Day 2–Australian Grand Prix 2017

After a restless night in the motel in Yass I headed off before the others to grab some food at the services centre just on the entrance to freeway.

I was soon joined by the others for a ‘fast food’ breakfast at the golden arches. We were also soon joined by a contingent of additional cars who had made their way from Canberra. Our little party was beginning to swell.

We then hit the road to our first stop at another service centre just outside of Holbrooke. The weather was sunny but with an array of different cloud formation. That combined with the scenic nature of the back drop made for very relaxing driving.

At Hoolbrooke we pulled over and topped up our tanks and had a bite to eat. The full array of cars parked nearby not unexpectedly drew a lot of attention.

Just outside Euroa in Victoria we pulled off again for the planned final stop before Melbourne, Mc Donalds again! I’ve never had so much in a single day. That won’t go down well I’m sure.

After our break and refuelling we again hit the road for the final leg. Although the drive wasn’t unpleasant, it had been a long day and I was very much looking forward to arriving at the hotel.

As per usual, after setting off, all the Ferraris took off and left me for dead. So I set the cruise control at the speed limit and continued to trundle along.

After a little while, I unexpectedly saw all the cars pulled over in a rest stop, so I quickly did the same. No issues, just a drive change it seemed. After verifying that fact, I jumped back in my car and headed towards Melbourne.

This is where things went a bit pear shaped for me. Being the first car into the Melbourne, I had no real option but to follow my GPS, which proceeded to take me on a merry dance through the back streets of Melbourne. It felt like I was constantly stuck in traffic and at every set of lights along the way. Painful.

After what seemed like an eternity I finally arrived at the hotel. Well not exactly. I had finally arrived at the wrong hotel! It had the same name as the my intended destination but it was on the other side of the city. D’Oh.

With my error now understood, I reset the Sat Nav to head for the right location. This now meant a drive through the centre of Melbourne in peak hour. Oh the joy. I am so glad I didn’t bring the F355! I would have been really frantic by now.

As I approached the right hotel, I found my self in a side lane which meant I couldn’t turn right towards my intended final destination. Damm you Melbourne. I now had to circle the block so I could get to where I wanted.

Finally, I had arrived but I need to find the location of the car park. I quickly parked and asked the staff were I needed to go. I was directly ‘around the corner and down the ramp’. It seems like this journey will never end!

However, it wasn’t much further and I found a familiar set of cars down there so I knew I was in the right place.

I checked in and cleaned myself up after my road trip. When I went back down stairs to grab some stuff from the car I found some people ‘refreshing’ their cars to get all the road grim off. Strangely enough, I can understand exactly how their feel.

We then headed over to Gate 1, on the other side of the track to pick up our ‘accreditation’ material to actually get into to the event for the next few days. After this we had an excellent Italian meal to end of a tiring, at times frustrating and confusing but fun and different day.

Roll on track time tomorrow!

Heading south

I decided that I didn’t want to take the F355 on the trip to the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is a pretty long and boring drive. Secondly in a car without cruise control, the 6 hours each way would be physical torture, especially on my hip. Finally, although a few parade laps were on offer, the majority of time for the car would be locked away in a basement garage. So I packed up the daily drive and headed to the initial meeting spot.

Meeting in a suburban Sydney street near the freeway entry is always going to garner some interest. In our convoy would a couple of 360s, a 430, a Californian and of course me in my ‘plain Jane’ daily drive.

Just after 7pm we hit the highway for the 3+ hour trip to our over night stop in Yass. The weather was drizzly and there was a fair amount of traffic getting out of Sydney but once we where on the road south proper, things did thin out somewhat.

Driving long distances on the open road in the dark is very meditative I find but it is more tiring as you really need to keep your wits about you in the dark. There were a few rainy periods along the way but generally the driving was good an uneventful.

We arrived in the service centre at Sutton Forest in good order and then headed across the bridge to McDonalds for a nightcap before once again hitting the road to our overnight stop at Yass.

Most of the traffic at this time of night is large double b trucks, which thanks to cruise control, are easily overtaken. As we approached our overnight stop, I was glad that I didn’t bring the F355. I was pretty tired as it was but if I had driven the F355 I’m sure would have been a wreck and would not have enjoyed the trip given the weather and bumpiness of the road. That would have been pretty tough to take in a 20 year old car where you are only a few scant millimetres off the actual road surface!

We settled into the motel at around 10.30pm and quickly went to bed ready for an early off the and final leg to Melbourne where I’ll be looking forward to a real full size bed.

It was hot at the Bathurst 12 hour

Oh yes it was, but let’s rewind a tad.

After clearing my garage and making a stop for fuel I headed onto the motorway for I though would be a clear run out west with next to no traffic. WRONG! I launched head long into a traffic jam. Yes, at 6.30am I was sitting in a traffic jam on the motorway! Why? Road works. Need I say more?

Now apart from being annoying, the problem was that my “5-8 Slow Down” light started flashing amongst the crawl. Then in these slow conditions I could feel it trying to cut the engine and go into limp mode. REALLY? Traffic jams and now limp mode at 6.30am! How much can a man take?

Luckily, the traffic cleared along with my “5-8” warning light as I picked up speed along the rest of the motor way. Seems like at speed (70kmph+) the warning doesn’t try and cut the engine and disappears after about 15 minutes. Still a problem I need to address as it has never actually tried to cut the engine before. Looks like I need to install a new ECU.

I managed to clear the remainder of the Sydney district and launched over the mountains via the Bells Line of Road, which is an excellent drive, especially early in the morning. I do however have to say that a 60kmph zone UP the mountain is a tad painful. You can really feel the car groaning at having to stay at such low speeds but the law, enforced by speed cameras on route, enforce that. However, 70 would be better and 80 ideal I reckon. Is that likely to happen? Nope. 50 is probably what we’ll have there soon. Sigh. The only part of the drive that I detest is the initial climb into the mountains via this route and that is because of extremely low speed limit.

After a nice drive along the scenic Bells Line of road, it wasn’t long before I reached Lithgow and hit the highway on the other side for the remainder of the trip to Bathurst. Luckily, no return of the 5-8 slow down light, which only seems to appear in the first 15 – 30 minutes of a drive.

The muster point for the Meguiar’s cars and coffee was around the back of Bathurst and as I parked the car across from pit straight I could start to feel the temperature rising. I apologised to the car for having to leave it in the baking sun but told it there would be plenty of admirers to compensate.

I then headed off to the spectator entrance while looking at all the displays along the way. Near the track entrance was the large Ferrari marque.

The main object of attention inside was a black La Ferrari.

There was also a GTC4 Lusso.

Out the side of the marque were all the Ferrari’s of owners who had opted for the Ferrari hospitality package.

Around the stand were a few other cars including the F12 TDF

and F40.

I took the foot bridge over the main straight and spent some time walking around the back of the pits before heading to the top of the stands and the bar at the top where, thanks to cars and coffee, I could enjoy VIP seating.

By now, the weather was really starting to get warm. So I stayed put, out of the sun, enjoying the big screen TV.

One of the other benefits of cars and coffee was that we got a parade lap. So at noon I headed back to my car and was herded for a slow (60kmph) lap of the track.

Always good to get a trip around Mt Panorama. It is only by doing a lap you appreciate how challenging it must be for drivers to do this in race conditions and in this heat. Wow, was it getting hot now.

I parked the car back again on display and did my best to protect the interior from UV damage. I again headed back to the bar above the stands to ride out the rest of the afternoon until I could depart.

At the allotted time I returned to my car and headed home. Unfortunately, I was greeted with a suspension warning light which stayed on my whole return trip, even after stopping for fuel.

Driving back with the windows down was like being in a blast furnace so I cranked up the air conditioning until it at least took the edge off the heat in the cabin and enjoyed the return trip, again taking the Bells Line of Road.

I arrived back without incident but was thoroughly exhausted by the stifling heat. This was my third trip to the 12 hour and they have all been during really hot weekends. After being burnt pretty badly the first time I have leant my lesson to be prepared. This year also helped that we had some under cover VIP seating to make the experience more bearable.

Unfortunately, the intense heat really robs me of the full enjoyment of this event I must say. Love the drive. Love the display and track time, catch up with others but man that weather. If it was just dialled back to high twenties it would make all the difference. But that wouldn’t be an Australian summer now would it? Given that Sunday was going to be even hotter than today (Saturday) I decided to give that a miss and watch the event from home, in front of the TV with the A/C blasting away making things bearable.

Oh and Ferrari won the race as well. Whatta you know about that? Was a great race as well if you missed it.

Riding shotgun

Been a bit quiet here recently, but that is a good thing as the F355 has been running well, taking many trips, consuming much petrol and providing endless enjoyment.

However, for recent change of pace I decided to leave the F355 behind on a recent Club run and see how many different cars I could manage to ride shotgun in.

The day started out with a ride in a California. Next was a 308 (Magnum PI style). Then I jumped into a 458 for the journey through the Royal National Park south. During that stage I captured the above video.

The car in front is a new McLaren 650S owned by a Club member. Spectacular stuff, through the forest, along the windy road in weather that was a little damp to say the least.

After pulling over to admire the view at Stanwell Tops I swapped to the McLaren for the ride to Bulli where we enjoyed a great lunch at Sublime Point.

I was returned to Sydney in the 308 (after it received a bit of an electricity ‘top up’ from another vehicle and their jumper leads.

All in all a great day of partaking as a passenger and being able to just sit back and enjoy the ride, through both the city and countryside. My choice for best ride? The 458 without hesitation. It is a magnificent car and all I can say now is – I want one!

Fun in the sun

One event that I am looking to attend now on a more regular basis is the supercar get together on the third Sunday of every month at Le Montage in Lilyfield.

It runs from about 9am to 11am and is open to anyone to attend. There is coffee and breakfast and plenty of cars on display as you can see.

It is really amazing the sheer variety of cars that attend, both old and new.

Lamborghini

and even US muscle

So, if you are in the vicinity on the third Sunday of the month and you are a petrol-head it is well worth your while to drop by and see what is on display.

You won’t be disappointed!

Bathurst Bash

I was lucky enough to be invited over the weekend on a run with some other supercars out to the Bathurst 12 hour. We started early Saturday morning at Windsor and then proceeded along the Bells Line of Road to our first stop at Windsor.

We stopped briefly at Mt Victoria and Tanara before making our way to Mt Panorama Bathurst.

We lined our cars up with some other exotic cars and bikes for general display and then headed off to enjoy a pit tour of one of the Ferrari Teams.

We did have to cut the tour short because part of the benefit of going into the exhibit with our cars was that we were able to do a lap of teh circuit.

So, with the trusty GoPro mounted inside the car I captured the above video to give you a feel. It wasn’t a high speed lap it was a parade lap but it was still the highlight of the weekend for me as it was something I had been planning to do with the car at some stage (achievement unlocked).

We had dinner at the circuit and headed off to our overnight accommodation at Duckmaloi Farm, which I can highly recommend if you every get out that way.

Once everyone was roused and the extraction of cars sorted we headed back to the Mount to catch the race.

From there we headed back after a memorable weekend out bush at the spiritual home of Australian touring cars.

The two year anniversary

As I move into the third year of ownership of my Ferrari F355 it is once again time to step back and reflect on what has transpired in the previous 12 months.

You can revisit my musing at the one year anniversary here:

https://blog.lovethe355.com/2013/09/the-one-year-anniversary.html

So let’s get on with a wrap for the paper anniversary.

Costs

Maintenance costs for any sort of supercar are always going to exceed those of a ordinary road car. Now the most interesting thing this year is that I drove the F355 over 7,000 kilometres which was a 48% increase on what I did the previous year. This was directly reflected in a 48% increase in the amount of fuel I used, so no surprises there.

Interestingly, that usage is about 60% of the usage of my normal road car. Total maintenance costs for the Ferrari fell below $9,000 for the year which was about a 9% decrease over the year prior. That figure also included the cost of insurance which is the major running cost of the car. This year I switched insurers after shopping around (and going through some renewals dramas).

Over the twelve months I did not make any major improvements to the car, unlike the previous year, so the totals costs all up for everything associated with the car was just over $10,000 which was 40% less than the year before.

Travel

The car has now done about 12,500 kilometres since purchase, completing over 7,000 this year (a 48% increase over the previous year as mentioned). That averages out to 142 kilometres per week this year verses 100 the year prior.

This years learning’s

1. As last year, the number one thing you need to have with cars like these is a great mechanic and luckily Sal DiMauro from Racing Red is just that and his assistance in the prior year once again proved invaluable. Answering my questions during my panic with overfilling the car with oil was just one example of what a great job he does. So if you need Ferrari mechanic, Sal’s the man.

2. The car won’t dissolve when you take it out in the rain. Although driving in the wet is far from being the most pleasant experience with the F355, it doesn’t prevent the car from working! After a number of trips in the car this year in quite heavy rain I have shattered my preconception that it only works when the sun is out.

Low Points

1. Backing the car into a road sign and splitting the bumper.

2. Overfilling the oil level.

3. Insurance woes

4. The car getting over sprayed by a fire extinguisher.

High Points

1. Every day I get to see the car. Whether under a cover or from behind the wheel, I thank my lucky stars every time.

2. Finally taking the car onto the track.

3. Road to Sydney Cavalcade.

4. Ferrari Racing Days.

The year ahead

The end of this calendar year will be a major maintenance appointment for the car. It will the engine taken out and serviced and the timing belts replaced. This has always been a know quality with the F355 as it needs doing every 3 years or 15,000 kilometres. I will also probably take this as the opportunity to get the shock absorbers refurbished as they have been showing signs of wear. All this won’t be cheap but it needs to be done.

I see the car doing more kilometres given the number of outing that the Ferrari Club is undertaking. This is also in part due to my increased confidence with the car and the realisation that it isn’t going to ‘fall apart’ just by being driven long distances.

Summary

Owning a Ferrari F355 still challenges me but I am finally beginning to be more comfortable with driving it. I doubt whether I will ever be as casual about driving as I am with a normal road car but another year’s worth of driving the F355 has greatly increased the comfort levels.

I also think that ‘repairing’ the bumper that I cracked has overcome much of the fear I had about doing something ‘wrong’ to the car, simply because I DID something wrong if you know what I mean. Actually sanding, filling and painting the car has perhaps removed that ‘pristine’ misconception I had about the car. The difference this year is that rather paying someone to fix a problem (like the dent I previous put in my door) I had a go at fixing it myself. Although far from perfect, I was rather proud that it turned out as good as it did. Most importantly, I learnt a lot throughout the process.

I have been on so many amazing drives this year where it was simply a pleasure to put the roof down and just drive along. Doing so has allowed me to experience some great scenery as well as interact with some great people from the Club. That, above everything else, has made the previous twelve months ownership more than worthwhile and something I’m so glad has happened.

The final note is a thanks to anyone who reads or follows along with this blog and my YouTube channel.I need to get back to making more videos which I promise to do soon. Hope you have enjoyed another year of ‘entertainment’ and hope you’ll stay with me to see what transpires in the coming 12 months.

The above video is what I reckon is my best one for the year.

Rain, rain go away

Unlike most people I like rain. I think rainy days are much more unique than other days. Unlike most people again, I actually enjoy driving in the rain as I find it far more challenging. Driving in the rain also allows me to get ‘amongst it’ while remaining in a comfortable observation capsule.
One of the things that I did learn when I took my drive day in some Ferraris all that time ago was that driving an old convertible car in the rain is no fun. Why? Because over the years the folding roof tends to stretch and not fit so well, allowing a good deal of water inside. That water then causes the car to fog up and that is really no fun.
When I initially purchased my F355 I was completely rain adverse. I didn’t want the car to get wet at all. My major fear was that water would get into the engine electrics and cause a failure.

The reason for my paranoia, as you can see, is that the engine is pretty much exposed to the world. So to me, when it rained, then the engine would get soaked, which is never a good thing right? Silly I know as the rain DOES splash up from underneath after all on ALL cars.
This aversion to weather is a very common thing for most super car owners I have found, although I think most fear getting the car dirty than it not running, but no matter what the reason they avoid rain like the plague.
Early on with ownership, I’d wake up early and pensive for a drive and if I found the weather outside to be in the slightest moist I wouldn’t go out. However, there is an overriding need for the car to go out for a run at least once a week to give everything a work out. Failure to do this is asking for guaranteed mechanical and engine problems. So when it was raining on a weekend I wouldn’t go out but I’d then be forced to take the car for ‘maintenance’ spin during the week sometime (usually around midday) to satisfy this. Now playing chicken in the weekday traffic was many times more unnerving than taking the car out in the rain. Ah, the joys of owning a super car eh?
However, a few years in to ownership and having HAD to actually take the car out when it was raining has taught me that it won’t self destruct at the first sign of H2O. The exposed engine always gave me cause for concern but speaking with Sal from Racing Red I learned that the engine in the F355 is sealed pretty good. This also comes in handy after the fire extinguisher incident recently.
With that knowledge I can now happily (well almost) take the car out during inclement weather. I even did so recently on a trip into the country where the weather was particularly foul before the kick off and the car had to stand for a fair while in the pouring rain.
Of course, I’d prefer there to be no rain during my drives and it is not for the reasons you may think:
Reason 1 – Other people do REALLY STUPID things in the rain. They drive too fast, they drive outside their lane, they jump red lights, and so on. Not being on the road at the same time avoids this.
Reason 2 – Rain seems to magically cause potholes to open up and swallow wheels whole. Roads here are bad enough in the dry but in the wet what can look like just a puddle can if fact hide a wheel shattering pothole.
Reason 3 – The car does leak a little during showers. It is no where near as a bad as a convertible though.

The water gets in just where the window and the body meet and just where the angle of the body changes as illustrated above. That is, just above the mirror and just at the roof line. This probably has something to do with the rubber seal deteriorating somewhat over the years. It isn’t a huge issue but you can get a fair dribble, especially in heavy downpours so a rag is always something handy to have available in the cabin during these time (and of course, remember there is no glove box to put it in!).
Reason 4 – It does get dirty. if you allow the rain water to stand on the car after you have it back undercover you’ll be greeted with annoying dirty spots the next time you take it out. I have therefore learned that upon return to dry the car off as best as possible with a microfiber towel.
However, now when it rains on a weekend I no longer have any hesitation in taking the car out for a ‘maintenance’ run. I simply need to be more vigilant for the reasons above but experience has shown me that I and the car have nothing to fear from the weather. It is just a car after all and cars are deigned to go in the rain (well most cars anyway).
Avoiding taking the car out simply because it is damp should not be an excuse for giving the engine a work out as that’s far more important. In short, there is no need to fear the rain in a F355.

Where there is smoke

So I took a trip with the Club to a location about three hours from the city. The drive there was a bit bumpy but it was good to let the car stretch its legs a bit.

Stayed at local accommodation overnight (car parked right outside the room) with plans to head back the following day after breakfast. However, at about 3am I heard all this shouting and wasn’t sure whether I was having a dream or not. Unfortunately, when I emerged later in morning I found my car covered with what appeared to be some form of powder.

Turns out that someone had discharged a powder fire extinguisher over a Ferrari two cars along from mine. The overspray had covered the car next to me as well as mine (although less so). The powder in the extinguisher was ammonia phosphate which is really not something you want sprayed on your car.

The best I could do when I discovered this was to wash it all off using a fire hose and a microfiber towel (leant to me by another Club member). I made sure I went over the car a number of times with the hose and the towel until everything was removed.

I wasn’t too concerned with the paintwork because because it was merely overspray and secondly I am pretty confident that the Permoanon I have on the paintwork provides excellent protection. Still, having what are nasty chemicals on the paintwork for five or so hours along with damp overnight conditions is really something you want to avoid and there is always that worry in the back of your mind.

My concern driving back was, had any of the overspray gotten into the engine? My assumption was that, hopefully it would have been burnt off, shaken loose and blown away during the 3 hour drive back. The 355 has its vitals pretty well sealed so I don’t think I have to worry there.

I checked the paintwork again carefully upon return and can’t see any ill effects but I’ll give it a good wash as soon as possible to ensure any remnants are removed. The car needs a good clean after a country drive anyway.

Hopefully the other Ferrari that was directly sprayed also shows no ill effects but it is disappointing when things like this happen. The positive is that it could have obviously been a lot worse, so small mercies there. But this sort of incident, although rare, is part and parcel of being an owner because not everyone admires the car regretfully.

Road to Sydney Cavalcade

On Saturday the 12th of April 2014 I rose early and headed to Glebe Island to be part of the Road to Sydney Cavalcade to Sydney Motorsport Park as part of the Ferrari Racing Days.

Having volunteered to assist with the logistics I arrived just before 6am. Problem was that the location staff weren’t really prepared for me and sent me around the back. I insisted that I should park just over ‘there’, but no, I was sent to the ‘great beyond’ to be out of the way.

By the time I had walked back to where I knew I was supposed to assemble others where arriving and the location staff had realized their mistake. I therefore relocated the F355 into pride of place on the front row of the grid.

We then received our briefing and I took the post of directing participants as they arrived all the while wearing a very ‘fetching’ high visibility jacket.

Just before 8am we had almost 140 Ferraris of all types and colours lined up ready to kick off. We had to wait in our cars with the engines off before being told to start. This was in order to keep the noise down being mindful of the local residents.

The cavalcade left by column, so I was the head of the third group, which was great since it meant I had someone to follow. I had my two GoPro cameras set up on the car but unfortunately the front facing one died after about 10 minutes. Something wrong with the battery I suspect. However, the rear facing camera worked fine as was able to capture the majority of the video above. This allowed the capture of the front of other cars which is probably a much better angle I think in retrospect.

We headed back down towards Victoria Road from Glebe Island, taking a right turn over the ANZAC Bridge. The good thing was we had the police stopping traffic for us at the intersections, so not worrying about hill starts.

As we reached the ANZAC bridge we became immersed in Sydney Saturday morning traffic and the cavalcade started to get fragmented as other cars broke into our line. The continued as we crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and heading along the Gore Hill Expressway into the Lane Cove tunnel.

It was truly amazing at how much traffic ‘suddenly’ materialized in and around the cavalcade but I suppose that is to be expected when you add a 140 off Ferraris to the roads anywhere.

We battled the traffic out of the Lane Cove Tunnel and onto the M2. Even here there seemed to be an inordinate amount of traffic on the road which prevented the free flow of cars.

From the M2 we entered the M7 where things seems to move better, if still somewhat constrained. We crossed over the M4 taking the Hoxton Park exit around the back of Eastern Creek along Ferrers Road into Gate A at Sydney Motorsport Park, where we parked our vehicles in special designated parking having arrived without incident.

The Road to Sydney Cavalcade was a special event that I was proud to be part of (even if I wasn’t really keen about putting a large sticker on my bonnet). It was a unique feeling to be part of so many Ferraris travelling through the street of Sydney full of Ferrari enthusiasts all going to experience the unique event that was Ferrari Racing Days.

I’ll have a few posts about Ferrari Racing Days soon but the cavalcade certainly stand out as something unique that I was proud to be part of.