F1 vs. a 6 speed

You can find my thoughts on F1 vs. 6-speed along with the thoughts of a hundred others by going up to "Search this Forum" and typing in "F1 6 speed". Enjoy. (Its the most asked question on FerrariChat.)

 

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I'll summarize the consensus view for you...

Everyone just loves the F1. You'd have to be a Luddite to still want a "6-speed"!

I'll summarize my view...

Don't be yet another lemming -- unless you've grown up on video games, get the 6-speed!


And, no, you can't turn off the passenger air bag in a 360 and Ferrari specifically advises against carrying a child passenger.

 

Robert,

Blond or Brunette?

Tall or short?

Get the picture? Make the decision yourself. Then post your picts. Good luck, but this is just personal preference and you have to decide yourself.

 

Drive both and decide for yourself.

As for airbag shut-off, the F430 has it, but not in the 360.

 

For some reason every time this comes up, it seems to bring out a very divided, borderline angry debate...

That said, after owning a Stradale i can tell you for sure my next F-car will have......

6-speed manual!!! ABSOLUTLEY NO DOUBT.

 

Well, if it's okay for everyone else, I guess it's okay for me.
After driving both the F1 and the 6-speed, I am absolutely sold on the 6-speed and absolutely not sold on the F1.

 

This topic has been beaten to death, but it is a good topic nonetheless. I've driven both as most of us have, and although I'm not the expert, my personal thoughts are this......

Get the F1 in your a tech-junkie. The shifts are fast and crisp. It absolutely makes you feel like a better driver, and I don't care what anyone says, I don't feel removed from the driving experience, you just now can focus on other areas.

Get the 6-speed if you want the "pure" experience. I say "pure" in the sense that you're still working the engine, you still are gonna screw up every now and then and have to correct yourself. It's absolutely fantastic.

If I had a 360 and F430 in front of me right now, I'd take the 360 6-speed and F430 F1 cause the F1 is post-Stradale and Enzo and is apparently pretty refined.

 

Here's an easy answer:

Go test drive both cars. Then, you'll know which tranny you like best!

SURPRISE!

 

I'm with you.Back to manual

 

I have a cambiocorsa Maserati. My next car (F355 or 360) will be 6spd for sure. The F1 transmission is fun for maybe an hour and then it's just "wow where is the clutch"

 

I have both.
I love the 6-spd, but the F-1 is better for shifting and turning.
It allows you to keep both hands on wheel and turn, while shifting.
Yes, you should have shifting done before turning, but it doesn't work that way on the road like it does on the track.
The 6-spd is just a wonderful thing, I go thru the pattern rarely touching the gate, and it feels like a comfortable shoe. The F-1 does not feel that way, and I still do not like the slip moving off from rest that is inherent with that box.
The Auto mode is OK for heavy traffic, far better behind a 12 than an 8. Torque makes the difference. The QP is awful in auto mode, lags/jerky. Killed a sale of one to my wife, despite her loving the car otherwise. Her comment was "I'd have to kill the guy who engineered this".
The 12 isn't so jerky, but it does not downshift to first soon enough in stop and go, so you end up starting in 2nd, unless you manually shift to 1st. Defeats purpose of Auto mode, I think. Plus, Auto is anathema for a Ferrari.
Sport mode F-1 with a 12 is wonderful, the way it should be.
Get what you like, drive them both. My 360 F-1 was a blast, but you have to drive the cr@p out of them to really get most out of it. If you cruise more, a 6-spd will probably do for you.
FWIW

 

wrong answer 911. are you a 911 fan 911Fan ?

giddy up

 

blonde , tall , 36-24-34

giddy up

 

did you track the car??? if not then hopefully it has gone to a better home and is being TRACKED HARD

giddy up

 

I think another way to look at it is: do you see the F1 system as an automatic or a manual?

An argument can be made that it is either one. Gut feeling, what do you think?

If you think its a form of automatic then I think based on your other comments you should get the 6 speed.

I prefer stick shift, but I have lived with F1 type vehicles and I think I may go for the F1 system just because this is how they really developed the car- but I will be on public roads and I can shift well- I am torn too...... these are the good problems to have!

Best regards,
Jerry

 

In my opinion, having gone through this decision process as well, if you “take a test drive” in both, you will probably pick the 6 speed.

For me, the F-1 really took some getting use to. It has it’s quirks. My first drive was less than inspiring, at least for me, as I just did not drive it as well as its capabilities. It was not in my comfort zone as the 6 speeds that I’ve had before, and now.

But I decided not to give up on the F-1, and after several more test drives in the F-1, still without being totally comfortable, I bought my 360 F-1.

Now, after the better part of a year, I’m very pleased with the final decision. It shifts very precise, and after some experience with it, you can drive it in any circumstance with comfort. It’s very impressive in most every circumstance. (maybe a little clumsy in tight parking situations)

But like most here on the forum seem to agree on, the final choice is up to the individual, but I don’t think one 10 minute test drive, if it’s your first time in a F-1, tells you much of anything.

Good luck on your decision.

 

Get the 6 speed. Unless you are really intent on racing and getting moderately better lap times, the 6 speed is more fun (if you enjoy all the aspects of driving). To each his own, but this is just my $.02.

BT

 

You're pretty sure of yourself, eh? I tracked my stradale hard all summer last year. I got my new 430 with a 6-speed. The F1 is cool, but it's not as fun for me. Also it's a bit of an exaggeration that the F1 is faster on a track. Practially speaking, the ONLY time it is faster is when downshifting while braking hard. And then, only if you are not talented enough to heel-and-toe. For an inexperienced track driver, the F1 is faster and easier. I personally want to control the clutch and transmission myself, and I don't feel I'm paying any penalty, and I'm enjoying the car more.

 

Ray,
I'm with you. The track is where a driver can really have fun with a stick! What satisfaction can there ever be in having a computer execute perfect shifts? Plus, you are right, that downshifting happens under threshold braking, no time lost there. Maybe a very small amount of time lost on upshifts, but we are not racing anyway, so what's the poinit? 3 pedals rule! More fun for 10K less!

Dave

 

to real track goers it's the 1% things that matter most . every time there is a track meet , i think you will find everyone wants to come away with a better lap time

err the CS is all about track focus...that's the hype ferrari is pushing. i know my GT3 is quicker around some tracks but i enjoy the paddles just as much. poor old die hard porsche fans will cringe with the 997 cup car having a sequential box. why did porsche go that way? is it because it produces a faster lap time? i'm not sure but me thinks it has something to do with it

giddy up

 

Me thinks it has more to do with marketing than lap times. Track events are about having fun. There will always be faster cars coming down the pike, not to mention aftemarket mods. I like a challenge and involvement. A stick provides both whereas paddles subtract from both. Ferrari has not called me lately for an F1 tryout so lap times are of secondary importance. Besides, you'll never notice a couple of 10ths by the seat of your pants. Hell, my 328 seems really fast until newer cars blow by it!

Dave

 

If you REALLY want to see your car in the winners circle at the track, I'd strongly suggest not only getting the F1, but also hire a professional race-car driver...that way you can truly remove yourself from the entire operation.

Course, you could always sit in the passenger seat, look backwards and alert your driver when another car is trying to pass! Course, you could always hire someone to do that too!

 

I believe a sequential shifter can operate much faster the Ferrari F1 shifter. Switching to that makes sense in professional racing. But, up to now, the manual transmission GT3 has been very competitive in its class. So, I think F1 paddles are more marketing hype than practical advantage. After all, it has NOTHING in common with a real Formula-1 transmission, whereas a sequential shifter is actually conceptionally similar.

Finally, the upshifts in my Stradale when at WOT was far from instantaneous, and was moderately faster than I am with my 6-speed. Accelerating at WOT and upshifting is about the only time when shift-speed matters; otherwise you are coasting or braking. At my local track, there are only 3 or 4 places where I upshift at WOT, so even if my manual shifting is half the speed of the F1, that might amount to a generous 200ms x 4, or .8 sec per lap difference at most out of a typical 90-110 secs per lap.