Every day tips for living with a 599

[cake eater]

Test fit of the F12 rims today. This is with the 20mm spacers and the wheels at full droop.







Looks as though the rim is sitting a little outside of the body, even given that that with a little load and the 'arc' of the suspension it should move inside and under the wheel arch.

Tried without the spacers





So going to go without spacers
And hmm some bling

[EVOeng]

I cannot wait to see what this looks like. Have you ever considered fitting the GTO ceramic brake covers? It probably doesn't have any meaningful performance advantage but does look badass.

[cake eater]

EVOeng said:

I cannot wait to see what this looks like. Have you ever considered fitting the GTO ceramic brake covers? It probably doesn't have any meaningful performance advantage but does look badass.

Hi EVOeng,

I did look at doing that. There is an advantage I believe to improve brake cooling and aerodynamics.

Unfortunately price was very restrictive for what is essentially a plastic cover and backing plate and fixings. Before pandemic it was only a few hundred pounds for a complete set, easily justifiable on looks alone.
MDL priced it up for me and were very quickly over 1k before adding VAT, labour etc and MDL still hadn't priced up all the parts. As well as some parts not being immediately available.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/wheel-do...





So on looks alone I didn't feel I could man maths the costs on a car that's supposed to be my everyday sensible car.

I did try to find an after market solution but doesn't seem to be one available

[cake eater]

In other news I received this email from Ferrari.



Initially I thought it was spam till I read this

[WCZ]

when you got the springs changed did you consider getting the ohlins put on? ive heard good things about them

[cake eater]

WCZ said:

when you got the springs changed did you consider getting the ohlins put on? ive heard good things about them

Hi WCZ,

This was the original plan for later in the summer.

Unfortunately being let down with the Caterham and the decision to take the 599 to Spa and Nurburgring meant I wanted a short term solution. With previous experience on the Nurburgring I knew that the standard setup didn't give the level of confidence I wanted / expected from the car.

I've been speaking extensively with Leo from Madeno Racing

https://www.madenoracing.com/more-news/306/

We have agreed a spec, double digressive, 3 way adjustable but Leo needs 1 month notice. Also the cost is 10k and the GTO springs only 15% of this. So with all the expected expense of the the clutch, differential etc I can't currently afford the Ohlins.
My man maths however said I can offset the cost by selling the standard shocks with GTO springs when I have time / funds to go for the Ohlins by Madeno.

[cake eater]

Help needed, looking for tyres

Have been let down for Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 connect rears.
https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/tyres/michelin-pil...

Anyone have a source with a rear set in the following size:
305/30ZR20 (103Y) XL

[jeremyc]

cake eater said:

Help needed, looking for tyres

Have been let down for Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 connect rears.
https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/tyres/michelin-pil...

Anyone have a source with a rear set in the following size:
305/30ZR20 (103Y) XL

Looks like Camskill may have them.

Are these any good?

[cake eater]

jeremyc said:

cake eater said:

Help needed, looking for tyres

Have been let down for Michelin Pilot Sport cup 2 connect rears.
https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/tyres/michelin-pil...

Anyone have a source with a rear set in the following size:
305/30ZR20 (103Y) XL

Looks like Camskill may have them.

Are these any good?

Thank you, unfortunately not the connect tyre. These are quite different to the cup 2, different rubber compound and construction giving much better wet performance.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/Michelin-Pilot...

Also have a sensor built into the carcass

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cocadu9j9_u/?igshid...

[jeremyc]

It's almost impossible to determine which is the correct type.

How about these at Costco?

[cake eater]

jeremyc said:

It's almost impossible to determine which is the correct type.

How about these at Costco?

Thank you, cup 2 R. I think they're also connect enabled.

I'll check them out and see if they have a matching front set.

I was wanting to stay away from R as I was a little concerned that this would make the handling balance 'over tyred' and remove some of the throttle adjustability. I also worry about wet performance.

But when you've no other choice .....

[cake eater]

cake eater said:

jeremyc said:

It's almost impossible to determine which is the correct type.

How about these at Costco?

Thank you, cup 2 R. I think they're also connect enabled.

I'll check them out and see if they have a matching front set.

I was wanting to stay away from R as I was a little concerned that this would make the handling balance 'over tyred' and remove some of the throttle adjustability. I also worry about wet performance.

But when you've no other choice .....

Just been quoted over £800 a rear and over £500 a front for cup 2 R connect.



So that's a no.

May just go cup 2 if Continental sportcontact 7 isn't available

[cake eater]

Front Calipers are back from being serviced. New stainless steel pistons and new seals.

[cake eater]

Been a delay getting everything finished. Hopefully all done for tomorrow when I go to collect from MDL.

Upper ball joints on front wishbones found to have some wear so also have to be replaced. Unfortunately they haven't arrived so plan is to change them tomorrow and put the GTO geometry into the car.

(One for the grammar police, is it in the car or on the car?)

Once the geo is done I also need to find a place that will do Hunter road force balancing and nitrogen inflate.

MPS cup 2 are on the car and weather is looking cold and damp for Spa and decidedly wet for Nurburgring.
A friend's AMG GT-R has these and they're a nervous / twitchy tyres in the damp and downright scary in the cold and damp.
Don't think I'll be going for any lap times, just improving my circuit knowledge.

[WCZ]

any weight reduction ideas? just thinking about what i'd do if I had a 599 to turn it into a home made gto

[cake eater]

WCZ said:

any weight reduction ideas? just thinking about what i'd do if I had a 599 to turn it into a home made gto

Hi WCZ,

First thing would be the seats. Electric heated seats I'm sure are 25kg each. I'd swap them for the carbon fixed back bucket.

An inconel exhaust
https://www.kline-innovation.com/exhaust-collectio...

Remove sound deadening.

Carbon panels, bonnet, boot etc.

Without going too extreme.

The 599 fxx is listed at 1486kg, the 599 gtb listed at 1793kg. So there's got to be an 'easy' 100kg that can be taken out

[cake eater]

Collected the 599 from MDL.

The geo had just been completed and test drive carried out. With the engine nice and warm double check of the oil level. It showed maximum so we took it down to a third above minimum.



I really like the look, subtly different.

The arches look less "filled" than before but I like the F12 rims more than the Challenge rims.



The titanium wheel bolts are unbelievably light, like it's made of plastic. Make up torque is 120nm, with 17mm allen key fitting. When the bolt is new make up torque needs to be checked regularly.



She's a pretty car

[DanL]

Looks awesome - to my eyes the new wheels make it look more modern somehow. I’m surprised that they make that much of a difference, but it’s well worth the change.

[cake eater]

Set off home and the car is obviously different to drive from before.

This is the final geometry.



While doing the geometry it was noted that there was very slight play is the rear upper suspension bushes. Just enough to give a small inconsistency when trying to achieve the Ferrari GTO settings.
Something to add to the list.

So what's different?

Handling - it's so much flatter when cornering and braking. Only had it in sport mode and didn't push too hard as the road was drying and I was weary of the new Cup 2 tyres.

Ride - noticeably more fidgety over vertical ridges. Cat's eyes definitely thump through the body more.

Steering - more weight to it, not more feel. Turns in a lot more positively.

Braking - massive improvement here! Really stopped well, good feel and nicer pedal.

Low speed manoeuvring - with more preload on the diff and the cup 2 tyres, at full lock the car feels like it's trying to under steer! You can hear the front tyre 'ripping' on the tarmac and feel a juddering through the steering wheel

Gearbox - No more clunking! Really good. Tried partial and full throttle up shift and it's so much smoother. No need to work the throttle to help the car. It also seems more happy in traffic.

[cake eater]

DanL said:

Looks awesome - to my eyes the new wheels make it look more modern somehow. I’m surprised that they make that much of a difference, but it’s well worth the change.

Hi DanL,

Thanks

At first I thought maybe the GTO rims would be better but the more I look at the car the more I like it.