Shift LED's should be different.

i agree, sometimes I don't even know if its led 4 or 5

 

agree, should go from green to yellow to red IMO

 

I think overall, Ferrari is not good at electronics.
But they are world class at excitement and exclusivity.

 

Isnt there an aftermarket possibility for this? I have driven a car that had the colours range from green yellow and red a while back. The owner said something about LED replacements. It also had a little italian flagged strip on the top part of the cf steering wheel. First and last time I have seen it...

 

I think you have a great point! While the brain readily sees the difference between 1 light and 2 lights, by the time we get to 4 or 5 lights we don't pick it up quickly. Color coding as you suggest or some other pattern would work better.

I hope someone from the company sees your comment.

 

I'll take the opposing view on this one and say they are fine as is. When you need the lights (like when on a track accelerating hard at high speed and not able to look down) you zip thru the sequence pretty quickly from 7000 rpm +. They jump out in your peripheral vision about when you need them and as they quickly move to the right (led's 4 and 5) you know you have a split second to pull the trigger before hitting the limiter that comes right after last one lights up. The pattern is pretty predictable (and helpful) after very few laps. I suppose I could see the first 3 being yellow...but the different location of each sequential led kind of makes the point without creating more color distraction on the wheel.

 

My M3 Comp Pkg car had shift lights which changed color. But honestly, that's the last thing I was looking at during track days. I went by sound and feel.
So while I would like 458's to have color differences, I dont know how much it would really help me.

 

For comparison, here is McLaren's take on shift lights. In the 650S, you can have an instrument cluster bezel with integrated shift lights. These lights are multi-colored: green/yellow/red/blue.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I like the idea of opposing LEDs on the Top of the steering wheel. Would not NEED different colors then but perhaps would be nice...would like to drive one to see.

BTW the red LEDs do go well with my red stitching, piping and horsies on the seats. LOL

 

How about:

Green
White
Red

 

I actually like the monochromatic red color.

I go by the rate of the movement of the LEDs and the length to know when I am getting to the redline. I'm not counting the LEDs.

I think having more colors might look clownish, without adding needed functionality. How important is it for you to shift at lower RPMs like 4 vs 5K and don't have the time to either look at the LEDs or Tach? No need for different colors IMO

Maybe the last LED could be a different color. But actually I like what Ferrari has chosen.

Maybe the next generation of LED will do something different--like have different shapes of the LEDs a crescendo --or as you suggest some color changes.

Or you could have one central led which changes color from white to yellow to red (redline)

A fun project would be to buy some color films and tape them over the LEDs in order to change the color.
Inexpensive and reversible.

 

Having different color lights is a benefit to me as I still see them even though I an concentrating down the road. My eye still pics them up. On my open wheel F3000 car, it has green, yellow and red.

The current 458 GTD series car has yellow and the last 2 lights are red. The new Challenge car I will be in this Friday also has a makeup of the last 2 lights in red. IHMO it really assists me at the upper RPM arenas where I can time my shifts very well right before the limiter.

I think the factory cars should also incorporate this aspect. Heck charge a 2K type option like everything else! <Joke>

 

Agreed

 

Can you take a picture or video of the different color lights in the Challenge car?

 

The LEDs on the 458 Speciale and the LaFerrari are all monochromatic too.

F1 Ferrari's use colored LEDs but with three different colors. Green then Red then Blue-White.

 

It is interesting that the McLaren road car uses a different color system than the McLaren F1 car. In the F1 car, the lights go from green to red to blue-white. I think McLaren chose blue-white as the red line instead of red, because it is brighter and easier to see in both bright light and night race conditions.

Also I don't like the low position of the shift lights in the 650s. The top of the wheel location Ferrari has chosen for the road cars is better except when the wheel is turned. But then you have the large tach directly in front.

 

The facts that the shift lights are on both sides of the cluster, are multi-colored, and are bright means you don't see the lights as much as you notice the color in your peripheral vision. It would be even better though if they additionally had them in the steering wheel as well.

BTW, "red"-line is blue in the 650S.

 

As a test and temporary measure why not just tape some colored cellophane over the first few LEDs leaving the last one or two bright red. Can play around with different colors and see what works best for you.
???

 

Isn't the light just a secondary sensory input for your brain? The sound of the engine would be the primary one and the difference in sound is already enough to know when to shift.

 

Ferrari decided on adding the LEDS to road cars a few years ago.

Are there any other road cars which offer shift lights on the steering wheel?

I don't think Porsche or Lambo or McLaren offer this on the wheel itself.

Ferrari has given drivers a pretty unique set-up. Yes the system is now a few years old. You could give some feedback that on future road cars you want an track option with colored LEDs-- F-1 style-- green-red-blue! (I vote no for green-yellow-red though)

And the timing should be different too. The current system shows lights at around 6500, 7200, 7900, 8500 and 8900. I think with the F-1 colored leds, the three colors should come on later in the REV band. Maybe 8000, 8500 and 8900 to satisfy guys like you who are wanting to track the car.

It would be easy to have both systems, the old and the track version, that way the driver can choose which one he wants depending on if he is driving on the track or not.

Ferrari was also the first to move alot of the controls to the steering wheel, a la F-1.
I even thought that Performance Start should be on the wheel, just like the burn out switch is on the F-1 steering wheel. I also think there should be a button for auto and manual on the wheel too, instead of the console.

 

And while we are all configuing the lights, can I please order the option to make the left and right most LED lights blink in synchrony with the turn signals!!!
There's nothing more embarassing than thinking that several people passing you in their cars are just waving to be friendly or envious, only to realize later that they were all trying to tell you that you're a moron driving down the road with your turn signal on.

 

Or maybe can you adjust the blinker sound louder, so you know when it hasn't been turned off?

Another thought is to make the turn signal arrow a lighted symbol which flashes. Then you would know when it is still running when you have finished the turn.