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agp22 and I made arrangements last night for what is becoming a very regular bi-weekend morning event. I then PMed another new Ferrari owner in the area who had expressed an interest in joining us on one of our fosil fuel burning festivals.
The weather today is perfect. Not a cloud in the cobalt blue sky, tempatures in the low 80s F (high 20 c) and a moderate breeze off the ocean. We met at the usual spot, plotted a revised course due to major road works on the usual routing and headed off down the coast. The initial convoy order was F40 (easy choice on which one to take, all the others are in for annual maintenance) 550, and F355 Spider. Clearing the point, we heading into the valley for a run through the cut. This is one of my favorite segments of road as it is a constant series of sweeping corners joined by short straights. When the road is clear, you can drive the whole length in 3rd gear and steer the car mostly on the throttle. Point and squirt at its best. Getting the turbo boost timing is critical to having either a good run or ending up in the trees. My guess is that you need to drive the 550 very differently based on what I was seeing in the rear view mirror. Entering the corner, the glass was filled with grey Maranello nose. As soon as the road started to unwind itself and a little right lower appendage pressure was applied to the long aluminum pedal on the far right of the pedal box, the grey nose would receed. However as soon as the next corner appeared, so did the large grey Maranello sharks nose. Occasionally during the run, I would catch glimpses of the F355 Spider who seemed to be doing a fine job of keeping up with 550.
After the valley run, it was off to the highway to allow the 3 Prancing Horses a chance to stretch their legs. I led the way down the ramp, and with nothing but straight open tarmac in front, I opened it up. An F40 on full boost at 7000 rpm is hugely impressive, no matter how many times you do it. Everything else on the road just starts fading to specks in the rearview mirrors. With my inner 5 year old now satisfied, I pulled into the right hand lane to let agp22 and his 550 take the led. A quick glace behind me indicated that the F355 was keeping up nicely while maintaining a sensible gap. At this point, the 550 blew right by me. I had lifted off and was gliding to slowly scrub off speed, however while I was going this, the 550 had kept accelerating. By the time he ran past, he was moving quite smartly and I could feel the turbulence as he went passed. One more check in the mirror indicated that if I moved quickly, I could safely slot back in behind him. Down a gear, back on the power, and watch the boost gauge head north. Through the first long corner the grip felt a just a slight bit off (not sure if this was the tire temp or something on the road surface) so I backed off a bit until the road straightened again. We then ran down the highway for several more miles with the F355 keeping good pace the whole time.
Once off the highway it was back down to the coast for a scenically beautiful but uninspiring drive back towards the start point. We did have one more good sprint once off the coast road before heading to the traditional trip end coffee.
It has been a couple of years since I really took a hard up close look at a F355 Spider. They really are one of Pininfarina's most beautiful designs.
The weather today is perfect. Not a cloud in the cobalt blue sky, tempatures in the low 80s F (high 20 c) and a moderate breeze off the ocean. We met at the usual spot, plotted a revised course due to major road works on the usual routing and headed off down the coast. The initial convoy order was F40 (easy choice on which one to take, all the others are in for annual maintenance) 550, and F355 Spider. Clearing the point, we heading into the valley for a run through the cut. This is one of my favorite segments of road as it is a constant series of sweeping corners joined by short straights. When the road is clear, you can drive the whole length in 3rd gear and steer the car mostly on the throttle. Point and squirt at its best. Getting the turbo boost timing is critical to having either a good run or ending up in the trees. My guess is that you need to drive the 550 very differently based on what I was seeing in the rear view mirror. Entering the corner, the glass was filled with grey Maranello nose. As soon as the road started to unwind itself and a little right lower appendage pressure was applied to the long aluminum pedal on the far right of the pedal box, the grey nose would receed. However as soon as the next corner appeared, so did the large grey Maranello sharks nose. Occasionally during the run, I would catch glimpses of the F355 Spider who seemed to be doing a fine job of keeping up with 550.
After the valley run, it was off to the highway to allow the 3 Prancing Horses a chance to stretch their legs. I led the way down the ramp, and with nothing but straight open tarmac in front, I opened it up. An F40 on full boost at 7000 rpm is hugely impressive, no matter how many times you do it. Everything else on the road just starts fading to specks in the rearview mirrors. With my inner 5 year old now satisfied, I pulled into the right hand lane to let agp22 and his 550 take the led. A quick glace behind me indicated that the F355 was keeping up nicely while maintaining a sensible gap. At this point, the 550 blew right by me. I had lifted off and was gliding to slowly scrub off speed, however while I was going this, the 550 had kept accelerating. By the time he ran past, he was moving quite smartly and I could feel the turbulence as he went passed. One more check in the mirror indicated that if I moved quickly, I could safely slot back in behind him. Down a gear, back on the power, and watch the boost gauge head north. Through the first long corner the grip felt a just a slight bit off (not sure if this was the tire temp or something on the road surface) so I backed off a bit until the road straightened again. We then ran down the highway for several more miles with the F355 keeping good pace the whole time.
Once off the highway it was back down to the coast for a scenically beautiful but uninspiring drive back towards the start point. We did have one more good sprint once off the coast road before heading to the traditional trip end coffee.
It has been a couple of years since I really took a hard up close look at a F355 Spider. They really are one of Pininfarina's most beautiful designs.
