Hello all... Recently I've noticed on all the F430's I've worked on, have scrapes/scuffs under both sides of the front bumper. I occationaly see slight scuffs on the 360s and Challenge Stradales (Brand New or slightly used), but not as many as on a Brand New F430's. The CS's sits much lower than the 430's. I think the F430's front bumper design extends/protrudes out more, longer, and flatter at the bottom than the 360's and CS's. I never had this many F430 owners asking about skid plates/guards... Any F430 owners have this scapping issue? Thanks! -B-
All the 430s that I have driven suffer from this problem and all the 430s I have seen show these scars. If you track the car it is even worse as the front slams on the tarmac under braking. The cause - in my humble opinion - comes from 2 separate areas: Firstly, under the new European safety regulations the frontal area of a car must be at agiven angle so that if the car hits someone, the injury is - in theory - lessened. As a result, the front "overhang" on the 430 is significantly greater than on the 360. Secondly, in an effort to create a "too comfortably" suspended car, I believe Ferrari went a little too far and as a result do not have an optimal convergence between springs and shocks. All this results in the front bottoming out. Have discussed it with some of their engineers, and while no one is admitting to the problem, I was told that there is a modification coming in the pipeline. When driven hard you will note that the car rolls significantly more than a 360. The race -prepped 430 I tested has, finally, sorted the problem out. Of course, it was not as simple as modifying the front set up and ride heights as it had an immediate knock on effect to the rear set up. Once done though, the car is transformed. Hope this helps.
Cool!!! Thanks Peter, that info helped alot... I can now explain this much better with my F430 clients I thought I was the only one who noticed this problem. "Overhang", now thats the word that I was meaning to use hehe... Thanks again! -B-
the one problem that i have encountered is i lightly scraped the wheel spokes when i went thru. a toll booth.they protrude out more than the 360.there was a concrete curb -did not realize i was that close-van
I put skid pads on my F430 before I took delivery. I have travelled 5000km and have only bottomed on road dips at speed, especially under braking. I have not bottomed on tracks yet, but have only been to 2 tracks so far. I think Peter is correct in his assessment. The car feels quite softly sprung which provides a surprisingly compliant ride on most road surfaces, especially considering the 19" wheels.
That's a little disappointing. I had hoped switching from a CS to the 430 would allow better access to inclined driveways etc. Thanks for the info.
