It's an uncomfortable situation for a journo to be persona non grata with one of the literally two or three top brands (Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren) for his audience. I imagine, if only at his employer's behest, the irrepressible Monkey should do some mending and remedying of bruised egos over at F-troop.



It will be good to see Harris either take a tangent and drive all the recent model F-camp cars and pick out the shining examples like the 599 or roll up his sleeves at look at what it takes for a F-driver to track his car (after all, Porsche drivers can take for granted the "off the shelf" high quality solutions to take a 911 to the track) but whatever he does with Preparation-F, he won't be bending over.

 

SELLOUT!!!!!!!!!

he sold the best car ever built.

 

The 599 is not a sell out. Just a waypoint in his automotive life. My cars get traded all the time. Just for something different. I just traded my 599 for a 458. Not because the 599 sucked. It's just different. Automotive ADD if you will.

 

+1 ... IMO if you buy the car of your dreams (and get preferential treatment from the manufacturer in order to get one) you dont flip it months later for possibly one of the ugliest Ferarri's ever built...

"dear monkey - you are a total tosser"

 

doesn't make him any less of a tosser IMO...

 

Between a 599 GTB and a 997 GT3 RS 4.0, I would take the 599. The Enzo V12 is a gem, the 997 is just a 2005 Carrera with a 500Hp powerkit, 599 is cheap, 4.0RS overpriced.

With some basic upgrades, the 599 gains over 60Hp, loses close to 200 lbs on weight, and good shocks and proper springs are already available. Using the 599 GTO wheels and upsized tires make the car even better. The gearing is perfect, closer ratios than a 4.0RS.

I prefer the 599 GTB HGTE to the 458 Italia, and I prefer the 458 Italia over the 4.0RS. The 599 GTO is overpriced.

 

I prefer the 599 GTB HGTE minus 200lbs = How many lbs?
What would I pay now? Were any imported with 3 pedals, or can you only get them with flappy pedals?

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...no-hgte-review

 

Never mind, found it right here in Miami, says manual but also flappy pedal :

My favorite color and only $250K!
http://www.lamborghinimiami.com/used...bf3aecdcda.htm

 

With CCB and the F1 tranny, the U.S. version of the 599 GTB with no fuel weighs 3,692 lbs. With the 200 lbs weight reduction (Scuderia seats, 19" LW wheels, headers, LW exhaust and Li-Ion battery), goes down to 3,490 lbs.

The exhaust and ECU upgrade move power to the 680Hp range. Expect the car to run 0-100 mph on the low 6 secs, and with almost 200 Hp over the 4.0RS, it compensates for the additional 400 lbs over the 4.0RS.

Yes, there are manual transmission 599s here in U.S., but none of them with the HGTE package. The HGTE shifts in 85ms, feels perfect (my Scuderia does it in 60ms same as the 599 GTO), the standard GTB shifts in 200ms (it feels slow when shifting).

 

I have seeing some tweets by the monkey. It seems like he is talking about the 599 at least twice a day. I got mix feeling on this. Not sure where he is going, but maybe he wants to drive Fiats again, to promote his videos. Whatever...

 

OK. Its pretty and the day I stop tracking is the day I sell my porsche.
CCB must go so we are back to 3800lbs with me in it and some fuel. Hmm...

I just can't see spending 300K to miss manual shifting and flatbedding it after the second session. OK, I have to wait till I move up into the next tax bracket...

 

07 599 GTB, $160k and falling quickly. When they hit $100k, I'll jump in. Perfect partner for my 430 Scuderia, and the two of them together still cheaper than a 4.0RS, and both of them faster than a 4.0RS once tuned properly. No brainer.

$300k for a 599, you're insane. $200k for a 599, you're still insane.

 

07?? That's ancient.. I think an 09 Gt2 is old...

160K plus track worthy stuff is 200K, no warranty
I was looking at 2010 plus like the aero beetles..

 

even then might has well have some big tq/pwr GT2RS with ***** vs that floppy Italian thingy....

 

There are some manual box Fiorano's in the USA -- presumably only a handful, and as Harris noted, resale would be tediously slow and prone to steeper losses.

As noted already, the market is under $200K with no buyers. FML says $220K for a 599 GTB Fiorano and $200K for a 430 Scuderia. Take off their usual 20% premium and you're probably getting a number around the top of the market for a perfect example. I think somewhere around $150K for a 599 -- 50% in three years isn't unrealistic -- and, well, it might still be a bit of a falling knife, but there's so many other F-troop cars below it, it hasn't got much further to fall.

As for speed, I don't know the 599 all that well, but the GTO is faster than just about anything in a straight line and while it has to slow its heft to change directions, those apex speeds are still damn fast. I wouldn't have a 599 or Scuderia in the same dream as a GT3, let alone RS, but as an occasional "adrenalin games" track car, the 599 delivers.

For mostly street driving away from congested traffic, such as where I live and drive, it's damn appealing.

Plu,s my neighbors both have the 599 (one up the hill, one just down the hill) and when one of them is rolling by, holding 1st gear to wind out along our shared road or to come rolling back home on a trailing throttle ... my wife says she can see me turn my ears to the window as if the only thought going through my brain is like the dog in "Up!" ... squirrel !