White Knight II

Quite a few people have commented that the Distronic option is a waste of money, or that they selected most options except Distronic, etc. I have an S600 with Distronic, and I ordered my SL55 with Distronic, and I thought it might be useful if I explained why.

First- what it is. It's a radar device coupled with a computer which enables your car to maintain a constant distance from the car in front of it when cruise control is selected. This distance can be adjusted (within limits) by the driver, and a pictograph of the distance to the car in front of you can be seen on the dash (if you want). The radar antenna is encased in a plastic enclosure which forms a part of the three-pointed star in the grill. Some people don't like the looks of this arrangement, while others don't even notice.

Second - what it does. The system includes a computer which controls both the throttle and the brakes. If the car ahead speeds up, your car will accelerate smoothly until your car reaches the cruise control speed you previously selected. If the car ahead slows down (or a car jumps into your lane ahead of you) the system will first decrease the throttle and then apply the brakes up to 20% of maximum braking effort (which turns out to be substantial) in order to maintain the specified distance. If more than 20% braking effort is required, the system sounds an alarm and continues braking. The system can also be set up just to give an alarm if the distance to the car (or another object) ahead is too short, even though the cruise control is not selected.

Third - why bother? What the sytem is good for is long drives on freeways. The conventional cruise control is fairly useless when there is any traffic. You constantly have to turn it off when someone slides in front of you or if you catch up with some jerk going 50 mph in the fast lane. And then when the road opens up, you have to increase the speed. As a result, you either turn it off or constantly fiddle with it. Distronic avoids this, by slowing the car and then speeding up, as appropriate.

So Distronic is a very expensive toy if you primarliy drive your car around town or just for sport on the freeways. But if you want to take your car on a long trip using freeways, it is very, very good. I use it to drive from San Francisco to Southern California or to Las Vegas, and it is definitely worth the money used like that. Distronic takes one more chore out of driving and makes it very relaxing to cover long distances. But if you just want to use your car to go to the country club, Distronic is a waste of money, with one exception - the alarm feature.

I rarely use the alarm feature, but it can be a lifesaver if you're going to get distracted while driving by trying to find a phone number in your pocket, checking a map or reaching behind your seat for your dropped keys, etc. OR IF YOU GET DROWSY. The alarm will definitely bring you back to driving reality if another car (or object) gets too close. It has saved my bacon (and justifed the cost) a couple of times when I got distracted with the phone.

And finally, in case anyone wondered, Distronic has nothng to do with Parktronic. The two systems use different sensors, even though they are both supposed to keep your car separated from other objects. I believe that Parktronic is an (inaudible) sonar device. It also work quite well, but that's another story . . . . .

Oh, one other fact which may be of interest - the price for the Distronic option on the preliminay invoice the dealer gave me is $2,950.

G-baby

Hey thanks for the Distronic Info...can be very usefull sometimes.

Could you post some pics of your SL55 and Bachetta? Thanks!!

vraa

Nice writeup on the Distronic information! Very very convincing to a couple others out there that are teetering on the line! Personally i have distronic in my dads SL and if anyone wants pictures of the SL with the plastic cap over the Three-Pointed Star just tell me and i'll post them!

nguyenth

I wish all college professors could be as clear in their classes as you were with your explanations on Distronic! Nice! I totally agree with what you said regarding the "alarm" feature ("I rarely use the alarm feature, but it can be a lifesaver if you're going to get distracted while driving by trying to find a phone number in your pocket, checking a map or reaching behind your seat for your dropped keys, etc. OR IF YOU GET DROWSY. The alarm will definitely bring you back to driving reality if another car (or object) gets too close. It has saved my bacon (and justifed the cost) a couple of times when I got distracted with the phone". I experenced this beep once a while when another car suddenly cuts off in front of me or when a car ahead of me suddenly moves sharply away from my path. It is very useful and strongly recommanded, also because it is NOT nearly as nearly as annoying as a radar detector picking up false alarms: it IS very precise and right on the point, just when you feel like you need it!

White Knight II

Responding to the request for pctures of the SL55 and the Barchetta - I'll do that when the SL gets here (which is supposed to be in about 10 days) if someone can tell me how to reduce the size of the files I get from my D1 (normally 1.2 megs) and then how to attach them to a posting.

vraa

what operating system are you running.. because if your using winxp you can download a power toy called IMage Resizer from microsoft that will let you change the resolution of the pictures

Wolfman

Thanks for the details on the distronic. The alarm feature sounds indeed very useful.

Can the alarm feature be activated without using cruise control? Now that would be nice to have! Personally I guess I just enjoy driving and have learned in Germany that driving short or long distances always requires your full attention. Your health depends on it... It's become a habit so I never developed the desire to use cruise control.

Wolfman

nguyenth

Wolfman:

You asked: "Can the alarm feature be activated without using cruise control?" The answer is YES!

White Knight II

Wolfman:

"The system can also be set up just to give an alarm if the distance to the car (or another object) ahead is too short, even though the cruise control is not selected. "

vraa:

I'm using Apple OSX

muhri

White knight, import your files into Iphoto then choose file->export and set the resolution to 640x480 and choose some quality that'll make it fit to 200K - the approximate file size is displayed also.

White Knight II

I did all that, but I can't find any option which allows me to "choose some quality". Saving the file as a JPEG gives me a file which is 238 kb, which the message board software refuses as to big.

White Knight II

OK, here's the Barchetta in a JPEG file. I cut down the resolution quite a bit to get the file under the message board max; as a result it's pretty pixellated.

G-baby

Thats gorgous!!!! Azzuro California Blue? Could you explain some info on the softtop? Here are some questions:

1) How do you take the top off?
2)Where do you store it?
3)Is it true that you cant go over 75 with the top on?
4)Is it a power top?
5)Could you post a pic with the top up?

Thanks White Knight II !!

White Knight II

The soft top on the Barchetta is almost totally useless. It is ugly as sin and very difficult to put up. The top itself resembles the top on an MGTD - a lot of bows, fabric, rods, insertion points and whatnot. It takes two people about 20 minute to put it up.

Yes, there is s sticker on it which says don't drive faster than XX mph - I forget what speed they mention, because the second time I put the top up (more than a year ago) I resolved never to do it again. The top is stored in a special compartment in the trunk. It has a black leather bag that holds it.

"Is it automatic?" Are you kidding?

The top might be useful if you got caught in a sudden downpour and there was an overpass nearby where you could park while you put it up. And I think that is all that Ferrari intended.

The car is strictly for driving on a sunny afternoon. You would never want to go on a long trip with it, since by the end of the day you would be literally blown away. And where would you park it at night? You sure can't lock it, even if you were willing to park a Ferrari on the street. And would you really want to give it to a car jockey?

Nevertheless, despite all the above, it is the most enjoyable car to drive that I have ever owned. The combination of beauty, power, handling and engine song (it has the Tubi exhaust) together with the fact that it's a roadster cannot be matched by any car. None - no Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes, whatever. Nothing even comes close.

Once when I was parked on the street trying to figure out the radio, a kid walked up and asked me "What IS that?" I simply told him "It's the REAL thing." He was completely satisfied with the answer.

Oh, and did I mention that I like it?

White Knight II

Now that I have the hang of this photo attachment business, here's one of my Aston-Martin. It's for sale - any takers?

White Knight II

And here's a close-up of the interior. As you can see, it's stunning.

vraa

i cna't help you with the apple os x problem but i can help you if you need another spare driver

koz4sure

Both Blue cars are lovely.

I suggest there should be a prize for sightings of a Barchetta, any Barchetta, with it's top on. Owners NQ, of course.

Neither of the above offer Distronic. If they did, the minimum distance setting should be 2 feet rather than 150, however.

mookie

That Ferrari is sweet, but not to useful here in the East especially lately with the weather. If I remember the car was like 375+M, quite alot of money and by the judge of the resale market not easy to sell.Either way its very beutiful, Enjoy

White Knight II

Actually, the car was about $280 K new. Barchettas are currently selling for around $360K - $380K, IF they are US spec cars. And they sell fairly quickly, if they are US spec cars. European cars are another story.

vraa

why would they go up? did i miss something crucial here?

blueSL

The problem I have with my more run-of-the-mill Ferrari is that I cannot take it anywhere unless I know exactly where I'm going to leave it. It attracts more attention, welcome and unwelcome, than I would like. But, at least I can secure it by locking it.

With the Barchetta that situation is worse, because it will attract even more attention and it's not easy to secure it. You therefore have to be even more careful where you leave it. I'm sure there's no owner who would not be at least a little bit worried leaving it unattended and open for any length of time.

Bottom line is that this car is the ultimate toy, used just as Ted says for driving on a Sunday afternoon when (apologies to Chuck Berry) you have no particular place to go. If you are going far, or your destination is other than your starting point, you'd better know what the weather is going to be like and where you are going to leave it. I'm also told the body flex with the roof cut off is poor, which may be fine for California freeways but not so great on badly maintained roads. Sorry, it's just a cynical marketing ploy by Ferrari to glamorise one of Pininfarina's poorer efforts in the recent past - the 550 Maranello. The SL, by comparison, has the highest torsional rigidity of any convertible car in its class.

The Aston is made about 25 miles from where I live, in Bloxham in Oxfordshire, and I occasionally see them out on test runs. What lets the car down for me is the hood when down, just a collection of fabric and metal frame dumped at the back of the car. The SL Vario-Roof completely outclasses it.

White Knight II

"Body flex" on the Barchetta is virtually nil. The frame has been stiffened so much that the car actually feels better (stifffer) than the Ferrari 550 coupe I had, which I drove 18K miles before trading it for the Barchetta. A number of people who have driven both the coupe and the Barchetta have commented on the fact that the Barchetta actually feels better than the coupe.

There is a suspicion that the factory tried to select only high-output engines (there is a small variation in HP, even among engines built to identical specifications) for the Barchetta. I'm not sure whether this is the case, or that the fact that it's an open car just makes it feel more powerful than the coupe.

As to open Aston-Martins, and the pile of rods, fabric and clips in the back when the top is down, it looks a little better when the leather cover is on, but even so, Aston could do better. It seems to be an English trait - XKR's, Bentleys and Rolls all share this characteristic. What makes the Aston intesting is the engine - it has a sewing machine-like smoothness when you accelerate that is very seductive. And, while 420 HP is less than what you find in the Ferrari 550 or the SL55, it ain't chopped liver, either. The car will lay rubber (or chirp) in the first three gears, despite the torque converter in the driveline, if the car has the "touchtronic" transmission. (Do I hear the "P" word here?)

And finally, vraa, yes, you missed something crucial here. The Barchetta was a limited production car - only 448 of them were made, and all of them were spoken for before production began. You cannot buy one from the factory now.

blueSL

You're certainly correct about British manufacturers not bothering with a proper roof, even though all the brands you mentioned are owned by non-UK companies - Ford (Aston, Jaguar), VW (Bentley) or BMW (Rolls Royce).

Truth is, manufacturing in this country is in terminal decline and the engineering infra-structure just could not produce a roof as complex as the roof in the SL. German manufacturing remains very strong, their main problem being very high unit labour costs due to the cradle-to-grave social security setup, 6 weeks annual holidays + public holidays and so on.

Most of the new jobs created here seem to be to do with shelf filling in a supermarket, flipping hamburgers, trading goods manufactured elsewhere. Hardly high grade employment. Where's the British equivalent of Sony, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, Boeing? Nowhere... Saw an Aston Martin Vanquish in their London showroom in Park Lane. The panel gaps defied belief....

I think you'll find the SL55 a very attractive, more usable alternative to the Barchetta and the SL600 will provide the same V12 smoothness you get in the Aston while providing better performance, a much more spacious cabin (the Aston is so cramped), and not a Ford switch in sight.

nguyenth

blueSL & White Knight II:
Does anyone (of you) know whether installing a radar (and laser)detector (e.g., K40) onto the front and rear of the car would mess up the Distronics (or Partronics) by any means?! Thanks!