Main      Site Guide    
Message Forum
Re: braking. . . ..
Posted By: Andrea, on host 192.127.94.7
Date: Thursday, December 14, 2000, at 01:34:46
In Reply To: Re: braking. . . .. posted by shadowfax on Wednesday, December 13, 2000, at 14:42:02:

> it's more foolproof to heel-toe brake -

Yes it is (I do it about every morning on the garage ramp at home) !

> > Heretic! Ferrari (as well as Lamborghini and Maserati) cars *must* have manual transmission!
>
> they ARE manual transmissions!

Sorry, what I wanted to say is that those cars *must* have the shiftstick. :)

> hehe. so I've heard. Just had a guy from my car club go to italy. He refused to drive there ;) Something about if you use your turn signals they know you're a tourist and harass you ;)

Maybe in southern Italy. Here in northern Italy tourists are those that drive always below the speed limit while trying to decipher the messy road signs...

> lucky man, getting to drive a ferarri. . . I've driven some sweet cars, but nothing in that class :(

Are really though cars. Clutch and shift are quite hard to operate, and parking maneuvers are nearly impossible because of the limited rear view and the heavy steer (and the big footprint of tires).
The last time I drove one of these cars, I had a real fun by driving on a countryside road; in 5th gear, at about 120/130kmh with the engine running not more than 2000rpm (all I heard was a whisper behind me), it seemed to be in a comfortable seat in a living room. Then, on the way back to Maranello, still with 5th in, we got on the highway: there wasn't any traffic, so I pushed gently on the gas to accelerate up to 220kmh, feeling that the car had a lot more power and acceleration to give!

AP.