Against the 355, 360 ,430 , cs ,scud , Vette, Viper, etc...? My understanding is that it leaves all of the above in its wake.
The 550 handles way better than my Ford Excursion around a track but not nearly as well as my 355 did.
In stock form the 550 is too heavy. Seats are 100lbs. The doors are bullit-proof and so heavy rough useage can crack the A-piller support. The stock wheels are so heavy you think they came off a Chevy suburban SUV. The heavy sound insulation is what helps to give some GT characteristics. The bones of the 550 can make a good trackcar with a layout exactly like the C5/6 corvette a proven dominant chassis in many kinds of racing. 550 power is there. Gearbox is good. Brakes not bad at 3900lbs. Brakes should be good with less weight. The chassis is very tuneable. Even heavy, shock and spring changes dramatically change the chassis. In stock form the car understeers badly but that is an easy change. Any change destroys the road GT compromises Ferrari designed. You just can't have it both ways. If you try to dual use the car you destroy a GT and build a under optimized trackcar. There is no question that the 550 can be built into a very good racecar. I bet there are 700lbs in there I don't need to go faster.
1) maybe if you have schumy type of skills 2) what kind of track ? my car hated barber...loves road atlanta.
yup, yup and yup, Prodrive already did it thirteen years ago. Their 550 Maranello was bored out to 6 liters and weighed 1100kg - 2420 lb. Won 24 Heures du Mans GT class more than once, I think.
I'll simply let Dave show you what a 550 can do on the track. He and his son in a 360 play at Sears Point. Good representation of the capabilities of the Maranello on the track with several late model "statistically superior" Ferraris. [ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n4_f6bxy7g[/ame]
Dave Wilson is a very good driver. I've known and raced with Dave since our Formula Ford days back in the 70s. When he ran the FCA driving schools I was one of his instructors.
I've been fortunate to have this professional driving instructor, who also owns a 550, coach me in my 550 and then invite me to ride with him in his 550 on the track. Lead and follow is more challenging. I'm fine doing the leading. When I follow, I tend to fall behind.
My experience is just SCCA club racing. The reason you have following problems is because you are target fixating on the leader. I critical lesson many instructors forget is to teach their student that the lead car is a reminder of line, reminder of what the car should do, reminder of smoothness. Don't fixate on it. Look through the lead car, keep your eyes up, anticipate your line, and how to get there and use the lead car as a reminder of what is right. It is like any sport. If you stare at the tennis ball everything happens too fast.
That might be the answer. Thanks for the tip, FBB. I can follow the line, but it's the braking points that I need to work out. I know why I'm slower. I lift and brake too soon and too much. The solution is more practice and bigger cajones and buying a cheaper car that I don't mind getting a little dirty....and budgeting more for tires and brakes. To the OP, the 550 will be one of the heavier cars on the track. But not as heavy as a Shelby Cobra Mustang or a lot of other cars. I posted that video to show that the 550 can run with any car on a track (well, except a 458 Challenge). Horsepower can make up for a lot of inadequacies, but it's driving skills that determine how fast a car goes on the track more so than the car's capabilities. By no means is a 550 a dog on the track. It's two tons of fun (with you and a full tank of gas). Of course you control the car a little differently than you would a mid engine car, and you have to manually upshift and downshift. That's a huge difference, IMO. While the F1 transmission car is clicking down almost instantaneously, we are double clutch heel and toeing. But a superior driver in a 550 will be faster than an inferior driver in a 458 or even a 599 GTO.
Racing at ten tenths takes lots of track time hitting your marks and braking points. Maybe following someone will help you learn your marks and braking points initially, but once you've done that, you need work on that alone. To continue following someone will not help you take the next step in going faster. The posted video shows an experienced driver hitting his marks, making it look like he's going slow and that it's easy. That's where the term slower is faster comes in...He's very smooth...
6/10s in my 550 on the Daytona Rolex 24 Hours Course. It rained an hour before. ASR was active and it helped me in Turn 1 (The International) on my first lap... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKEsNJNH9TA[/ame] You can't appreciate the 31 degrees of banking with my fixed-mount GoPro. NASCAR's GyroCam shows what it's really like... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtlmkWG4Jcs]New In Car Cam - YouTube[/ame]
I will not be tracking my 550 on wet pavement, ever. I'm not happy with adhesion in anything but warm, sunny weather with my setup. Did you normally leave ASR engaged when you tracked your 550, or did you just leave it on because of the damp conditions on that day?
Same with me, it rarely comes in and you still manage to make all four wheels start to slightly squeel (in the dry) in curves without any ASR action. This slight (!) 4W squeel generally is a good indicator, that you are cornering with near to optimum speed. Aside this, the ASR protects amateurs (like me) against consequences after doing stupid things .
I have my 550M Titan from stock converted to full roll cage race car in the past 5 years time. Starting from 100% born stock with street tires, take our local Los Angeles AAA Fontana Roval track which is favored to the big powerful muscle sports car. The stock 550 with some 3900 lbs(Plus my weight of 180lbs) of weight on street tires, best laptime I got was 2:02 (For refrence my stock 355 runs at 2:05 and F430 stock at 1:58) back in year 2008... Than: Moton Suspension, Straight center pipes and pair of rear muffler pipes, pair of 355 racing seats, aggressive alignment setups with full corner weights done, and a lighter weight battery run with Toyo RA-1 tires. Weights right about 3800lbs. Same AAA Fontana Roval Track, best laptime was 1:57... Back in year 2010. At this stage, my 550 runs nearly exact similar laptime as my stock F430. Faster than stock 360, way faster than stock 355. For refrence; FBB was running with his Racing Corvette Z06 weights 3300LBS with used HoHo tires at warmup lap did 1:52... And my friend with a brand new Nissan GTR stright from the dealer did 1:53 third lap out... Next stage racing car mods: Roll cage was installed, carpets and all sounds proof were removed out, A/C removed, front and rear bumpers weighted some 180 lbs replaced with 40lbs of fiber glass easy on easy off racing bumpers, front lips, rear big spoiler wing attached, racing bucket seat, fire extinguisher, main power cut-off switch, Momo steering wheel, side windows removed, rear windshied changed to lexan, OS Giken LSD and clutch etc... weighted 3500LBS plus my weights runs with HoHo racing slicks A6/R6s. The car is now just as fast as my 360 Challenge race car and my competitors Porsche 996 cup cars which are some 400 lbs lighter in weights back in years 2013 and 2014... And the racing 550 is so much fun to drive and race on the track circuit. I actually like racing in it more than my 360 Challenge. Mods for 2015 starting from today: MOTEC ecu to remove all Ferrari stock Ecus and wiring, full engine out transmission out overhaul rebuilds for the next stage racing class. Target competitors: Porsche 997 Cup cars and F430 Challenges. Happy New year of 2015 Alex
I concur with Alex. At the Fontana Roval during a corporate event I was driving around passengers in stock 550 with custom valved moton shocks and 550/450 springs and used R888's about 7/10ths in the mid 1:50's, 56/57. The 550 is capable. Weight is the killer. I think you have to loose 500lbs before it gets fun. I would love to race Alex's 550. I race vettes coming from mid engine cars. The mid engine is so much better race chassis than front engine on paper. However, I am no where close to being a pro but try and race at my limits. The slower response time inherent in a front engine chassis makes me faster for my skill level because I can dance closer to the slower chassis limit. Does that make any sense? Could that be the reason that Alex also prefers the 550 vs. the 360C?
Alex, that is a great summary of mods with changed weights and lap times for reference. I wonder how much better your car would run with a proper exhaust and headers tuned with your upcoming Motec. There is 100hp hiding in these V12's with what in Vettes and Camaros other LS type motors is just a stage II tune.
