Did a testdrive with an 08 today. Dealer told me 08 are different from previous models: - faster F1 shifting - less clutch usage - no key hole on passenger door - no battery on / off switch - stronger headers (no replacement required) - when starting the car it's set to auto mode by default He also told me if I would drive an 06 now it would feel a big difference?
That's awesome; overkill for us manual owners, but piece of mind as well. I was wondering why such a big a$$ pump for just the differential, and now I know . Hey, have a related question for you: Is one of the rear wheels directly connected to the tranny, like in most cars? And by that I mean if the LSD portion of the differential fails, be it a clutch or cone type, the worst that happens is only one wheel hooks up, but car drives normally otherwise. Is that the case with the 430? Hope so. Don't understand exactly how the eDiff works mechanically (Ferrari site doesn't explain that; just what it does, not how); need to dig deeper to satisfy my curiosity . Thanks man. At least there's no difference in a manual car. Well, I think the earlier cars are BETTER, since the battery disconnect switch is a great feature IMO, and the a key hole in the passenger side is better than nothing IMO (a cost cutting measure). The 'stronger headers' is news to me; knew about stronger bracket, but not headers. But you wouldn't feel a bit of difference anyway. A dealer will always try to sell you the most expensive car they can, whatever they have in inventory, or both, so take that 'advice' with a grain of salt .
I'm sorry but that's just BS, he's trying to sell you a more expensive car! I've driven a number of late 430's and have done 13k miles in my sept 06 430 in just over a year, they don't feel any different and my 06 starts in auto mode too, it's a pain in the ass as you need to switch to manual everytime, also my clutch at just over 20k miles is at 33% worn. Remember you are dealing with a car salesman, don't believe anything they say. Why not drive an earlier model and see if there's a difference? John.
It is always possible to actually do a little analysis and see what was changed. For the F1 and manual shifter cars, the Motronic 7.3 DMEs went through the following evolution for US F430s. Each one added capability. After the two early DMEs for 2005 models, there was no difference between F1 and manual shifter cars, apparently. This actually is logical and a money-saving way to do ECUs/DMEs. F1 cars Part # 216391 until MY06 Part # 222251 through Assembly # 67970 and MY 06 Part # 231042 through Assembly # 71293 and MY 07 Part # 236837 from Assembly # 71294 until Serial # 157671, Assembly # 74556 till MY 08 Part # 241765 from Assembly # 74557, Serial # 157672 from MY 08 Manual shifter cars Part # 216390 until MY06 Part # 222251 through Assembly # 67970 and MY 06 Part # 231042 through Assembly # 71293 and MY 07 Part # 236837 from Assembly # 71294 until Serial # 157671, Assembly # 74556 till MY 08 Part # 241765 from Assembly # 74557, Serial # 157672 from MY 08 So the conclusion is there were at least four major upgrades in capability from the 2005 MY F430s, one made for MY06 cars, two made for MY07 cars, and one made for MY 08 cars. No data on what happened to the rare MY09 cars, but probably not much. It appears there are significant differences between an 06 and 08 car, the 08 car having had three DME upgrades. Which actually lines up with what the dealers were saying and no, it was not BS. Looking at non-US F430s would reach similar conclusions, just with the MY information not applicable. Next question would be what upgrades were made to the F1 hardware and F1 ECU/TCU during F430 production. If anyone is interested, I can take a look at it. Taz Terry Phillips
I don't doubt there have been changes, there always are through a products lifecycle, the BS is saying that you would notice a significant difference between driving an 06 and an 08. I'd be interested to know what the actual major upgrades to the capabilities were. John.
John- Analysis I can do. Miracles take money. Those are very significant changes. On the 575M those kinds of changes resulted in a hp increase from 515 hp to 540 hp. Who knows on the F430s? Looking at the parts catalogs, there were three separate sets of F1 hardware, and each of the Motronic DME upgrades was matched by an F1 ECU/TCU change, so I would be inclined to believe there were significant performance increases, especially in shifting, compared to the earlier cars. Data trumps anecdotal "feelings" every time and I would believe there are significant differences between driving an 06 and 08 F430. Try it and find out. Taz Terry Phillips
I had a 2006 spyder and a 2008 spyder and did not notice any difference except when you turned on the 2006 it was in the manual mode and you pushed auto botton for the auto mode. The 2008 stated in the auto mode and you pushed the auto botton for manual.
I have tried it, did not notice any significant difference, infact if anything I thought my 06 car shifted a little better than the 08 I drove, the changes could be simple bug fixes for all we know. John.
I have an 06 430 F-1. Especially after reading the above post I am VERY staisfied with my brakes. IMHO CCB's are an expensive conversation piece.
There are also much better steel brakes available than the OEM 4 piston Brembos, for way less money than CCMs, CCBs, or CERs. But the OEM steel brakes or CCM brakes work fine for the huge majority of owners who do not track their cars. The CCMs will not wear out during a normal driver's ownership stint and at high mileage may at most need a pad change. Taz Terry Phillips Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Did a testdrive with an 06 today. Felt no difference in shifting with the 08 I tested yesterday.. hmmm.... Is there a difference?
Apparently not to people who own 2006 cars. My little foray into what was actually done fell on deaf ears. Will leave it to all the experts from now on. Taz Terry Phillips
Needspeed( Steve) or is it need some glasses. As I stated the master tech at lake forestsports cars is the one who told me this. The changes were made in late 07 cars. Call 847295 6560 and ask to talk to jeff, before assuming that I don't know what I'm talking about as a result of my 30 posts, smart ass
Documented proof has been presented on changes made to the F1 system, the e-diff, the ECU, clutches, flywheels, etc from 2005 through 2008 on the F430 (I don't have the 2009 electronic parts catalog), and some people still want to believe in their own minds cars are all the same. Anyway, Taz send me a PM with the MovIt contact info in U.S. I want to push these guys to build steel and CCB replacements for the Scuderia, even if I have to buy 3 kits to start. Thanks
Pull your undies out of your rump. You provided no details, only just what you heard from your tech, who I am sure knows his stuff. The value of this thread was built up by folks contributing actual information as to the details of the differences not just saying that they heard there were differences. The thread is still missing the quantifiable performance/reliability advantage of each of these changes. Did not mean to be a smart ass, but I cannot make an informed decision based on hearsay.......Steve
No one is saying they're the same, they're saying they feel the same, parts will change through most products lifecycle but they don't always need to make a difference, the tcu from an 08 could be cheaper to make than an 06 but the function is identical, we don't know what the changes were to the systems only that there were changes, all people are saying is that they don't notice a difference between an 06 and an 08. Do you not think if there was a real difference we would know by now, early 08 cars are coming up for 3 years old and we're now just discussing significant differences to the feel of the cars based on part numbers. I really don't care to be perfectly honest but there is some very flawed logic going on here. Parts are different yes but what difference do those different parts make has not been answered. John.
John- You are the expert. I bow to your greater knowledge. Ferrari made those changes to save money. Taz Terry Phillips
Like I wrote I did a testdrive with 06 and 08 and don't really feel a difference. But this is all new to me.. I never drove a F430 before and now those 15min testdrives don't really tell. So anyone who had both MY can comment or anyone who drove longer than a short testdrive. I'm about to purchase one and the 06 has more options, halve the miles of the 08, is in better shape and is less expensive.. Somehow this thread makes me hesitate and worry I should only look for 08 now. Confused..
No need for sarcasm Terry, i'm no expert, but changed part numbers don't mean big changes. The exhaust silencer for example has different part numbers and the original part was superceeded due to a new supplier of the silencer, it didn't have any performance impact, why would Ferrari do this according to your logic if it didn't make a difference to the car?. All i'm asking is for someone to tell us what impact theses changes had, no one has been able to do that so nothing has been proven. I like intelligent debate, that's all i'm asking for here, not got it yet. John.
All this thread has done is prove that some parts were changed, nothing else. It's a shame that you're now doubting a purchase based on this. You say the 06 has a better spec, less miles, is in better condition, doesn't feel any different and is cheaper than the 08, if it was me it would be an easy decision! John.
I'm expecting to receive soon some concrete info about the real improvements as I don't believe that changed part # = improved parts. But I thank Taz for having done the research of the different part # evolutions which is already a great starting point to find out more. For now, what I can confirm is that, related to the DME Motronic 7.1.1. (not 7.3) of the F430, the software is 100% identical from 2004 to 2009. There has been no technical updates from Ferrari regarding the DME. That's the info I just got from my sources. I'm waiting for some more info related to the F1 upgrades.
I'm not an expert on this, but I was told before that if a manufacturer changes the ECUs or any mechanical part that can change emissions, then the car has to be recertified for sale in the US which ain't cheap. Dave