[ .......yet the biggest worry I'd have with an F430 is some idiot in their $500 winter beater sliding into me.[/QUOTE] +1 It's usually not you that causes the accident in the snow, it's the other guy driving too fast. And with a 430 can you imagine the attention you would get from other drivers, not looking where they were going but staring at the Ferrari? Not for me.
I love posting this pic. Having said that, I'd never do it again (heck, I got caught out on accident with this pciture as well) Like someone else said, the car turns into a sled. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yea, I'm thinking it would be better to stay home than to drive your Ferrari in the snow. Never done it but I did have a 911 TT and I got caught in an early snowfall and it was nearly deadly (no winter tires).
Driving any car with summer tires in the snow is a recipe for disaster. You may as well drive drunk. Tire rack doesn't show how bad summer tires are in snow just to sell tires, its reality. When summer tires get below 40 degrees or so their value for grip pretty much goes out the window. You add rain and wet leaves and its even more dangerous. If you plan to drive in the winter go with a good set of snow tires. Bridgestone Blizzaks LM60's come to mind. Also you will want to try to find narrower rims and tires. Then increase the sidewall size as your narrow the width of the tire. Narrower tires are better for snow use, (google for a rally car in the snow and I swear those guys are running on 185 width tires) This site is helpful for tire size calculations http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html For an F430 assuming you're running: 225/35/19 F 285/35/19 R I looked around on tire rack and there appears to be no real options. The Pirelli Winter 240 Sottozero make it for the rears but no one makes a 225/35/19 for the front. If you can put 18's on in the front you may have a shot if you can find some other rims. (which I doubt as you wont clear the calipers)
...and if it is your car, and your choice, more power to you. As far as driving the Ferrari in the snow, just get a suitable set of snow tires and go for it. In countries outside of the United States these cars are driven in snow, rain, and other conditions that for some reason Americans refuse to do. A car is a car. Have fun with it. Now, before anyone jumps on me and says, '...easy for you to say...', I will point out that I practice what I preach. Every sports car that we have owned I have driven in the snow. This includes (3) NSXs, (2) 911s, (1) Esprit S4, and...believe it or not...(1) 348ts. Yes, the Ferrari went in the snow and did not melt. Just needed the right tires.
Am I the only one who's getting the feeling that several of you guys who have been driving your Ferraris in the snow, didn't put snow tires on the car!? If that's the case, no wonder the car has been unmanagable.
A 430 is not meant to be a garage queen, it was made to be driven! This guy isn't afraid to take his MC12 out in the snow. (one of my favorite videos) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8454665654910570394#
people used to tell me that about my e55 as well. with nokian hakkas the thing is superb in the snow. I bet the 430 with the right snows wld do fine.
I tried driving my F430 in snow living in Utah. Painful experience: Just getting out of my own driveway to the road takes 5 minutes or more. After getting on the road, the car would only go about 5 to 10 MPH with ASR active on flashing most of the time. For a regular 10 minutes drive on my Audi S4 will be a good 30 minutes plus drive on the F430 yet with all the worries about not crashing the F430..... DEFINITELY NOT WORTH IT.... Alex
The problem with driving a car like this in the snow really won't be the tires you use, even though that will be a factor. The stock tires will do nothing but spin, but you'll still slide around a lot even with the best of winter tires, possibly even studded ones. The problem is that for these cars, the tires are so wide, and the car weighs too little, there is less mass per square area in contact with the road. A good winter car generally has a high mass/square area in contact with the road. Any light car with fat tires is going to be bad in the the snow... even a 911 (any of them), or a Lamborghini. You may manage to get around, but it will be a bad idea. Winter tires throw up a lot of grit at their fenders anyway.
You will have no traction at all. If you are going to drive it in the snow. Make sure your insurance is up to date and use chains. Post a photo! I never saw a Ferrari with chains. LOL
Winter tires make all the difference. The car has a limited slip and a snow mode. It should be fine. The only limiting factor I see is the ground clearance.
I drove my 360 6-speed in 1-2" of snow once. It was uneventful. Seems like it did fine to me, but I'm no ice/snow driving expert. Just seems like a normal car. I had some gumball Pirellis on there at the time, I'm just that wasn't helping.
Last year, I followed a white F430 driving through the harsh Chicago snow. It seemed to handle it quite nicely.
If you are truly serious about driving your F430 or any car IMHO in the winter where low temperatures exist -- snow tires, are a MUST. The stopping distances when braking on bone dry pavement will have you convinced once you try cold temperature braking. Haven't driven my 430 in the snow (the nannys on F1 seem a bit intrusive when in the snow setting - even on dry pavement), but my 997S is one of THE most fun cars to drive in the snow in the winter. The engine over the rear wheels with a good set of snow tires is amazing. I bought a set of 19" Pirellis, and another set of 19" wheels so that I didn't have to worry about ugly looking wheels for 25% of the year's driving -- worked like a charm. I got through 5-6 inches of snow on unplowed streets last winter with mine with no problem, and had a blast doing it. The best was the look on a guys face when driving up a local ski hill where the Nissan pathfinder he was driving was in a construction ditch. Pulled over to help push him out -- and noticed his near bald "all season" tires. He couldn't believe a 911 on 19" tires was going up the hill. Braking is amazing -- turns a car that is downright dangerous (with Z rated factory summer tires) to a really fun toy that you can enjoy throttle driving rear end dynamics with. (With a really good set of winters) Image Unavailable, Please Login
You could probably buy yourself a used 911 C4 for the money you might spend on repairs after crashing your 430 in the snow.
I can't see why it would be an issue, but driving in snow without winter tires with any car is pure stupidity. A friend of mine drives his Maser QP as a DD in the snow and it works just fine. You are probably going to get stuck if you end up driving in deep snow, but that's just how it is with any low car. Here's a video of a guy from Norway that drives his F430 Spyder in the snow, he says it works great (on winter tires of course, it is illegal to drive on summer tires in the winter in Norway). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG1CRw5SnHw
