GhettoRacer

I'm racing Ferrari Challenge @ Infineon this weekend April 14/15
in my wet dreams of course. but there should be TONS of cool *** Ferrari's there.

http://www.infineonraceway.com/news/...ws/518996.html

Bonster

I saw a Ferrari 430 at Thunderhill today. NICE lookin' car with paddle shifters! The guy was a novice, so we didn't get the joy of hearing it scream by in the straights. Ah, well. Oh! I stuck my head in the window and smelled the leather -- that's a wonderful smell!!!

GhettoRacer

but didn't you get the joy of Miata spanking a 430 on the corner AND in the straights??

Bonster

I didn't actually drive in the novice group -- I was instructing my student. He was all excited when we passed him in his '95 BMW M3 (E46 engine, Dinan-tuned). Then again, my student tended to be faster than most of the other novices. In the afternoon, we ran the bypass (NASA weekend). Lol, he found out why I told him NEVER brake or lift on the crest. Fortunately, he was able to correct what would have been a spin had he not taken my advice -- "GAS! GAS! GAS NOW!!!" That woke him up, rofl. He said at that point, "Man, I'm glad you were here. I would have never thought to hit the gas." He learned another valueable lesson -- LISTEN to your instructor.

GhettoRacer

the driver's stability control system in 430 is super advanced. if he keeps it on it'll be darn impossible to spin the car out...

Bonster

That's actually good to hear. Marc Merlin, an advanced driver who has been very fast in his turbocharged Miata in the past, just bought an '06 430 a few months ago, and requested my instruction at the Got Guts at Thunderhill event coming up in about a week. I was at first concerned about instructing an advanced driver in a very fast car, but maybe it won't be so bad. Hopefully, we'll get to the point where we can just turn the tc completely off -- then Marc can truly learn about the car. Hopefully I'll be able to find something for him to work on. And NO, I do NOT want to drive his car. I don't have that kind of change laying around.

jgrant

Last time I was at Thunder Hill, the 430 in the pack ended up parked for all but about 3 laps... the heat fried the electronics, and it wouldn't even start.

Ferrari sent out a flat bed for the long ride back to Sacramento.

I really felt for the guy.

Bonster

Wow, what a bummer! I'll have to warn the guy I am instructing about that issue. I wonder if there's some kind of recall on the vehicle, or if the party in question just got 'lucky.' I also wonder if Ferrari will honor the warranty now that the car has been on the track surface. The fellow I mentioned was at Thunderhill back in November flogging the daylights out of his new prize with zero reported issues.

On a side note . . . jgrant . . . your avatar looks familiar-- is that the canopy at T'hill? I'm so glad they put that thing in. The shade was a welcome addition!

jgrant

Yep... that's where it is. It was freakin HOT last year when we did our 2-day event there... 130's - 140's. It was during the big heat wave. I'm sure that had something to do with the 430's problems.

The canopy was a LIFE SAVER... literally. That and the bikes to the A/C. And the shower. We were totally drenching ourselves with it and would be bone dry in less than 2 minutes.

Bonster

Yeah, I remember that heat wave. Willows suffered something like 21 staight days of over 100-degree temps that year -- a record. We (www.team-racing.org) ran an event there during that heat wave. The heat didn't stop everybody from the track time, but dang, it was unbelievably hot, even for Willows. By 130s and 140s, you mean the track temp, right? I remember one day it got to 113 outside. One can only ponder at how hot the track surface got. Talk about your brakes and tires going away!

BTW, my avatar is from the main straight at Thunderhill at my first race in my own car (I rented before that). Recognize that tire wall?

Bonster

PS . . . you know who "Turbo" is, right? The kind of short, skinny dude with a beard and moustache that usually does the flagger meetings? He was constantly reminding me to take a shower. He said something over the loud speaker like, "Don't forget to use the shower folks, especially if you are female." Gotta love it!

GhettoRacer

hehe, turbo is a way cool dude with wit. in fact, he was manning the T5 station when i pulled that 3 wheel air stunt last year... he came in the pits afterwards to look for me and said something like, damn dood i thought you were going to flip the car, and then, i thought you were going to lose it (spin it). nice save... blah blah. hahahah. gotta love turbo.

GhettoRacer

f430 has gazillion eletronics on board... it doesn't not surprise me it died in 130+F heat. its own 490 bhp engine generates enough heat on its own... funny story about my buddy's f430 spyder. he went to europe for like 2 weeks or so and in f430 there's a switch to unground the battery if you don't plan to drive it. well he forgot to do that and the car was completely dead. i was near by so i went to his house to try to jump start the 430.



my bucket yellow civic is multi-talented. it also functions well as a battery charger for the f430.

jumping exotic cars... actually F430 sucks up so much juice (its battery has 750 CCA rating) that just hooking up Civic causing it to almost stall! it can't even crank over the F430, we had to let it charge for a good 45 minutes. but still remix got the job done!

http://www.ejlin.com/gallery/view_ph...tm&id=IMG_9210

jgrant

Yeah... how could you FORGET Turbo!? He did the driver's meeting for us, and ran the track workers, etc.

In case you're interested, I've got a writeup of that trip HERE along with some pics.

The temps were about 110 in the shade, and paddock was 130 ambient. I have no idea what the track temp would have been, but it was waaayy up there. It was STUPID hot.

Those guys are going back next weekend for another 3-day event (1 day with the Subies, 2 days with NCRC). Wish I could be there, but work commitments said otherwise.

Bonster

Actually, that does not sound like a typical response from Turbo, Frank. But I was not there, so heck if I know. I guess Daniel was in the control station that day. If Turbo had been there, he's have sent you home packin'. Remember, I've worked with Thunderhill and the staff for many years. You are lucky they didn't send you home. I recommend you not try that 'stunt' again, my pal.