Cali T HS Package Dealer Retro Fit

Just an uninformed guess here, but magnaride was not retrofitted, and would think this would be just as complicated.

 

Does the HS comprise of the magnaride within the upgrade ?

 

I read it would not retro fit.

I personally don't get HS.

You can buy stiffer springs and put them in your California T.
You can buy a exhaust upgrade and put on your California T.
You can buy ECU and enhance the engine performance.

So why do you need HS?

Don't shoot me... but is every Ferrari owner a professional race car driver? All these people act like they can feel the difference between 17% stiffer springs... roll of the body etc.

I have trouble telling if magnaride is on or off (which can only be turned on in Sports mode).

I have a California T with magnaride. It is a blast to drive, super fast, once the engine and breaks warm up it drives even better.

I have not taken it on a track. I will, but only to drive even faster in a controlled environment.

If you have a California T you like, buy it, put some after market springs on it to make it stiffer. put an after market exhaust to improve sound and performance. Might consider ECU to improve engine.

 

I heard it cannot be retrofitted

 

You make really good points, certainly worth considering.

BUT, one point you did not consider, is that those aftermarket options you names, could cause warranty speed bumps in the future. Not to mention , none of them went through the R&D that Ferrari spent to make sure their package offers a balance between gains and longevity.

And I am pro-aftermarket, just a counter point to consider.

S

 

Good point

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Yes

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I'm not a professional race car driver but I do like to push the cars. The Hs package is noticeably better. It gives the T exactly what it was missing

 

I heard that 4th_Gear had HS retro-fitted to his Cali with no issues.

 

I get it. I was just trying to point out you can improve the performance of a 2015 as well.

I didn't even know you could get the HS already. I thought it was coming in 2017.

I'm at the dealer next week, might see if he has one I can test drive.

thanks for sharing.

 

Yes, that's correct. However, my Cali30 already had Magneride and Magneride is necessary to implement the HS Pack upgrade for the Cali30. The upgrade kit only recalibrates Magneride by using a new Magneride ECU. The actual Magneride shocks were not replaced.

When the HS Pack was originally offered as a build option it was not available as a refit upgrade for non-HS Cali30s. Then a few months later we learned that it would be available but earlier non-Cali30s cannot be upgraded with it.

Not sure if the factory will follow the same route with the CaliT's HS Pack but I would not be surprised if they do.

If you don't drive the car very hard it's not as easy to feel Magneride working. One way to feel Magneride working is if you do a very fast zig-zag maneuver with your car. With Magneride in COMFORT mode, the car will feel sloppy by comparison, slow to respond, sliding a bit when you try to ZAG the car back in line. With Magneride in SPORT mode, the maneuver is crisp, immediate and accurate. The ride will also feel a bit firmer.

Aftermarket upgrades would not be able to address the Magneride.

 

Not sure I follow your comment. Magneride can not be turned on/off in comfort mode. It can only be turned on/off in sport mode. When its on the dash says "bumpy road" (softer ride).

Are you saying run the test in Sport with magneride off, then run in sport with magneride on?

I have to say it's confusing, "On" means its setup for bumpy roads. So is it softer or faster to react to bumps.

If driving with wife I leave in Comfort mode. If driving with myself or friends I leave in Sport mode (bumpy road off). If I actually have a bumpy road I hit the magneride button and the "bumpy road" comes on and it shows magneride on.

I assume in Comfort the magneride is already making the road smooth as possible. You can't turn magneride on/off.

 

Correct ... Magneride is always on ... prior to the Cali T it was soft in Comfort and stiffened up in Sport. On the T you can leave the car in Sport and soften up the Magneride but that's not turning it off, just changing how magnetized the fluid is, which adjusts the ride.

Michael, what was the cost to add the HS package?

 

Hmmm, you may be confused because I was answering Need4Spd who referred to my Cali30 and there is no BUMPY ROAD setting in the Cali30.

I also didn't say "with Magneride OFF in COMFORT mode". I said "... With Magneride in COMFORT mode, the car will feel sloppy by comparison...". Magneride is always working (always ON), either applying softer damping in COMFORT mode or harder in SPORT mode. The BUMPY ROAD button in the CaliT is used to de-couple the Magneride setting from the Manettino setting so you can set Magneride to apply softer damping even when the Manettino is set to SPORT mode.

Magneride is just the brand name for the magnetorheological variable damper system supplied by BWI (formerly Delphi, formerly GM). Magneride settings are not ON or OFF, the settings are actually ranges of variable damper levels. When you select BUMPY ROAD, the Magneride ECU activates the lower range of damper levels. Magneride is always active because it has to maintain a RANGE of damping. Otherwise, if you were to turn off Magneride, the Magneride shocks will behave like shock absorbers with a single shock setting.

 

It was expensive.

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The dealer gave me a 15% discount off the list prices for the parts as well as 15% off the labour but the final bill still came up to $17,939.88 and it was over $20k with taxes. Meanwhile, the HS Pack option would have cost $7,950 when I ordered my car.

After driving the car for a couple of years, I was willing to retrofit the HS Pack just to get the suspension upgrades but it turned out the faster steering also worked better than the original. So it was well worth it for me.

When the HS Pack was originally offered, many of the journos who road tested the car said the non-HS car was better and I foolishly believed them. They were all dead wrong. The HS Pack actually makes the car MORE COMFORTABLE as well as improve performance.

 

Thanks for the insight. Not inexpensive, but what is when you are dealing with a Ferrari? I'm sure it was a great improvement to the car.

 

Holy moley. That's nearly what my first two cars combined cost! 🤑 Gotta love Ferrari...T

 

I only have driven the T. I did research magneride before I purchased it. Yes I know the suspension is controlled all the time. What I meant by "on" is the magneride button you can toggle on/off. As you state this makes the magneride softer. You hit the button and it lights up, i.e, ON.

I was just trying to understand what I should test. Comfort mode verse Sports mode, of Sports mode with magneride set to soft and then set to stiff.

I'm in no way trying to challenge your statement, it's just plan and simple a confusing "button". Before I bought the car it was hard to get someone to explain it clearly.

Cali T with Magneride
- The suspension is magneride.
- In Comfort mode magneride is soft
- In Sport mode magneride is stiff
- In sport mode you can toggle from stiff to Soft using the mangneride button. The button - lights up and the dash shows bumpy road.

I will play with it this weekend swerving back and forth is different modes.

 

good2go, the controls on your CaliT's steering wheel look like this.

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I don't have your owner's manual but with regard to the "Magneride button" you referred to, in the F12 owner's manual this button is referred to it as the "Suspension damping delink button". This term is also used in owner's manuals for other cars that have this button. Personally-speaking, I think it's fine to call it the "Magneride button" so long as people don't view it as an ON/OFF switch but a Magneride setting switch.

The F12 manual also explains what mode the suspension (i.e. Magneride) setting shifts to when you press this button. Please note the "WET" mode of the F12 Manettino is essentially the same as COMFORT mode for the CaliT.

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I highlighted the modes that would be equivalent to those in your CaliT and the F12 manual confirms the suspension setting would either remain in or shift to its COMFORT mode level. (NOTE: AFAIK, the California does not feature a RACE mode setting, only COMFORT and SPORT)

On the same page, the F12 manual also refers to a "Bumpy road" message being displayed on the TFT screen whenever the "Suspension damping delink button" is pressed outside of the Manettino COMFORT mode. I think this is why most people use the "Bumpy road button" term instead of the clumsy "Suspension damping delink button".

The F12 manuals also refers to the "suspension symbol" in the TFT display. alongside the Manettino setting.

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Finally, I want to say that while the Ferrari owner's manuals are not easy to read through as "guide books" they do serve well as reference manuals. So when in doubt, you are more than likely to find your answer in your owner's manual.

Drive safe and enjoy your weekend (test) drive!

 

After getting my Ferrari and not understanding the "Suspension damping button" I read the manual and understood how it works. What's interesting is the title of the paragraph is called "Suspension damping button", then after they refer to button A. I also thought it was called the Magneride button, because that is what they call the option when you by it. I assumed it's on, because it lights up when you push it, i.e., its on.

Now the million dollar question where I need to learn. Do all California T have magneride, I the option is just the "Suspension damping button". Or the magneride option does add better shocks and a damping switch?

I assume the standard California T does not have magneride shocks. If you purchase the option, you get the upgraded shocks and the dampening switch.

So when I said I can't really tell the difference, I was not speaking for magneride, because I have never driven a California without magneride.

I will play around with the dampering button more this weekend.

Thanks.

 

I think magnaride is a stand alone option you need to purchase. HS package is inclusive of magnaride that you don't order it separately.

 

Different questions.

First of all, regarding the issue of options on new Ferraris, the following answer applies regardless of whether it is a Ferrari....... High end new cars are configured with different "base" equipment levels depending on where they are being marketed (sold) in the world.

For instance, parking sensors and NAV systems may be standard for some markets (i.e. countries) whereas they may be optional in others. It is the factory's subsidiary (e.g. FNA) that manages marketing for that part of the world which decides what sort of equipment should define the various base models for the factory's cars. This is often done for marketing reasons, like competing with a competitor's base model for price (like a 488 against 911 turbo) or simply for practical reasons (A/C in a hot climate). I was once a marketing manager for a major international manufacturer (not cars) and this was part of my job.

Therefore the short answer is Magneride is not in every California (ever sold). Some of the original Cali models were not ordered with Magneride - at least one owner of such cars discussed this on FChat before. However, I cannot vouch for the CaliT model and they may all have Magneride as standard equipment (regardless of country location). Perhaps someone else can verify this. An FNA options list for the CaliT would verify this for N. America.

Second, as I alluded to earlier, Magneride technoloy uses "magnetorheological variable dampers" so they are not standard dampers and are much better than standard variable dampers.

Magneride definitely works or it would not be offered on these cars. Some drivers are by their nature more sensitive to how their cars respond to input and how they behave because they are much more conscious to details whenever they drive. So often times if you didn't feel something before, you can also make sure your "antennas are fully extended" when you try again next time.