Market Prices 575 Manual vs 575 F1 (conversion costs) vs 550?

Here’s wishing you an accelerated recovery!

Take the time to source and spend the money for OEM. You will not be sorry, and with a rare car like that, I can’t see any downsides to going that way.

 

We ordered ours in 97 and were given no options. No cf trim or seats, no Daytonas, no shields, no pleated shelf. All were not available from the factory. I can’t speak to the CS program, but I do believe that euro cars were offered more options and the early US cars were given no choice. Ferrari was behind in US deliveries and I was told that the factory was not offering any custom orders “for a while”. I know ours was one of the first US ordered cars and was delivered as a 98.

Very sorry about the stroke. My aunt suffered one around the same time so I empathize with the struggle. Good on you and good bless for a speedy recovery. Good on you and god bless you in the process. I bet you cannot wait until you get back in those toys!

I think doing the conversion in the SA makes perfect sense financially and emotionally. Do it! I cannot imagine you would ever regret it.

I agree with you on the 812. They are big! Even the sf90 looks big next to the 550!!

plus the SA is a vert. For those of us that love to drive topless, this adds so much to the experience. It is such a better execution than the barchetta. A 6mt SA with a top,level conversion will be a keeper! I can trade drive by wire for a convertible. lol.

I think this is very solid advice. It’s not a huge amount of money more and it will be a better investment long term I am sure!

 

The Superamerica included all the suspension and steering updates made to the late 575M so would drive a lot like a 2005 575M, except it also included the F1A system from the early 612 (180 ms min shift time vs 220 for 575M, 1st gear selection on F1 panel). Since Steve is talking about an MSW rear anti-roll bar, I am guessing his SA does not have FHP or HGTC or he would not need it.

Steve- Recovery, soon, we hope.

Brad- The Scaglietti options did not appear until the winter 97/98 for all 550s.

 

As others have said, I think this is subjective. As for me, there is no way you could convince me that a manual 575 is better. The 550 is the prettier car (IMHO). I could care less how rare a manual 575 is or what improvements they made (by all accounts the 550 drives well and is fast enough).

 

There’s no wrong, of course…but my take on the aesthetics is that $40,000 (potentially) is a lot to pay for a front bumper

 

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Here are the seats in it. It is a Euro car

 

I just drove @SCantera SA. It don't know the mechanical reasons why, but it handles better than my old 550, at semi-legal speeds. I even liked the F1. But, but, a manual, that would be game over.

Ps His top is perfect and has the fix (a chip) to prevent future delamination. Because I'm not a drop top guy, I didn't use it.

Pss One thing I liked about the SA is it is a stealth car. Everybody thinks it is a Vette. If it wasn't for the shields, 99% of the people out there wouldn't even know it is a Ferrari. I dunno why, but that appeals to me. I like being stealthy.

Psss The car did great on the NC mountain twistees, even the 180 curves. Just go at reasonable speeds and pay attention.

Pssss Like all Maranellos, the brakes need work. It is a heavy car. I like instant on brakes. I don't care for brakes that leave you guessing as to whether they are going to work.

 

u r spot on about the brakes. It’s fine for normal/sporty driving, but anything more aggressive, a car with this much mass and power needs more stopping power. I don’t recall, did all SA come with carbon ceramic, or only hgtc?

 

I don't think Steve's car comes with ceramic brakes.

 

I agree completely. My FHP car (ie w upgraded pagid pads) was 'ok' at best. Fine per 90s standards but marginal by modern standards when aggressively used (IMHO). After bedding/break in, I have been very satisfied with my Brembo front/rear GT kit. So satisfied in fact I had planned to get similar for my 456 only to discover Brembo discontinued the period-correct/OEM+ 355/345 kit and only offer a much newer 380mm design. How disappointing.

Amazing. I personally would strongly favor carbon seats overs FHP. FHP can be retrofitted (for the most part)...those seats are NLA from a long defunct company and easily worth 15-20k to the right buyer. If they were tan (and maybe even black) I would be a interested buyer at top dollar myself!

 

No squealing?

 

None with the Ferodo DS2500 pads they came with after bedding/break in on the 575. Pads have good bite and are still linear unlike the original setup which was all bite and little reserve. Was originally planning on using Porterfield R4S pads (I think they have a little more cold bite, maybe? One way to find out!) on the 456 but that whole project is on hold right now.

 

Easy choice for me. Buy the car with the better looking carbon race seats .


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The brakes suck and the Brembo are great.

I thought the seats were made by Sparco?

 

575 carbon seats = Sparco

550 carbon seats = TiR (now defunct)

 

Ah thanks.

 

Btw, I HATE the r4s pad. If you have not used it beware.

 

I have not, due share your experience. I had several people recommend it but havnt tried myself.

 

I have not tried them on the 550. But I have used them on various bmw m3 street and track cars. With stock brakes and with brembo, stop tech and rotors kits.

These pads are highly recommended in many circles, So when we had the shop, we had a lot of people ask for them and tell me to try them on my track cars. We were ten minutes from porterfield and a dealer, so I did. They were horrible. Not great feel, broke apart easily and would not last deep into a heat cycle. Sure, they felt better than a stock pad, but my expectations and experience are higher than that.

I even tried them on a bmw x5 as porterfield told me they would be good for the weight! Arghh. They came off in 3k miles as my wife had no confidence in them.

for heavy street cars and suvs I have settled on the ebc yellow. Good bite and they last deep into the heat of repetitive stops on a heavy car from speed. I have them on my q7 and 911 and they are going on the 550 next. The other cars I have with big brake kits I try to run ceramic pads if the car is light to minimize dust.

I am very picky when it comes to brakes and pads though, so many might not be as sensitive as I am.

 

I use EBC red on my DD and used EDC yellow on my old Mercedes. Good pads but I think they were harsh on rotors? Nice to find someone who overthinks pads as much as me!

 

Not for me. I like GT seats, not race seats.

 

To each their own

 

Quick story. When I drove Malcolm's Daytona, he mentioned you can always tell an old guy because he tests the brakes early. I've had brakes go to the floor more than once. Most younger guys have not experienced this. This means I prefer to get on the brakes early and ease up as necessary. When I want to stop, I want to stop. I remember once in the 550, I was rocking down a two-lane country road when I spotted a car coming up to the road on my right. I bet I had big eyeballs before I reined in the car in, really big eyeballs.