458 Speciale acceptable for general track day use?

[mikewood]

Finally collecting my new Speciale on Thursday if the garage door installers do their job tomorrow.

First outing will be the FOC National on Sunday, followed by the Oulton Park track day on 21st July. I'm a track day virgin, so will be taking instruction and driving my new car gently.

I believe the noise level ceiling for Oulton is 105dbs...will my new Speciale meet the grade?

MW

[GrahamPM]

I was there last year, my Italia was actually louder than my pals Speciale and both over the prescribed limit! However, we both gone on and avoided being black flagged.
Just avoid full throttle past the static microphones on the circuit!
Will see you there hopefully!
G

[johnnyreggae]

Enjoy : as its your first track day you probably shouldn't be in race mode or at full throttle so should be ok even on the drive-by

[mikewood]

Thank you for the reassuring replies! Easy on the gas pedal past the microphones! Don't think I'll be twiddling the little button on my steering wheel just yet...

:-)

[jhowlett]

Hi Mike,
i had mine tested at croft around 2 weeks ago and the car was far too loud, i measured 112ish at only 5000rpm. I guess there is a high chance you will trip the limiters

[S1MMA]

jhowlett said:

Hi Mike,
i had mine tested at croft around 2 weeks ago and the car was far too loud, i measured 112ish at only 5000rpm. I guess there is a high chance you will trip the limiters

112db on the static test? My GT3 was 100.6db static at Bedford and I got black flagged for tripping the drive by mic. Had to short shift when using the main back straight.

If you are over 110db on static you won't get on any normal UK trackday - the loud days are usually to 105db static, you probably have to only do test days and similar. It's really a shame that you can't use a track focused car on track due to noise, is there any silencer solutions for a speciale?

http://www.trackdays.co.uk/calendar/ - lists the DB limits for most UK tracks.

[Anjum]

The car is EPIC around a track - but be very careful on full load on RACE/CT OFF/Hero Mode! It's noisy! On the drive by - find out where the mic is and short shift a couple of gears - you won't really notice - and could mean the difference between enjoying your day or being black flagged.....

[WCZ]

it's crazy how loud these cars are considering they are essentially a track day variant in my eyes (accepted the 458 challenge is the approved consumer racer version) also I've heard Ferrari won't approve some warranty claims if you've admitted track time - I think a quote I read from a dealership was "these aren't designed to be driven on track"!

[jhowlett]

I spoke to a mechanic at ferrari and he said many people are fitting quieter exhausts to be able to use it on a track. He did say it would loose a few BHP though. Im sticking to the official ferrari track days instead, didn't really want to start changing bits on my car.

[430scuderia1]

I will be there in my Speciale. Hopefully catch up as its my first time in the car on track. Awesome cars :-)

[430scuderia1]

jhowlett said:

I spoke to a mechanic at ferrari and he said many people are fitting quieter exhausts to be able to use it on a track. He did say it would loose a few BHP though. Im sticking to the official ferrari track days instead, didn't really want to start changing bits on my car.

This is an official FOC day.

[mikewood]

Well my car is safely ensconced in its new digs, and chomping at the bit to get out and play on the track at Oulton Park..! Can I stuff some cotton wool in the pipes to soften the noise..?

[mrh1]

hi
best thing to do is buy a track day silencer from ff corsa they run it on a few speciale ,wont get any agro then,for a quiet silencer still has a nice sound,drivebys no problem then,if you rev it wrong on static you will get 104db,there is a tecnic but out on the track full on no black flags,it takes a cpl of hrs to fit with no orher mods or work it has no valves so low revs sounds better than standered deeper.perfect
they should put it in a the tick box from when you spec ,best of both worlds.
the car is epic on track and good looking
happy days

[m30dus]

I'll be out there on the 21st too in a banana yellow 458 challenge. I run the FF corse silenced exhaust and never had any problem with noise. My aventador, GT3 RS and scuderia all struggle to get under the 105db at MSV circuits. Think they are the strictest of the lot when it comes to noise testing!!

[mattf93]

mikewood said:

Well my car is safely ensconced in its new digs, and chomping at the bit to get out and play on the track at Oulton Park..! Can I stuff some cotton wool in the pipes to soften the noise..?

What colour is your speciale? and what plate did it have on it? Will see if I can dig out some photos or by a couple of my friends with bigger or better cameras! Was a lovely day when the rain dried up!

[johnnyreggae]

mikewood said:

I'm a track day virgin, so will be taking instruction and driving my new car gently.

So how was it ?

[anonymous-user]

I took a Ferrari 458 speciale for a spin when I was at Maranello last week and I couldn't believe how loud it was. Can imagine it struggling on most UK tracks!

[430scuderia1]

johnnyreggae said:

mikewood said:

I'm a track day virgin, so will be taking instruction and driving my new car gently.

So how was it ?

My speciale was tested at 103db static in Wet mode, ran the car at full chat in race mode all day and had no problem with noise. Followed a nice 360 CS for a lap or two that was in race mode, it was quickly black flagged.
Tried the car in wet mode when it rained and the traction control is way over the top.
The day for me was ultimately spoilt for me as i followed a gold 430 challenge car for half a lap that was spewing all manner of cheshire countryside from its floor tray, gravel covered the front of the car and smashed the windscreen. shame on such a new car.

[430scuderia1]

johnnyreggae said:

mikewood said:

I'm a track day virgin, so will be taking instruction and driving my new car gently.

So how was it ?

My speciale was tested at 103db static in Wet mode, ran the car at full chat in race mode all day and had no problem with noise. Followed a nice 360 CS for a lap or two that was in race mode, it was quickly black flagged.
Tried the car in wet mode when it rained and the traction control is way over the top.
The day for me was ultimately spoilt for me as i followed a gold 430 challenge car for half a lap that was spewing all manner of cheshire countryside from its floor tray, gravel covered the front of the car and smashed the windscreen. shame on such a new car.

[mikewood]

Oops, sorry for the late reply, my bad!

The day was fantastic, and for a track day newby, pure heroin!

The scrutineers seemed very relaxed and my fears of my Speciale being banned for excessive noise were unfounded. I was instructed to keep the car out of Race mode, and rev to around 4,000 for the noise test. I'm sure this is not going to be the case at every track day event, but happily I was given the green light for my day at Oulton.

I was booked in for a free-of-charge "Taster session" with a FOC instructor at 11am, but paid for the full track day (£275) and after the drivers' briefings went out for my first drive in the Novice class at 10am. Unfortunately all the instructors were out with other drivers, so I ended up on my own for the first session, and carefully followed the flow of cars around the track.

I booked two different instructors at 11:30 and then 12:30 who each drove my car for three laps whilst giving instruction and commentary, before pulling in to the pit lane to swap over, and then my turn. The instructor sessions were invaluable: plenty of guidance, encouragement, and made me feel more confident and comfortable in my car.

I spent the rest of the day practicing the what the instructors had taught me, and took a few passengers out for laps of the circuit. Sadly the day was drawn to a close prematurely at 16:15 after an explosion and fire in the pit lane garages (a racing Speciale caught fire being refuelled).

So my first track day was a complete blast, and my new 458 Speciale made me feel like a driving god!! The grin factor afterwards was worth every hard-earned penny I paid for the car, and I guess that's why we do it!!

Booked in for the Silverstone FOC day in September and counting down the days...

MW