WHO HAS DONE THE FULL HS UPGRADE TO A BASE CALI T?

Sorry if this is a repost. I searched and then went back a year in the threads and couldn't find anything.

Has anyone here done the "full" Handling Speciale upgrade package to their California T? I have a 2016 and am interested in both the factory exhaust upgrade (vs. say a Capristo upgrade) and the handling upgrade.

I would also welcome information on what others paid for each side of the package and their satisfaction with one or both of the exhaust / handling upgrades.

And, yes, I am aware that this is not a great investment of dollars at this point with the Portofino now out.

 

I think these may be relevant...

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/california-t-with-hs-retrofit.552330/

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/hot-stuff.551727/

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Helpful links (thank you).

Most of these links reference the Factory sport exhaust upgrade (part of the HS offering for those of us that could not yet select HS as it was not then available).

Same question: anyone do the HS factory suspension upgrade? Thank you for any comments.

 

For what it is worth,the factory says that the electronic changes that come with the HS option can't be added later.

 

Thanks. I heard that also. I consider that a positive as many have commented here that the HS factory gear shifts can be pretty harsh. It probably wouldn't bother me but the not having the electronic changes available seems like no big deal.

Thanks for your message.

 

You can still improve the suspension with appropriate aftermarket springs. While the HS suspension upgrade for the Cali30 included faster ECU control of the MagneRide shocks it also included sport springs of higher spring rate.

The factory used Eibach springs in the Cali30 HS, the CaliT HS may also use the same. I upgraded my Cali30 to HS and then upgraded the HS springs to even stiffer Novitec springs and my HS Eibach springs are now in my parts bin . The Eibach springs worked very well but the Novitec springs gave me even better cornering control with no loss of comfort. My current suspension is slightly more sensitive to pitching if a road has a long stretch of "wavy" surface but the ride remains compliant and the car does not bounce over bumps at all.

The standard CaliT may already use Eibach springs (perhaps someone can confirm this) but you can always determine the spring rate of your standard setup and then upgrade those springs with stiffer aftermarket ones. You are not limited to factory suspension kits. Just make sure you know what the actual spring rates are - do not upgrade blindly and hope it works. It can make for a very expensive mistake. Ferrari does not make their own springs, they buy them from the same aftermarket sources you can buy directly from.

What you do need is a capable and reputable tuner that can supply the parts, perform the installation as well as the inevitable front end re-alignment. There are significant labour costs involved. Sometimes your Ferrari dealer can provide this sort of upgrade, if they are open to using non-factory, aftermarket products.

 

Have you changed anti-sway bars?

 

The HS Pack upgrade included a heavier FRONT anti-sway bar, no change to the rear bar ...the standard suspension's issues only affect the early phases of cornering.

Here's a factory rendering of the parts upgraded in the HS Cali30.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I would agree that that you can certainly get some good aftermarket options, but I will make one suggestion to you OP (or anyone thinking about this type of thing). Try and drive a car with the option, I have spent over 40 years taking apart and redesigning cars, sometimes the outcomes are (for my purposes) great, other times not so great. There are things about a car that are hard to alter and turning a GT car into something it was never designed or built to be (I spent 50K on a 07 M6 but it was never going to be a anything but a GT car). For many people unless you are planning on tracking the car, the changes will be more in your mind (especially if you drive with traction controls still on) than in the car. I have pushed my T fairly hard and found it pretty stable even with the traction controls off. I have Pilot Sports the newest versions on the car, and yes tires can make a huge difference. Mind you I have own/owned some pretty hard core sports cars, and for a GT car the T is pretty good (mine does not have the HS). I mean no insult or disrespect to anyone but I have been doing this kind of thing for a very long time, and for the most part the cars are far more capable than their drivers, and for street driving far more than most need.

 

Almost all California magazine tests mention excess body roll,even with HS. Does any company make a set of stiffer bars?

 

The Cali30 HS option was designed to sharpen the car's responses while still keep it feeling like a sporty GT, to avoid it feeling too harsh. Body roll serves as feedback to the driver when cornering. You can continue to load up the outside and the car will respond quite well at high speeds. I have tested my HS Cali30 against a CaliT, F430s, 458s and even an F12 at Mosport (a former F1 track) and was able to hold my own. Cornering with confidence was not an issue.

My experience with the Cali30 is that it sharpens up significantly once you get it hustling. It changes character. The addition of the HS Pack increases that transformation. Automotive journos are a bit like the fake media, they like to find some easy controversy, easy victim, to show off their "critical" expertise on. It's Hollywood show business. Like movies, they like drama, like to exaggerate.

From personal experience, the flaws in the Cali's handling show up when you try to take corners at speeds higher than pedestrian speeds but not track level speeds. This can happen when you take highway on-ramps, going from slow traffic to fast ramp entry. The Cali can accelerate very fast from slow but its suspension does not respond at the same rate. The suspension simply does not respond properly when you try to set it up for spirited cornering in an instant because the suspension is still rolling along in "lazy" mode, like an athlete who did not do his warming up. This is because the factory springs are too soft. MagneRide shock settings cannot fix that. The car will not set up properly and responsively appropriately for the corner. This is also why I went for the Novitec springs. The result is my suspension is now always ready to respond. Slow springs are a bit like the old "F1" transmissions, you pull the paddle and you wait for the gear shift, which always comes too late and ruins your maneuver. TOO SLOW!

Stiffer anti-roll bars won't fix the problem unless the springs are also stiffer because the suspension ultimately rides on the springs, not the bars. In fact, if you only stiffen the front bar, the outside wheel will load up even more when cornering, the inside wheel will unweigh and lift even more and result in the car pushing more into the corner.