchased a GTO master cylinder and servo and I'm part of a titanium brake caliper piston thread on FerrariChat. I will get the calipers refurbished and painted yellow to match the shields and rev counter when the Ti pistons are ready.

I'm also looking to improve the brake cooling. A little online research suggests that CCM wear is accelerated due to excessive heat. Can also be due to poor bedding in procedure and CST activation. Probably I've experienced all three.
I need to replace the wheel arch linings, so I'll go with the HGTE model as they're supposed to flow more air.
Some P-DEF plates and the titanium pistons should help reduce heat transfer.
https://evocorse.com/project/pdef-insulating-plate...
Ferrari have a brake cooling duct solution on the GTO but it goes to the caliper.
https://www.scuderiacarparts.com/part-finder/ferra... (item 11 and inset picture). The general online information is that optimum cooling goes to the centre of the bell of the brake disc so that the cool air is drawn out of the vanes. Interestingly the Jaguar project 8 has a similar caliper cooling system as well as Porsche like deflector on the suspension arm to direct airflow to the bell.
The larger front wheel I run also restricts air flow making cooling more difficult without ducting.

I'll monitor CCM brake temperature with Genesis Technologies GB7000 Brake Temperature Paint
https://store.kennybrown.com/products/genesis-tech...
And I'll also get some caliper temperature strips
https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/self-adhesive...

Suspension
I've been reading about suspension as I'm at my confidence limit with the stock suspension. I'm tempted by tractive with Dynamic Damping Adjustment valve but I'll need custom strut tops.
https://tractivesuspension.com/automotive/
Or Madeno Racing that has an ohlins TTX system ready to go
https://www.madenoracing.com/performance/8716/spar...
I'll also look at the bushes to get something with less compliance and hopefully not ruin the ride comfort too much.

Seats
I'm thinking of putting the Daytona seats into storage and replacing with a set of Recaro pole positions.

Detail and paint.
And then there's some paint bubbles and stone chipping that needs addressed. I also want the car dry ice cleaned and the underside treated with https://bilthamber.com/product/dynax-uc/

Always too much to do

[cake eater]

That's fantastic information, thank you 928 GTS

The Baltic route is something I have thought about also but want to do in a separate trip.

928 GTS said:

Few things about Finland, Sweden, roads and ferries etc.

Edited by 928 GTS on Wednesday 30th October 12:17

[DeejRC]

Great info GTS many thanks!

[cake eater]

Life has a way of getting turned around so my original plans of going back to Bucharest had to be cancelled. I arranged with Ferrari Forza Rossa to store the car till spring and planned a trip then. But in my old age forgetting that I need to get the MOT done. When I got the reminder through, I wasn't worried because of course, when was the last time we had snow mid November?

Oh, how God must have laughed at me

So Bucharest to UK in 48 hours through Storm Bert and whatever they called it through Austria and Southern Germany. MOT done, clean bill of health.

Collecting the 599 from Ferrari Bucharest where they kindly checked over the car and replaced the tyres with new MPS Cup 2


I was naughty, sorry not sorry,


Roads soon turned to this


As we followed the sunset into Hungary, Austria and then Bavaria


The 599 very dirty and the Cup 2 tyres proving to be more secure that expected though I was constantly nervous and careful


At Rebrake in Munich

[cake eater]

While in Bavaria, I stopped at Rebrake, near Munich.

I arranged to meet the owner, Wolfgang, and he asked what car I was in. I said my 599. His reply was no one he knows drives a 599 in winter. I said especially not on Cup 2 tyres. He asked to take my picture so I can go in his book of crazy Englishman.


Rebrake have a small workshop where the Wolfgang gave me a little insight into the CCM / CCB discs, differences and failure mechanisms.



As previously noted CCM are soft, wear easily and prone to cracking when the bolts rust. The CCB fail from corrosion getting under the hard layer causing delamination.
Wolfgang explained how his process addresses all these issues. He said that the better the condition of the original used discs before refurbishment, the better the finished product he can provide.
So eventually you have a CCB quality disc that can last a season of Porsche Carrera Cup racing.

Surface finish is like the mirror finish on PCCB (just a little more dull). What looks like surface imperfections are not and more like a discoloration because of the worn quality of the original disc.


Rebrake refurbish the face, edges and insides to prevent corrosion damage




Close up of the surface - when you run your finger over the surface and the visual blemishes, it's perfectly smooth.


Because the finished product is supposed to be harder than the equivalent PCCB finish, Wolfgang recommended pagid RSC2 pads with a FF 0.7, significantly more that the 0.4 of RSC1 recommended for CCM.
Wolfgang did say it's possible to run RSC3 but the RSC2 was a little kinder to the disc.

Now all I have to do is get the old discs off and post back to rebrake and build up the new discs

[IMI A]

Whats he charging for 4 discs?

[cake eater]

IMI A said:

Whats he charging for 4 discs?

Just front set, my rears are still perfect (though Wolfgang says this is the best time for refurbishment)

[IMI A]

Not bad at all compared to massive replacement cost

[cake eater]

IMI A said:

Not bad at all compared to massive replacement cost

Also hopefully something that's going to last me a lot longer than a year

[PGNSagaris]

Love this thread. So much useful info and inspiring travels.

Can’t wait to get my 599 off to Modena next year. Such great cruisers.

Quick question - is a cruise control a no go on the 599’s?

[cake eater]

PGNSagaris said:

Love this thread. So much useful info and inspiring travels.

Can’t wait to get my 599 off to Modena next year. Such great cruisers.

Quick question - is a cruise control a no go on the 599’s?

To tell you the truth, I've thought about it, looked at retrofit options then decided against it.

But others have done it successfully.
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/599-gtb-...

Would be a great option as it's very easy for the speed to creep up without realising.

Internet says that cruise control was an option in the last year of production but the Ferrari system can't be retro fit. ScudIngSwiss didn't recommend so I stayed away.

[PGNSagaris]

Thank you