Hi everyone, Wondering if any of u ever tracked their TR? Obviously its more of a long straight kind of car and would be more enjoyable with upgrades brakes. What were ur thoughts? Where did u take it? Fun or not ? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nope. I have thought about it but came to the conclusion that i didn't want to embarrass the old girl.
And something else... I looked it up a while back. A TR's skidpad is something like 0.85g. Even an early 90s Mustang 5.0LX has a higher skidpad rating! 0.87 if I remember correctly. The shame! Sent from my Moto Z2 Play using Tapatalk
Yep, I did it when I first had the car. Tires were 5 years old at the time, with probably 1000 miles on them. Was at a PCA event at road America, with a couple other testarossas and lots of porsches. Good news is, the brakes were fine. The other testarossa had issues... Bad news is, it spun out twice in 2 corners. And, I wasn't going fast at all... This car is very tail heavy. I haven't spun the 930 even once, and it has a similar rear weight bias. Taking a testarossa out on the track every rare moon just to gently rev it up is fun. Its is NOT a track car. Its too out of its element, too expensive to fix, and the risks too high. Last year when I had the 930 out I experienced a shifting issue and had to tow it home. Incidentally found a broken head stud, which pretty much led to a near complete rebuild (while you are in there)... Not cheap. If I had to do the same in the testarossa I would cry. It would likely cost 3-5x as much. Driving a testarossa on the track is kind of like running around a prison yard with a priceless glass sculpture balanced on your pinky finger, hoping no one notices you in case something happens and no damage occurs. Possibly exciting? Sure... Can it be done? Sure... Pointless? Absolutely. Odds are, something will happen, and everyone will notice.... The testarossa is a great crusier... Get in, drive around, wave to folks as they gawk, and then put it back in the garage... Bo
Yup. Corse clienti day, Yas Circuit, Abu Dhabi. Ferrari instructor at the wheel (younger than the car). I am not a track driver, but with a pro at the wheel, it flies. For 2 laps. Then we come in to let the brakes cool.
i did the vmax at bruntingthorpe with the 512tr - 184 mph, then 100mph through the parking lot trying to stop ! coming back from italy to geneva once, when the mt blanc tunnel was closed, had to use the frejus, and raced a renault alpine all the way up the pass to albertville - exciting.... it is not a track car. but in the old days when you could cover some serious road miles across france and italy, it was a fantastic cruiser - you could do 200-250 kph all day. it was a hoot. solid as a vault. (when i went over 250, my wife would usually wake up and tell me to slow down.... )
what about the way down? I think you had problems then because of your brakes. the renault alpine ( A110 or A310 ? ) was only half the weight if you do this today and get stopped then you just go to jail. times are changing but not always getting better my ex-girlfriend always was sleeping when I got more than 200 km/h
we stopped in megeve for lunch, and took it easy down the other side ! believe me, i know the dangers of speeding today in europe - all too well !! my wife still sleeps in the car, and now even more soundly because i can never drive as fast as back then - unfortunately..... those were the days! like i frequently say, nobody lies on their deathbed regretting the miles on their ferraris !
Yes we have traffic cameras everywhere now in france... but last year i went from nice to pisa and on the Italian side i was doing 200 the all time no big deal... Thank god germany still has the autobahns Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
but about 80 % of those meanwhile also limited, and if you could go faster then a stupid guy with a BMW goes 250 km/h ( the car is limited to this ), is blocking the left line even the right one(s) are free and you can not pass because he thinks he is fast. and when you flash then he suddenly waked up and if lucky he changes to left or center line and he wonders why you pass him even he is going 250 km/h. happened to me more than once
thats the problem with speeding in germany - too many other people ! the beauty of the french and italian highways is that they are often devoid of people - relatively clear for hundreds of km, and very well built - good grip, nice curves, good visibility etc. i miss them !
The solution is to have middle eastern plates on your Ferrari. Have had a BMW K bike in Italy for years. Barcelona to Milan is a decent ride with Dubai plates. I will get my first Italian plated vehicle (Aprilia) next month, so I suspect I will unfortunately learn something about traffic fines.
even with middle eastern plates you may get problems when speeding. most dangerous is switzerland. with a F speeding in italy mostly you can discuss if police stop you, but not ever
the swiss dont care who you are when they apply speeding fines and punishment. criminals receive less punishment for assault, than a speeder gets for 30km over. so be very careful. in italy, in a ferrari, you can often talk your way out. but the problem has become the cameras.....no talking to them.....and then they report back to the swiss....not nice.
That’s very true! Swiss are so strict. France where im from is crazy too now, caught at 180kph and it potentially can be jail, seized car etc Italy is a bit more lenient.. Im french but live now in the USA and when i come home i drive with california id lessens the risk Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Drove rented car in Italy in 2016. Scores and scores of traffic tickets. Only one for speeding, rest were parking, bus lanes etc. All cameras.
that is why I hate to drive in switzerland, even I just live at the border. it could not be that speeding is a higher criminal or would be handled equal or more than a robbery. switzerland: no thank you ! ! ! italy only report to switzerland when the car/bike has a swiss registration.
Its a conundrum. cars built to speed the open road when no open roads exist anymore. Thats why today things like a Bugatti, aventador or the new Zr1, cars too heavy to seriously track make no sense, but the tech exists to build them and people like what car can do more than they like doing it. I think you can still fly your car down the highway in the middle east, parts of africa and south america. I lived over 10 years in South Africa when there were great highways and far fewer cars than today. One of my best runs was in a Jaguar XJS running 250-270kph for about 30 mins. The XJS is a terrible track car, heavy and too soft, but on the open road at speed was just magi,c burning up the highway with great stability and poise. I also ran my wifes volvo 850 turbo just below the 260kph fuel cutoff for close on 40 mins. Those were the days when you could use a car to get somewhere faster than a light aircraft. In fact I think I never went less than 160 kph(100mph) whever I went on the highway. One time visitng home I took the boxer on my fav twisty road in westchester Ny, 105 in a 50 oficer 44 was not amused. My brother reminded me that in the USA if you want speed you need to go to the track. Must have been around 1997 or so took the boxer to a ferrari club track event. I knew zero about track driving but thought because I had spent a decade at high speed I knew what i was doing. the TRX's were probably orgional to the car too. Day 2 at LRP spun the car and flat spotted the tires. Since then I have from time to time sympatheticaly excecised the BBi on track. Not pushign it, but letting the car breathe. Imo it handles the track just fine within perspective. With the right pads the brakes are way better than you think in the sense that they can bleed off a lot of speed (140-50) lap after lap without fading. The motor etc has no issues with heat, the airflow at speed is what its designed around. Yes you cant threshold brake, and yes cornering speeds are well below a modern. But frankly thse are Gt cars and between street seatbelts and the seats they have your issue is sliding around the cokpit more than how many lateral Gs the car can pull. Drive them on the track as you would on fast road drive and theyre great at it and great fun. Plus all that runing near redline lap after lap. Well the motor somehow just loves it. on the drive home the BBI just wants to run ahead at what would have been a steady throttle before. Track driving is a very different skill set to fast road driving and a very diffrent experience. The equipment(cars) used on track are different for a reason. With the exception of a lotus or Gt3 nealry every road car is really limited on track. Most road cars can sustain a few hard laps before they fade, and are in any event too soft. But if driven sympathticaly, a big track is a great place to enjoy some light laps in an older ferrari. At the beginnign of the season on my home track I usualy do a few sighting laps to get my eye and line in, sometimes in the BB. Im not screeching tires or smoking brakes just letting the car run at its natural tempo for the conditions. Other than running through 4th gear into 5th down the straights, everythig else is 85-90% of what the car can do. Highly recomended, and what ever a BBi can do on track a TR shoud do better. Just make sure you have fresh fluids..
