Charlie- So buy one.
For what it’s worth I was a DIEHARD 550 fanboy in my teens and twenties - never could even fathom getting a 575 when old school Ferrari perfection existed in the 550. I openly derided the 575 headlights as having “cataracts” due to the lack of contrast between the bulb housing and the hood. Then, I actually drove one and a lot of my hype bubble was popped. I still love the car, and I still think it has an edge over the 575 in styling and nostalgia. BUT… After driving a 575 even with the flawed F1, the improvements made to the car make a significant difference. Throttle by wire, better fit and finish in the interior, more torque, xenon bulbs, nicer sounding, the list goes on - the car actually felt befitting of a 150k price tag. Granted, I drove a bottom of the barrel 550 and a mint 575 so I don’t want to be unfair to it - I’m sure one can be extremely happy with a 550. But for someone like me who values interior quality and performance greatly, the 575 emerged as the clear winner. It’s the thinking man’s Maranello imo (yes I know that sounds arrogant but I have dedicated more mental energy deciding between these two chassis than you can imagine). I will be taking delivery of my new 575M soon.
I have always agreed on the interior point but have not heard many other people say that. Better in the 575 in my opinion, but neither of them suck
The 575 is to 550 as the 328 to the 308. But the gap between 575 to 550 on paper is less and the 575 did not get better looking. I have never driven a 575 but I am not impressed with a stock 550 suspension. In fact I actually do not like it and I changed them twice on 2 different 550's.
For me the 575 is more in need of a Fiorano or HGTC package - the engine (and the F1 gearbox) deliver more performance (more than the modest 30 hp increase would let think) than on the 550, but the platform is basically the same (brakes, suspension) so whereas the 550 offers a relatively balanced proposition, the 575 can be overwhelmed by its power. My 575 was a 2002 though, so later models could have been improved. In my case, whereas my 550 was basic and I was happy with it, on the 575 I installed big brakes kits and HGTC suspension. On the other hand, a big improvement on the 575 was the "electronics" management; on the 550 driving on track with the ASR was unbearable but on the 575 the "Sport" mode acted like a rudimentary "manettino", moving the limits of the ASR (on the 550 the Sport mode only changed the suspension settings IIRC).
The ASR on any car is useless IMO. As a club racer and occasionally doing trackdays in the 550 the first thing I do is turn off the traction control in any car. If part of the point of going to the track is to go fast on track, traction control is just going to slow you down.
I'm not completely sure of that, if it's well calibrated it tells you where is the limit - considering braking traction is not efficient, you then try to always reach the point just before the ASR goes into play (like you could do with the ABS). With more modern cars the TC relying on advanced computers and software might even be smarter than a driver, but then there's no fun.
Definitely agree on the suspension point, which is the first point I will address on my 575. I love the cushy GT ride but the dive and squat under hard acceleration is comical. I’m on the hunt for HGTC springs currently. The computer/electronic upgrades on the 575 were a lot more significant than I previously understood. I didn’t realize the 550 didn’t have knock sensors or individual ignition coils for example. The 550 comes out of factory much better optimized however so the performance gap stock for stock isn’t that big. But if you uncork the 575 with proper headers and a remap, some people are reporting over 500whp, which is astonishing, and it’s thanks to the better electronics. I love the idea of doing this with mine at some point.
you said it"unbearable"....that means intrusive and not functional. That's because early generations of TC limits were too low. On a race track I am seconds faster a lap with not TC. That means that the limit is much higher than the TC is allowing. If a driver can lap quicker than TC then TC is hindering the driver. So far I have not been in a car on track where I was faster with TC. I'm just an average club racer not mario andretti. A good racer could just spank TC. Streetcar TC was made for us unwashed masses. It's a baby sitter not a performance aid.
Yes the TC on the 550 is that early kind that’s scratching its chin and thinking about what’s going on for a while, drinking a cup of tea while you deal with what’s happening. The 575 is much more like a 430 or 458 with e diff and manettino on Race which just cut in a tad and let you do your thing. that’s on the road. I don’t think many people take a Maranello on the track though I know FBB does and respect that.
Yes. I personally feel the 575 is a lot of fun to drive when driving it on the edge. You can steer it in/correct it yourself. When I compare it to my 992.1, it will adjust itself - right before you even realise the need to. The computers in modern cars are too fast and it takes some of the fun out of driving. Not that it’s not fun to drive, it is. The point being, that the 575 is more demanding of you, and thus is more rewarding. You know it can bite your head off, but it won’t as long as you dance it and use its balance. While in the Porsche you would try extremely hard to throw it off balance.
