I will be June 29 at Lime Rock Raceway Park. Any tips ?
I just did at my track Area 27 like 3 weeks ago. CHECK YOUR BRAKES! My car had 10,000 km on the clock, all on the street, then after 30 laps at the track the brake pads were all gone, the holes in the brake disc were filled with pad material and the brake fluids gone also (My car just had the 2nd year service, which includes brake fluid change, a week before I headed to the track) After the track day back at the dealership to fix the brakes, front pad at 3% and rear at 5%. 8 new pads, 4 brake disc servicing (drilling out the holes) and another brake fluid change and I am out $10k CAD or the brake job. Apart from the brake issue, the car ran fine, gearbox in auto mode is selecting and holding gears perfectly by itself, terminal speed at our 1/2 mile straight is not far behind my 918. The brakes were amazing in the initial sessions.
Interesting that you mentioned this braking issue. I had no issues with the brakes but then I didn't drive for too long either. And I always drove in manual. The car feels very nimble, precise and very fast despite the highway gearing. Awesome machine. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Take it easy and leave the traction control on. It has a LOT of horsepower and it's on the heavy side of things. It's an absolute blast and lots of fun... but don't lose respect for the car Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
$10k for pads and a fluid change ? That doesn't sound right...hmmm You must have been driving the snot out of the car braking very hard. I plan to be in a slower intermediate run group and don't plan on abusing the brakes...I don't care about my lap times relative to others, so I will go easy on the brakes. I'm just out to have a good time with my F12 that wouldn't be possible on the street.
A set of front pads is CAD$4300 and a set of rear is CAD$4200. And yeah, I am in the fast group, but I wasn't even pushing the car hard yet, lapping my track about 8 seconds behind my race car, a GT4 Clubsport on slicks, same day condition. Lapping around the same pace as my 911R. But the car is a blast to drive on a track for sure. And yes definitely keep the nanny on! But then again the car is quite easy to catch in a slide anyways.
I definitely agree with the advice above. Don't get too greedy/ over eager with the throttle coming out of turns... At least that was how it was with the 599 and I would expect something similar here. Its so tempting... but with this level of power......
I'm going to be a high performance Sunday driver...brake early and coast into turns before hitting the gas. Lime rock is a good place to start to test the limits of the car. Lots of run-off areas in most of the turns...uphiller excluded. I plan on keeping all 4 on the track. Any hot tire pressure recommendations for those who have tracked an F12 ?
Next 8-9 July I'm going to take my F12b to Estoril Racing Circuit to participate on the commemoration of Ferrari 70th anniversary. Recently there was an accident in this circuit during a track day, while a Ferrari 488 was racing a 455 Speciale. After many laps picking on the 455 Speciale, by the end of the long straight the 488 didn't break, continuo straight ahead, crossed the long gravel exit and side crashed at high speed against the tire protecting barrier. The driver and the passenger of the 488 were not hurt and walked out without a scratch but I heard the car is a total loss. Knowing about this accident and reading your description and advice about the breaks, made me even more cautious. Because Estoril track will be closed during two half days just for the exclusive use of the Ferrari community, my intention is just to do some laps without forcing the car too and the brakes too much. One thing I look forward is to enter the long straight with the foot down in order to experience the acceleration and the manual down-shift before approaching the curve. During the 80's this track was part of the formula 1 grand prix world circuit and at that time I knew someone that was a sponsor of the Williams team and this person always invited me to follow the pre-race sessions from the boxes. Looking at Estoril long straight from the boxes, seeing the formula 1 passing at high speed, hearing the crazy loud noise, feeling the down-shifting and braking before the curve was a fantastic experience. 30 years later I have a great curiosity and the privilege of reviving the old days but this time as a driver and with car as powerful as the formula 1 from the 80's.
I drove my car in Dubai autodrome on what I think is the longest winding circuit. The outside air temperature was about 43ºC. I ran a starting pressure of 2.4 bar on all 4 tires @ about 50ºC tire temp. I used the RACE setting, Manual shifts, and never switched off the driver aids. Yet I was "stepping on eggs", following the racing line, and trying to keep it as smooth as possible. But still pushing it when there was room for it without having the tail come out too much (careful, it is very tail happy). I basically tried out my car without caring to race the Porsches... Picking up in 3rd out of the last corner prior to the main straight, I reached no more than 235Kmh in 5th at the braking point on the 100 sign, braking hard with the brake flap symbol popping on the left screen, and helping with manual downshifts. The rest of the track was basically swinging left and right. I must have lapped about 15 times on my second run and just when I was getting the hang of it, decided to call it a day because of the high outside temperatures. The rear tires were at about 80ºC, and after stopping the car, the battery would not start until it cooled down a while. But the whole car was ok, including the brakes that never faded. Good luck.
Picking up speed on the long right hander prior to the main straight with this monster should be fun... Enjoy!
As for CCB, it is recommended to replace pads every 50% usage to protect rotor. Also, visual inspection will tell you when the time is up, which is when the pad color is turned into almost white. The heat will cook the pad to white and from then on, heat resistance of the pad is not at its optimal.
Chris, sounds like a good conservative plan to have fun and explore the car. Also note the tires will probably get a bit greasy feeling after a few laps, or at least that's how I remember it! Mario, I think you will be well served to have a full technical inspection on your car before you go on track. Its cheap insurance. The idea is to have fun and be safe so you can do it again and again and again!
You will be fine with a before track check up on the car, especially brake fluid and pad wear. I didn't check the car and verify the brake pad condition as I just had my service and thought I should be fine with only 10k km on the clock, especially my track doesn't really have super hard braking, you can have a look at my track searching area 27 and 918 on youtube, Richard Spenard was having a go with my car there. also got a video of the Clubsport on track on youtube. But mind you, I was in max attack mode in the car, well the only way I drive on the track, so really late and really hard braking. Didn't help that I was chasing and passing some really fast cars too, Corvettes and GT3s.
I didn't check whether there are aftermarket pads or not, figured it would be best to use Ferrari pads while it is still under warranty.
Agreed. The OEM pads don't last very long on aggressive driving. My buddy changed the (front) pads on his 488 just a few months after taking delivery. He drives the snot out of the car and brakes very hard. He bought the (front) pads from a dealer in France and had an Ex-Ferrari mechanic in Beirut install them. I think he paid around $2,500 all in. He did not have any disk issues though.
some good tips above ^^ Have tracked an F12 several times; some points to keep in mind 1) the power, and power delivery, is amazing. Said otherwise, be careful with your right foot as it will be the key to having a blast or be the doorway to hell 2) the car is heavy. while the tires, chassis and brakes are outstanding, the engine can get that mass moving to a point where the laws of physics apply. 3) the electronics are great, but they can be overridden by your feet and hands 4) when driving this car hard, bear in mind tires (esp rears) and brakes are consumables 5) most Ferraris are set up to understeer, the F12 among them, so be careful about overworking the fronts. I'd start tire pressures at OEM plus 3-4psi, and be ready to bleed down after every session. Also be ready to re-set street/cold pressure at the end of the day. The best day to drive the car on track is with all the electronics turned off (ESC, TC), though that would rely on you to manage the throttle pedal carefully. Lime Rock has some long duration turns (Big Bend, West Bend, left hander) where the mass of the car will shift more slowly than you might anticipate - couple that with too much ppower, or too much power with a bit of steering lock, and you'll be rotating. Conversely, pitching the car forward will encourage the rear end to come up and around. The F12 is faster than the 458 on track, but is a lot harder to get to that limit. If you can, try the car on the LRP skid pad, it's great practice for throttle management have fun. be safe
Thank you for all the sound advice. I plan to drive it in race mode leaving traction and stability control on. I have about 8 track days experience at LRP driving a 2004 Porsche 911 GT3, so I am quite familiar with the track.
Had a great day at LRP in the F12. Amazing power and mechanical grip for such a heavy beast. Most impressed with this car. LRP only has one hard brake zone...approaching Big Bend. As such, my rotors and pads looked like they did before I hit the track today...Phew ! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like a great day, and nice shot you posted. Ferrari rotors are definitely up to the job but pads and brake fluid need a different specification to road spec if you want repeated high speed braking over numerous laps without cooling laps. Otherwise you have to cool brakes every few laps (3-4 full, hard laps) to preserve things a bit.
Love the picture! And great that you had fun and the car stood up. I recently tracked my much much slower daily driver (not even F-car) and was also worried about brakes, before. It turned out that being a slower and cautious driver, my brakes didn't suffer. I guess it's all a matter of how hard you push.
When I first saw the great picture you posted of your F12 on the track for a moment I got confused because mine looks like a clone of yours. By the description I bet you must have had a great day at LRP and no doubt the track is one of the few places where this beast great power can be explored and enjoyed. In one week's time I'm taking mine to the track for the first time, during a commemoration of Ferrari's 70th anniversary, and I can't wait for that day to arrive. In the meantime I took the car for checking the brakes and the pads which passed the test and are ok but the chassis had to tighten because apparently was loose according to Ferrari standards.
