My first Ferrari - '08 430 Scuderia

Hello all,

I am super excited with my new car! I got it last weekend and have had a few amazing drives with it already. Here are some pictures

https://www.flickr.com/gp/44496855@N00/310WPi/

My history thus far has been BMW E36 323Ci, Porsche 987.2 Boxster, Porsche 997.2 911 C2S and there's an '05 Lotus Elise in there. Even with those vehicles, this car blows me away. I was expecting the power, the noise, the occasion and the handling to thrill me, but the racecar like driving experience really takes the cake. The turn-in is amazing and the way it goes flat through the corners is something else. And what can I say about the F1-Superfast shifts. I dared to hope it would be like a sequential (drove an F3 at Sonoma once) and it's just as good - better in fact as it has paddles (the F3 had a small lever on the side).

I am eagerly looking forward to all the great driving I am going to enjoy with it!

 

Congrats!
Beautiful car.

 

Great choice! Beautiful car. Congratulation.

 

Superb - you sound like a kid on Christmas morning! Enjoy! It's all part of the experience we have all been through....

Have fun and stay safe.

 

Congrats on the Scud Missle! Beautiful car!

 

Nice...TDF blue?

 

Absolutely gorgeous. I love the color.

 

Very Nice!

 

Great choice. Enjoy her in good health!

 

Congrats on a beauty. As much as I love my 3 pedal 360, It would be gone in a flash for a Scud Missile...

 

Thanks guys. Yes, it is a TDF Blue. I initially thought it should have been darker, but now I think it's perfect. It has depth and if it were darker, it would've been too close to black.

Btw, this is my first automated manual car and I am curious about a couple of things. When stopped for a few seconds, like at a gas station, do you put it in neutral? And I park the car in 1 and end up putting it in neutral before starting. Are either of these practices good/bad/irrelevant?

 

Awesome! Very cool, unique color.

 

Nice!! Love the colour. I was looking for TDF or pozzi blue when I was shopping. Ended up with a nero/nero F430 coupe with no regrets.

 

I reread my post and it is funny I meant traffic lights.

 

Congratulations! Very beautiful car. Nice colour choice.

 

Congrats...scud is a great Ferrari (and even better first ferrari).

Re the shifting, do a search here. Opinions vary on this. I've got two F1 cars and I figure the shifting is fun so I don't drive them to solely prolong clutch life...which means I downshift coming to lights (rather than go to N or let the system do it). I haven't read yet where someone had evidence that not putting it into N causes any wear or harm at stop lights (or gas stations!).

Main thing now is to get it on the track...scud is very hard to beat for a steet legal car at the track. Oh, and ditch the Corsa tires for MPSS or RE-11 or better to get the most out of the car...(assuming its running original tires).

Are those pics at Alice's?

 

You believe MPSS tires provided more performance than the Pirelli Corsas? I know the MPSS is a better all around tire and is better in cold/wet weather, but what about dry conditions? The Corsas are really sticky and, in my experience, provide a heck of a lot of traction.

 

Well, I only have two "data points" (if one can call it that) to support why I think so. One, the Corsa's heat cycle very quickly and get very slippery when they do (ask me how I know!).

More substantially, F430GT (Rad) did a bunch of comparative track time and concluded that MPSS and RE-11 were faster than Corsa. Later events with him aside, he provided a heap of valuable firsthand info on tracking scuds (particularly tires and alignment and cooling). And, I can say the MPSS on my maser have way more grip than I have...errr...cojones...I haven't broken that car loose since I switched.

 

Okay, thanks. Recently replaced my tires with fresh Corsas but will consider alternatives next time.

 

Very nice, congrats! I do shift to N at traffic lights just like driving a manual car.

 

Cool, I will do more research. And anyway, the salesman only made a point of parking it in 1st and nothing else, so I guess I'll just do whatever is more convenient for me.

Yup, the pictures are at Alice's. I've been driving all around 84/35/9 these two weekends.

 

Thanks for your tips. I'll try to "use up" these tires quick (first track day coming up soon - 24th @ Sonoma) and switch to MPSS. Anyway, I mean to take it easy the first few trackdays to learn the car.

A couple of guys I was chatting with Alice's mentioned that their friend's MP4 spun off the track on those tires as they got slippery after heating up quickly. Something similar happen to you?

 

MPSS will get greasy with two much pressure. I run 32 cold on my M3 which will get you to 38-40 hot. 40+ and they get greasy.

You can also overdrive them so be careful - they can chunk if you do so.

MP4 is so computerized, I would run nothing but what McLaren recommends in terms of tires and pressure.

 

Congrats and welcome. I love those Scuds! Meanest rear end out there. Enjoy every minute with it and don't forget to check on her in the garage when not using. You will have to pinch yourself from time to time to make sure your not dreaming. I still do that.

And in regards to the F1...I treat it as a stick. Downshift when coming to lights to second gear then I coast the rest in neutral. Then I keep it in neutral at the light.

 

Congratulations! Gorgeous gorgeous Scud.

The tires will definitely heat cycle and when they do they are useless. IMHO the MPSS is really close to the Corsa (its old tech) when both are new; but the MPSS will last a lot longer and is a better street tire because of this.

As to the transmission, I would advise you just leave it in gear at lights. I don't think it makes any difference to the system's wear and tear and even if it does just a bit, if the car behind you is not stopping, its better to be able to get into motion right away without having to remember to put the car back into gear.