My EAG conversion to DrS conversion

I recently picked up a later model Gallardo with plans to convert it. I'm going to keep it the flappy gearbox since it is a blast. I wish I could drive a 2008 or 2009 F1 F430 since my 05 was alright but I wanted more involvement w the car. Pretty sure the gearbox is similar.

What is interesting is how Auto on the F430 F1 is fine but I did not enjoy the flappy manual mode. The Gallardo flappy manual mode is great but their Auto mode is not.

 

you can always sample mine since you’re close.

 

The Superfast II might be the pinnacle or close to the pinnacle of the single clutch gearboxes. That might be the only single clutch paddle gearbox i would consider (because Scud) but i feel very done with the single clutch autos. The popularity of the conversion industry and the market price of manuals in general confirm my position on this.

 

I drove the F1 for years before converting without any mechanical issues and have driven several single clutch autos. Same story with all of them. If i didn´t go ahead with the conversion on my 430 i would probably have driven something else now. Converting was the best decision ever and i strongly recommend it to anyone that´s on the fence.

 

I tried to get my oldest to lean stick. I paid for a driving school and I don't think they did a good job. They had him convinced you downshifted shifted when the car shook and stuff like that. I think they were used to teaching how to drive a piece of crap. The 1st time he took the GT3 out for a drive around the neighborhood I got a call 5 minutes later to meet him as he couldn't get the car moving from a standstill. Once he stalled, he kept panicking and stalling. I do want to try to get him some sort of manual transmission racing school but he has finished college and is working now so I am not inclined to pay for it. My youngest is just starting to drive and does want to drive a manual, but in an emergency, if I'm out of town, he or my wife can move the Ferrari since it's an F1. I am actually thinking of buying him a cheap JDM Daihatsu Hijet to drive to school, and that would be a manual. My wife will never learn to drive a manual and has not desire to.

 

I just acquired a nice but older 2008 Mini Cooper S with a 6 speed. My 21 years old daughter asked me to teach her how to drive a stick in that car. It took 2 days, she can drive it now. It just takes a cute car to get them motivated.

 

I learned in a parking lot with an old floor shifting truck. My good friend's dad was very patient.

 

Old Honda Accord for me with a very patient family friend.

 

I can confirm. Trev & Sam just flashed their magic on my F1 360.

 

Thank you for posting this. I had a similar experience after driving a converted car at an event.

I have an OEM gated F430, and when I posted about the differences in a FB group, a few of the EAG fans as well as someone on the EAG team passionately dismissed my comparison.

It’s a matter of taste as you suggest, as the owner of the converted car loved his, but not sure what he truly thought after he drove mine.

The click-clack on my gated 430 is no where near as pronounced as it was on my previous 355. My 430 has a black phenolic spacer with the shift gate pattern under the metal gate that prevents hard contact with the metal gate. Still get the clack on second and 3rd gear though, not as much on 4th-5th.

My 2006 came with a factory shift ball with the Cavallino on it, so my metal shift gate has the shift pattern.

Hope you enjoy yours! At our last event I was doing everything I could in keeping up with a 458 and loved every minute of it.

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Good points @shifter

I have been offering both the 355 (classic) style "click clack" on Dr S shifting kits from https://gatedconversion.com/ or the more quiet version of clicking (similar to the last F430 and other lats manual Ferraris). 100% of the orders chose the pronounced "classic/355" click clack so I'm just going to stop offering the less clacking version in the future.

You are correct about the spacer - if you want a clacking one just ping me through PM.

But that's not a sufficient change for drivers with EAG parts, as reported by those who have tried the plate change, there are a few more details to address.

Speaking of EAG - from my research I see that EAG offered conversions based on various parts:
- OEM parts, owners of those converted cars love them, love EAG, and speak very positively about the company and defend it in case of any arguments. Those conversions should work and last just like the OEM cars
- All (or almost all) EAG made parts. There are (unconfirmed) reports that the latest parts have everything fixed, but a number of owners of the earlier conversions are not satisfied and are looking for upgrades
- Combination of OEM and newly made parts - your mileage (and level of happiness) may vary

In any case, I hope most people who converted one way or another don't regret going gated, but anyone who is unsure about the future may just simply choose to keep all the F1 parts for a future reversal. I have never heard of anyone converting from gated to F1, but who knows what the future may bring

 

always wanted to convert my 360 F1 to F1 SF-II, never going to happen I guess.

 

never too late

 

If you rebuild your gearbox to 430 Scuderia spec it's possible. Not huge amounts of differences but enough to prevent failures when shifting at SF-II speeds. Already looked into this and could adapt the faster shifting tcu software to work why my custom firmware but you need upgraded selector and other bits.

Too niche at this point for me to pursue further but interestingly I noted I could make it shift even faster however to accomplish this an entirely new gearset would need to be manufactured and costs quickly escalate.

This just reminds me of upgrades for ion sensing in the 360.. yes I could do this too (about 5% gain to be had overall) but yet again the amount of cost involved Vs gain makes it difficult to justify. And the same for e-diff, or even manetino. Actually the driving mode switch is about the only one I could easily do on a 360 without crazy costs being involved..

 

I spend somewhere around $5 to achieved this cable end result.

 

My 2006 F430 had rose joints on the cable.

 

I've been following these conversion threads for a while. Even though I have been driving stick shifts all my life (76 years old now) and my current DD is a 6-speed BMW 228i, both of my Ferraris have been F1, and I love driving and tracking them - a 1998 355 F1 Berlinetta for almost 9 years and currently in my fourth year with my 2005 F430. What I don't like about the F1 is the added complexity of the system, and the possibility of very expensive repairs, which fortunately I have not experienced (touch wood). In the event that I do have a major ($$$) problem with the F1 system, the conversion to full manual is becoming an attractive option.

 

I have also been contemplating a manual transmission swap, but is it really ditching the F1 system though? I mean, removing everything with an E-diff delete leaves you with an open differential in a mid engine 480hp car. So, for me, that's not an option. I guess the question then becomes does it make any of the F1 system less likely to need repair if you're only asking it to operate the differential and not gear changes?

 

Incorrect, gated conversions done properly do NOT get rid of the E-diff on the F430 or any other models equipped with it.

Personally I think it's not something I would ever do, that is to get rid of the E-diff function entirely unless you where replacing it with a mechanical LSD.

 

I completely agree with this, and that was my point. Most posts that I see are “when my F1 system acts up I’m going for a manual conversion”, hence my question of what is the difference from a cost/maintenance/reliability perspective (if you retain the E-diff)?

 

from a maintenance point of view, the e-diff accounts for very little of the problems of the whole hydraulic system.
So, keeping the e-diff is a no-sweat.