F1 gear box feedback for first time 355 buyer.

Dave
You can buy the HVAC overlay from ricambi for $70.00 and it takes 30 min to replace

 

Ken that is FANTASTIC!!!! So true! My vision has been blurred during shifts and I've broke the tires lose from 2nd to 3rd

 

Yes, my mistake. $350 replaces the unit.

 

+1
Warming it up is more important than I think most of us give credit for.
Also my 2 cents is drive it like a standard, and when backing up stab the throttle on and off otherwise it slips the clutch pretty bad.

 

If you drive it like a standard I think it's easier on it. I usually downshift and kick it into neutral if I'm going to be there longer. Maybe five seconds. I just know when I drove a standard I did not hold the clutch in for 3 minutes so I don't on my f1. Would it hurt it? Probably not. If you do want to hurt it put it in first, take foot off brake, and punch throttle it lights up the tires but could damage the propeller shaft.

 

Some personal observations:

1. Let the system warm up. My 335 anyway is not really a good start-and-drive-it kinda car. I let mine warm for at least 5 mins before I go anywhere. It is most notable in the F1 gear changes.

2. Don't let the gloom & doomers of the F1 concern you. Few of them actually own (or owned) one. 10 years ago the service support for the system was problematic at best. Options now exist that did not back then.

3. The 360 pump upgrade is a nice change and is not nearly what it cost many years ago. Ricambi has the adapter and Juri (a user on this site) sells the pumps. I did mine on my own and had the system bled on an SD2.

4. Drive it like a stick. The only thing I do different is to let the car auto select first gear as I come to stop sign unless I know it is going to be along one. Other than that I select gears as I would in my other stick shift cars.

5. Sport mode is serious stuff and lots of fun. It is quick and will snap your neck a bit. Is it top of the line anymore? No. But it is the first commercially available paddle shifter system and I believe the only one that uses a real clutch / flywheel combination. Which is kinda fun to tell folks.

6. In the end it is a temperamental Ferrari....the 355 is not for pansies

 

Another Steve here from down under. Just wanted to say I never fancied the f1 system at first but then pulled the trigger on a gts f1 and can honestly say it's fantastic!! I do worry about pump failure from time to time but two years and 10 k later no problems to date. If you really want a f1 just buy it!!

 

Primary reasons for not getting an F1 and a 355 with power steering: I don't want a Ferrari my wife can drive.

 

^^^^^^!!!!

 

Hahaha. Damn good point. I never did tell my wife the car had "auto" mode.

 

F1 355 98/99s are a fantastic car. Benefits of classic car attributes yet still relevant power and modern tech.
I will be however adding a 355 stick spider to my garage in the spring. I Want the "clack/clack" combination along with the sound of scrapping steel during my shifts.
The stick has you fully involved and it feels right.
The F1 is just "incredible" anyway you slice it. The genuine manual gearbox in a 355 F1 is a rare experience.
I would not (unless forced to) put a 360 pump in my car. If I want faster changes, that's when I'll add the 458 or the 575.

 

It has no effect on the gear changes, it's just a lot cheaper than the 355 pump.

 

Pete
I did the 360 pump update I don't know if the shifts are much quicker maybe a little a bit.
But diffidently smoother.

 

Haha! Interesting.
Conversely, I've been trying to get my wife to drive mine since I bought it.
Although she can drive them, she doesn't like driving manual cars so I keep telling her it has auto mode and is very easy to drive, but still she won't.
Says she's scared of it. Lol!

That's a shame because

a) I could drive it to the pub, have a few beers then she could drive home, and
b) I actually think there's something cool about a good looking woman driving a Ferrari. I have no "man" issues with that.

 

Ive heard that it changes the feel because of the shorter, smoother, "hook up" or "exchange" times. Personally, I like mine where they are.

 

The 355 F1 system is all pressure driven. The regulators in the 355 system control the distribution of the hydraulic fluid and the operating pressures within it. None of that changes with a 360 pump swap unless you tinker with the accumulator assembly...

All the 360 pump does is get to that operating pressure a bit quicker and more reliably.

The gear selections are the same.

 

I have had conversations with them since I was considering one of their cars about a year ago. I would buy a car from them, and I would certainly trust a car that has been serviced by them, they have a very good service reputation. And for the F1 versus Stick, as most others have said don't let that be your deciding factor, get the nicest sorted example that makes your heart skip a beat when you see it, you will very happy you did. You may notice we are in the same city, you might have even seen my car around. I hope you have bought something before spring but if you haven't you are more then welcome to have a ride in both my cars. One is a stick and one is an F1, I didn't really have a choice on the one that is a F1, It has taken some getting used to and I wasn't sure if it would win me over but it has

 

I don't think it's possible for there to be any difference. There's a pump and accumulator, the pump gets the accumulator up to pressure and 'recharges' it as it's used. The only thing the 360 pump could possibly do is charge it up faster. The computer controls the shifts. The only way there'd be a difference is if the old pump were worn out and could barely keep enough pressure in the accumulator for the system to function - which is likely the case right before the pump dies. Then you put the 360 pump in and it feels different, but only because it's back to working properly and no longer marginal.

The pump doesn't really have anything to do with how fast it shifts unless it can no longer keep up - that is controlled by the computer.

 

If I don't take my foot off the gas while "up shifting" you can't shift faster in ANYTHING period.
I'm not trying to be a blow hard 355 owner but I own and driven a lot of newer systems that were derived from the 355 and I gotta say, other than the Vette (which is just ignorance bliss ;-)!) they are pretty lame.
Even the top Porsche stuff is not nearly on par.
IMHO the 355 F1 system is THE perfect balance between Neanderthalic brute force and elegant sophistication.

 

Sure thing, my F1 is not a 355 though

 

Winner!