Ferrari's and snow

15 pounds per cubic foot (average). That's a lot of weight on there….

 

Here's what she looks like today. Really beautiful sculpture.

It is just a car. I have driven it in the rain, but not the snow.

It's aluminum and composite...it's not going to rust. The front end already is peppered with chips (anywhere not covered in clear bra) from track time, so I'm not really too concerned about the effects of snow.

It's just a car.

Hope everyone is doing OK in this snow. Set records all up and down the east coast.

Can't wait for snow to melt and get a couple of good rainy days to wash away the salt, and then it's back to using the car as a daily driver whenever the temps are high enough for the tires to not be bricks (about 40-45 degrees or more).

It's just a car. I don't care about resale value....it's not worth much these days anyway (relatively speaking, of course).

I bought it to drive it.
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I salute you.

 

I wouldn't worry about the temp. I've driven my 430 in temps ranging 10-30 many times. Grip is reduced but it is still fine for normal driving.

Dave

 

I love your attitude! That's the kind everyone should have. Keep on driving it and enjoying it to the max.

Great pictures, btw.

 

wow.

 

wow 2...

 

why isnt this car parked in a garage?!?!?!

EDIT: you are my hero

 

I take it the garage has other stuff in it or is under renovation- construction????

 

I don't if I want to Salute your or Smack you! Haha

 

If I had a an F car, Id have a garage.

I garage my Corolla overnight...

 

Have you lowered the suspension, or is that snow weight making you look like you lowered the suspension?

 

No garage - none of the various cars have seemed to mind and that includes various BMw's, Porsche's, Ferrari 355, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, etc. And the F430 couldn't care less. And if I need to put the battery tender on it, I run the line out the dining room window since I don't have an outside socket. But I have a good job, a little money in the bank, an amazing wife, and reasonable health (other than a very sore back from shoveling), so I can live without the garage.

Suspension is lowered

The snow was extremely fluffy and light.

The Infiniti G35x did just fine on the N. Virginia roads on the way into work this morning....most of the roads were down to bare pavement except in Crystal City which is pretty typical.

Life is good.

 

Hmmm.... This is just me but I would buy a house with a garage before a ferrari...

 

AWESOME what amazing pics!!! Good for you

 

Well, we bought the house in 1984 and I bought the car in 2008....such is life.

 

The guy lights up his cigar with a $100 bill

 

A 430 and no garage?

Looks like an apartment or condo. Different strokes...

 

How is this any different than driving in the rain?
Some of you guys need to get a grip - life is larger than a car.

Enjoy! We do get our fair share of snow around here ! eh

 

Okey dokey...how many Ferraris have you seen parading on our snowy, salty, slushy Montreal streets????

 

I think my Modena sleeps better than me!
Inside the garage factory dust cover, seats cover, Steering wheel cover and over a rubber mat and a bettery tender!

This is not about to just a car, is apriciate a great car. I think we all who have a Ferrari can afford to just let the car die. But in my case I think it is a shame to let a car like that get ruin out there.

Just my two cents.

 

How exactly does a car get ruined by being outside? The snow melts and the paint is fine. You probably put more scratches in the paint by putting on and taking off a cover that has even a speck of dirt under it. I used a cover (a very good one) with the 355 and it scratched the paint even if I had just washed the car and the cover. The car gets wet when you wash it and you aren't able to dry every nook and cranny are you, yet it doesn't melt, does it? When you drive it on sunny days does not the sun beat down on the paint and the rubber and the leather and yet it's all fine when you get home, right?

They mass produce (it's all relative, of course) these cars. This isn't the 50's or 60's when they hand-beat the steel and aluminum. These cars are manufactured to be daily drivers. The 355 got rave reviews because it was FINALLY a car from Ferrari that could keep up with Porsche's and not fall apart every few miles. These cars are not finicky and if well maintained (meaning keeping the oil changed and the fluids freshened up, etc....not waxing it every day) will last a very long time because of their materials. The leather on the 355 dash was cheap and rippled with so much as a day in the extreme sun, even with lots of Leatherique, but the 430 is better all around (except the rubberized finish on the switches...what the hell is the problem with Ferrari on that score?).

These are fine cars, but they are not hand-built by artisans like in days of old. Ferrari is in the business to make money and sell dreams....not hand build pieces of art. Those days are long gone....but so are the days when you had to hope your Ferrari's tune up would last until you drove from the mechanics shop to your house.

I just don't understand the silliness about modern Ferrari's...they are just cars. Aluminum, plastic, a bit of carbon fiber for show here and there, and some nice leather....but still just cars.

I have liked Ferrari's since Enzo was still around and loved the exotic hand-built nature of the beasts with all their eccentricities.....but a 430 is a modern car that should last a very long time...even if stored outside.

I take it to the track, I drive it to work, I run errands in it....and I park it outside. I change my own brake pads and fluids, can change the oil but decided that the 355 was the last car I was going to change the oil on myself since taking off the under trays is such a pain. I have taken parts off the car and put them back on...there is nothing magical or all that exotic about the car. The dream is magical, and the mystique is a sales tool, but at the end of the day there are much more capable cars for much less money available to anyone who can afford a 430.

I like the car....but I don't worship it.

And thanks to the questionable business practices at FoW these days (based on my experience with them...your experience may vary and I suggest you treat them based on your own experience, not based on my views or others...your own), and Ferrari SPA lack of customer service, it will be replaced with the McLaren MP4-12C when it is available....and that will sit outside, too....oh what a world, what a world....

Just my opinion, of course.

Now, back to the real world....

 

Amen! Great statement.

 

Good for you sir.

Some people take their pampering of these cars to a level that is almost criminal

 

I was thinking the same thing. $200K car, and no garage?