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Great find Francis and I've been looking for footage from this and Zhuhai from the 96 season for ever. Thank you! I was there that day, and while the F1 GTRs dominated on the day, it was special to watch 3 F40 GTEs in action. This one, #82404, sadly did not finish because of a melted fuseboard if I remember correctly. The others didn't finish either, one blowing a turbo and the other snapping a drive shaft. Regardless, brings back great, great memories. Thank you for the find!
For 5 quid you can download the whole season here, the last 10 minutes is Zhuhai. It was apparently filmed using a potato but still some glorious footage... https://www.dukevideo.com/prd3534DA/World-Sportscar-BPR-Review-1996-Duke-Archive-DVD
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Thanks for sharing, interesting. They look great but they compromise the setup by increasing the ride-height which is not ideal at high speed. Also, I'm certain he has significant rub issues on tight turning and on suspension compression, as that happens in some instances with standard F40 wheels. Bear in mind too that bigger wheels affect your odometer and speedometer readings meaning that the indicated speed is less than what the car is really travelling at and the car's indicated mileage will no longer be accurate. I'm not sure how this particular package affects handling and ride quality, but there'll be a difference and it won't be better than that which the factory wheels afford. I understand this is done to get bigger brakes in, but as Ive stated before, for those who know how to drive an F40 and warm up the brakes on the road, the brakes are just fine. When you mod a car, especially a sports car like an F40, the result is always a compromise.
The rolling radius of the 18" front tyres used is only just under 3% more than the factory 17" and those 18" tyres are actually 3% narrower than stock. At the back the radius of the 18" is 1% less than stock 17" and no wider than standard so would make no noticeable changes to ride height/ revs etc The owner has clearly done his homework 17" tyres in stock size are hard to find these days, I think only Pirelli still supply them, when you go up to 18" then the range of options increases hugely. I have a set of F50 original spec 18" tyres to use on my own project car
You make my point. I understand your basic premise but, Ferrari is the manufacturer of the F40, and any modification to the maker's original optimum specification leads to a multiplication of compromises, and the fact remains that having performed the original design and R&D, Ferrari SpA’s engineers have set up the car with the least compromise for the purpose for which they intended the car to be used. The notion that you can take a Ferrari and improve it is not always true, but I understand that this doesn't stop people from trying.
It's worth noting that Ferrari SpA themselves advise against changing the car's final specification. I give the same advice to all my clients stated from a professional standpoint with both safety and value in mind, two items of not inconsiderable importance.
I agree and its certainly easier to ruin one than improve one without considerable thought and expense but in this case changing to an 18'' wheel changes the rolling radius by less than the depth of the OEM tread ie negligible; the only real difference will using a very slightly shorter sidewall tyre and the pros and cons of that. In any event it's not like it's hard to undo. All manufacturers of just about everything advise the same.
3% is the difference between a new and part worn tyre, if someone can notice that kind of real negative change then they should be working as a development driver. Far worse handling would be found on a car with saggy 30 year old shocks and springs, and rock hard tyres, all retained for the sake of originality. Each to their own, I think it looks even better on 18" wheels with little or no compromise to the car. and so easy to swap back to 17" at any time.
To be clear, I don't think anyone is suggesting that one maintain original complements in perpetuity. The point is, when parts and components are worn and require changing, they replaced with OEM parts, particularly on cars as significant as an F40. These cars are special and should be maintained as the factory intended, I would argue, even in cases where originality is inferior to modern solutions.