Stopping at a red light

Hi guys, when I bought my 360 with the F1, I had never driven a Ferrari before so I asked the salesman(not from Ferrari dealership) to show me how to drive it. The one thing he told me was that when at a stop light that never take my foot off the brake unless u are about to hit the accelerator because if u idle at the light with your foot off the brake tht the clutch is engaged and unless u hit the gas I will b burning the clutch out. So now everytime I get to a stop light or stop at a hill I get a little nervous because as soon as the light goes green I hit the gas and go. Is this true or was the salesman wrong? I read in here about how some guys when they hit a red light they don't have their foot on the brake and just idle. This is being stopped at a light with being in first not neutral. Thank u for any input

 

Your salesguy was right. If you are in gear and your foot is not hard on the brake, the clutch will slip.

I always put it in neutral at a light and switch it in gear when I'm ready to go. Basically the same as what I do in a 6speed.

 

If I have an inclination that I'll be stopped for over a minute or so I'll put it in neutral too.

 

Thank u. One last question, when u hit a hill and ur in neutral and then light turns green do u put it in first and quickly transfer to the gas and go? I know how to drive standard but jus gettin use to the f1. Nervous that the car will roll down backward. I bought the F1 cause my wife loved drivin my vette and this way I thought she would drive the Ferrari cause it is auto as well but she gets nervous watchin me drive lol, she says it's too much work.

 

It will roll back, so you have to put it in gear and hit the gas. Let some space develop and move with purpose. If you try to baby it up the hill, it will slip the clutch and barely move. Also if you are backing up an incline, move with purpose. When I first got my 430, I would try to slowly back out of my driveway, but found that it would just stay in one place and slip the clutch. Now I let it fully warm up and move out by hitting the gas aggressively.

Once you get the hang of the F1, you'll love it.

 

One thing I do too is downshift to 2nd and let the car shift into first when it feels appropriate. It's much much smoother this way. imo

 

I always no into neutral. Safer that way in my book.
Reversing up a hill can cause a few issues, so i dont do it.
But like others say, once you get use to it you'll love it.

 

What I do now if I'm stopped on a hill I use my left foot to step on the brake pedal and gas with my right. When l feel the clutch engage and the car wants to go froward I let the brake go and it goes much smoother without the big slip that usually happens with our f1 clutch. I live in sf Bay Area. And downtown San Fran hills is very unforgiving for the f1 drivers.

 

I know the 430's will go from 1st gear into neutral while sitting at a light if you don't have your foot on the brake. I think it takes 30 seconds or so.

Enjoy your car.

 

I have read the above post and dont really understand what you are talking about.
If you are setting still for a long period of time, the car will shift to 'N' (atleast mine will). it does not matter if your foot is on the brake or not, it is how the trans. is programmed. You just put it back into first and take off.
As for slipping, how can your cluth slip if you are not moving, or why would it matter how hard your foot was on the brake?
The clutch will only slip after you applied the gas.... So (as with mine) you have to learn how much gas to apply to keep it from "jumping".

 

when on level ground, shift into first, apply no gas pedal pressure and no brake pedal pressure, if it rolls forward at all on its own, then you must go into neutral at red lights. my clutch is set at 4.2 and the car jumps noticeably when you pull back into first, fun but you cannot let the clutch sit in first or it will over heat at lights.

 

That F1 system is not properly adjusted. There should be no perceptible drag when idling. (Sitting in neutral is still a good idea, but you shouldn't get a jump when you go into gear.)

 

enjoy your 360 and drive it, you will get used to F1 in less than 1 week. If you constantly have a ghost in your mind about wearing out your clutch, you shouldn't have bought a Ferrari. I have used my F430 in all manners, reversing up hills, not into neutral at traffic light and I am still on my first clutch with more than 41000 Km and 45% wear.

Ferrari clutches are not made of pudding, they will last enough to give you full riding pleasure. If you will have to change it once, you will then have a new clutch to start enjoying your car again.

 

Thanks guys, can't wait for the weather to change

 

Saw this video and thought i'd post it here.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0mIWy_0hE0[/ame]

 

Nice video. Thx for sharing.

 

Here'e a nice demonstration. Find a very gentle slope so that when you put the car in neutral and take you foot off of the brake pedal, the car will slowly move backward. Now put the car in 1st gear and do the same thing. The car won't move backward.

Now I understand that there is a hill mode that actually engages the parking brake to help you get started, but I don't know if it would activate on such a gentle slope.

I don't know if that's hill mode or clutch slipping, but I shift into neutral at all but the shortest of stops.

 

My car will move backwards in first gear with foot off the brake. The clutch is disengaged. Why wouldn't it? If it doesn't (or it creeps in first gear with foot off the accelerator) then your clutch is dragging.

 

So according to the video, the clutch doesnt engage until u hit the gas, so he is generally saying that at a red light u can sit in first with foot off brake and the clutch won't engage until u hit the gas, he goes against everything we all said. I have read some posts where the poster said that they sit at the light in gear and foot not on the brake. My car will go into neutral after a bit but my question is when I know the light is about to turn green will the clutch b damaged if u sit there in gear for 30 sec without being on brake or gas. The video is saying that there will b no damage, if that's true then that's awesome

 

OK now... just drive.

 

Think about this for a minute: If the clutch is engaged with the car in gear and your foot on the brake the car will stall. Since you can idle with the car in gear in this matter the clutch must be disengaged. What you are saying is that when you remove your foot from the brake the clutch will then engage without application of the gas pedal? This is contrary to my experience with the car in both neutral and in gear: In neutral it will roll back on an incline and in gear it will not creep.

 

There is WAY too much urban legend around this subject.

Sitting still in N and sitting with foot firmly on the brake is exactly the same from a wear perspective. The throwout bearing is constantly on contact with the pressure plate. When your foot is firmly on the brake the clutch is fully disengaged so sitting in N or sitting in gear with foot on brake is a personal choice but it doesn't make any difference to the car.

Take foot of brake when in gear and the system goes to a 'ready' position. It assumes you are about to go so the clearance drops to near zero. If you don't go (stay still) it will shift to N after 30 seconds.

When in R the clutch never fully engages, slips constantly. That is why backing up a slope is such a bad idea. If you have to do it move with authority and get off the gas.

As noted, if the car pulls forward or jumps when put in gear the PIS is set wrong and you need to visit the shop.

 

Didn't you get the memo? Our cars are made of glass.

 

John- You are correct, those are old wive's tales. Whenever an F1 Ferrari is stopped, in reverse, neutral or 1st gear, the clutch is open, ie the clutch disc is not touching the flywheel. There will be no creep whatever gear you are in unless the clutch is completely worn or PIS is badly our of adjustment. This tale comes from a couple of facts, one that if you sit at a light in 1st gear without touching the gas or brake, the system will automatically select neutral for you after a period of time, normally 90 seconds. And two, if you sit at stoplight in neutral with foot off the brake, the car will not select 1st until you press on the brake pedal. There is even a time limit, normally about 10 minutes, where sitting still in 1st with foot on the brake will cause the system to select neutral. Logical, when you think about it, since in gear, the TCU and Motronic ECU are thinking, he is going to give her the gas at any time now, any time now to oversimplify. In neutral, they are not worried.

The implementation of F1 logic and misunderstandings on how it works leads to many old wive's tales. Another is that the clutch slips continuously in reverse gear. It does not, it is just that reverse in the 360 and 575M is almost as high as 2nd gear and it takes extra clutch slip to get going, just like it does in the three pedal versions with exactly the same transmission and gearing. Easily proven in any large parking lot, preferably downhill. Once engaged, the clutch locks up just like it does in 1st or any other gear.

 

This is fine to do, I assume the car just puts it back into neutral after 30 seconds with no brakes to avoid any accidents. Seems safer to leave it in gear to me, in case you need to get out of the way in a hurry. It's also easy to forget you have it in N and rev like a moron when the light turns green.