Are there skid plates on the bottom of the F430? | FerrariChat
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Are there skid plates on the bottom of the F430?

Discussion in '360/430' started by striker1, Feb 5, 2008.

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  1. striker1

    striker1 Rookie

    Jan 26, 2008
    44
    San Diego County, CA
    #1 striker1, Feb 5, 2008
    After a little over a week of ownership, the rain finally cleared up and I got a chance to take the F430 Coupe out on my favorite winding road. The road also has a number of elevation changes and mildly bumpy surface in some spots. At one point, say roughly 90 mph at the bottom of a small hill and under moderately heavy braking, I heard what sounded like pavement touching skid plates near the front of the car. Do our cars have skid plates underneath? Is there anything else that could actually touch pavement under spirited driving conditions like I described?

    P.S. It appears that the previous owner never even heated up the brakes sufficiently to bed the pads. That issue has now been resolved. :)
     
  2. rberg32

    rberg32 Karting

    Mar 14, 2007
    245
    #2 rberg32, Feb 5, 2008
    There are only skid plates on it if the dealer or customer installed them.. most of them I have seen installed around here are plastic and blend in nicely with front edge of the bumper.. I had some aluminum plates installed on one of my older 430's and didn't look as nice.
     
  3. SrfCity

    SrfCity F1 World Champ

    Nov 1, 2003
    10,142
    Orange County, CA
    #3 SrfCity, Feb 5, 2008
    Just take a look to see what you hit. If it was the underside of the bumper(with no plates) you'll see big white scrapes. It was probably something else like the body, under tray.
     
  4. PCH

    PCH F1 Rookie

    Apr 7, 2004
    3,007
    #4 PCH, Feb 5, 2008
    As rberg32 stated no skid plates equipped by the factory. What typically scrapes on the 430 is the right and or left underside of the front spoiler, (fiberglass) which would be the area covered by skid plates.
    Look here.....http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168520&highlight=skid+plates
    Should the rear scrape, this would typically be the diffuser blades.
     
  5. striker1

    striker1 Rookie

    Jan 26, 2008
    44
    San Diego County, CA
    #5 striker1, Feb 6, 2008
    I'll check it out this morning. It did not sound like a hard impact or anything like that. Just a very slight scraping noise.
     
  6. fc2

    fc2 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Nov 2, 2006
    5,263
    Silicon Valley Ca.
    Full Name:
    Frank C.
    #6 fc2, Feb 6, 2008
    Skid plates are very definitely not included on the car as delivered from Italy. You need to have the skid plates added. I opted to have my done by FoSV before I took delivery of the car.

    Twice now, driving through the hills in our area, the front end of my car hit the street. Once lightly, the other time pretty hard. Thankfully, the skid plates took all the abuse.

    Since you have a 430, be sure to get the big, boomerang style plates which will protect a much bigger area under your car's nose.

    Frank
     
  7. striker1

    striker1 Rookie

    Jan 26, 2008
    44
    San Diego County, CA
    #7 striker1, Feb 6, 2008
    I looked underneath this morning. It appears I have ABS plastic skid plates already installed by the prior owner. I can see they did their job yesterday by the big scrape in the plate at the right front corner.

    Thanks all for the comments.
     
  8. andybm3

    andybm3 Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 12, 2003
    237
    USA
    Full Name:
    Andy
    #8 andybm3, Feb 6, 2008

    Agreed - I had the plates installed by FoSV and they really work, a must have for any F430
     
  9. fc2

    fc2 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Nov 2, 2006
    5,263
    Silicon Valley Ca.
    Full Name:
    Frank C.
    #9 fc2, Feb 6, 2008
    Excellent news.
    Take care,

    Frank
     
  10. striker1

    striker1 Rookie

    Jan 26, 2008
    44
    San Diego County, CA
    #10 striker1, Feb 6, 2008
    Thanks Frank. It is really great the way guys on this forum help out.
     
  11. superyota

    superyota Formula Junior

    Mar 29, 2004
    351
    Newport Beach
    #11 superyota, Feb 6, 2008
    I am not a big fan of skid plates. The 430 has very tight clearances under hard braking ect and the skids can touch the road in those conditions. There is a reason ferrari doesnt install these from the factory. My 2 cents
     
  12. PCH

    PCH F1 Rookie

    Apr 7, 2004
    3,007
    #12 PCH, Feb 7, 2008
    Completely absurd.
     
  13. Ricambi America

    Ricambi America F1 World Champ
    Sponsor Owner

    Dec 7, 2003
    16,451
    Winston Salem, NC
    #13 Ricambi America, Feb 7, 2008
    Huh? If you're braking hard enough or turning sharply enough for the nose to dive and touch the earth, something has gone really wrong in the setup, components, or operation of the car.

    That seems really unlikely -- but I'm open to learning something new. Please explain.
     
  14. charliebronson

    charliebronson Formula 3

    Dec 5, 2004
    1,244
    Full Name:
    Charliebronson
    #14 charliebronson, Feb 7, 2008

    Dont have a 430, but above reasons are why I have skid plates installed. Im not an aggressive driver but I have scraped my front bumper while going fast and the road wasn't completely flat. Dont know if spare and all tools and charger in the trunk had something to do with it or if it was the road. However, Id rather have the plates than the bumper scraping the road or curb or whatever. I dont see a it being more hazardous than not having them. The way I see it is that the factory dont install them because its an added cost. However, I wouldnt be surprised to see it as a factory option in the future.

    -Peter
     
  15. charliebronson

    charliebronson Formula 3

    Dec 5, 2004
    1,244
    Full Name:
    Charliebronson
    #15 charliebronson, Feb 7, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  16. striker1

    striker1 Rookie

    Jan 26, 2008
    44
    San Diego County, CA
    #16 striker1, Feb 7, 2008
    I don't think there's anything wrong with the setup. The front corners are a little softer than I expected and the front lip is quite low.

    In my case, it was a pretty unusual set of circumstances. It was a very high speed downhill that had a bit of a dip at the bottom and an irregular surface. I'll take that section of the road just a bit different next time (brake a little earlier or a little later). There was just enough rub to upset a very meticulous "concours-type" owner (not me), but not enough to upset the chassis nor an enthusiast.
     
  17. fc2

    fc2 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Nov 2, 2006
    5,263
    Silicon Valley Ca.
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    Frank C.
    #17 fc2, Feb 7, 2008
    Hey Daniel,

    In my case(s) I was driving in the hills around Skyline BLVD where there are some pretty drastic surface changes, roads/bridges in need of repair, really sharp up-sweeping hair-pin corners etc etc.

    It was on these road I was able to hit the front bumper of my factory-height, skid-plate equipped F430.

    Definitely not an equipment problem as I've not -- yet -- scraped on a driveway.

    Take care,
    Frank
     
  18. TimF40

    TimF40 Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2003
    1,035
    Seattle/Bay Area/NYC
    Full Name:
    Tim
    #18 TimF40, Feb 8, 2008
    I put skid plates on my new F430 because the suspension seemed "soft" compared to even my 360s.

    I'm glad I did because I scraped on my first drive going around a corner with a slight dip at relatively low speeds.

    Tim

     

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