Just test drove a 456M GTA.. A-The Steering felt hard when the car is at a standstill. Once in motion it is not noticeable much but the car does seem heavy while turning. Is this normal? B_The brakes squeal when you hit them lightly but seem fine when you jam on them. Rotors and pads appeared to be in good shape. C-Any suggestions for after market head unit .. something that can be handled by a competent installer without having to cut/damage original wiring? Thanks in advance Mark
Similar to above: A) mine does not do that either... the steering should be nice and comfortable no matter what the speed. It should feel very direct without over assistance. "Lovely" is how I would describe. B) mine does not squeal, but Ferraris are somewhat prone to this, especially when brakes are cold. C) sorry no help here. Best of luck! Ruben
Thanks guys. By hard I meant much like the older BMW's ..sort of heavy especially when the car is at a standstill ...
1) Personally I think the steering is too light when the car is at a standstill - so much so that the wheels tend to hop when steering on a smooth surface (such as a garage floor). But then it gets much better as the vehicle is in motion and the level of steering assistance decreases proportionally to speed. 2) I can still hear some light squeal at slow speed even after replacing both pads and rotors. It all disappears when braking at higher speed. 3) Take a look at the post titled "Add Nav, Sat radio and streaming music to your 456GT - while keeping it all OEM!" in this same 456/550/575 section.
Mark, A: mine does not feel heavy at all. At rest, moving slowly, or at speed. B: mine do not squeal at all. C: depending on what model you have, I suggest a Becker 6105 or 6112 from a later Ferrari and an iPhone cable from BeckerAutoSound. It keeps the original look and gives you Bluetooth capability. Easily installed with no mods or wiring changes.
A) there is an electric power assist for low speed; one possibility the plug in the back of the steering box needs cleaning, or somebody accidentally unplugged while doing some maintenance. The 456 is one of the smoothest driving systems you'll ever experience and should nerve feel heavy - so find a good mechanic. B) Glazed rotors are usually the squealing issue.
B: dépends of the pads you have. On mine, I've replaced the "standard" ones by soft pads. The firsts didn't make any noise. The new ones are squeling at low speed. To minimize this you have to put "copper grease" on the external face. There is also the possibility to do a small chamfer on the periphery of the pads
A- sounds about right and depends on tire and the kind of pavement you are on B- depends on the type of pads and at times on the amount of pad dust accumulated, but overall nothing out of the ordinary C- not sure of what kind of head you are talking about
would not worry about the steering - just the way it is. my brakes did that, and did it again on the latest one i bought, but after some aggressive braking it stopped. may be a matter of seating them. i would not bother with a new stereo. the oem unit it competent enough, and if you want more noise then install a tubi !
I never had any issues with the steering - always smooth. My brakes have always squealed if lightly applied. It is disconcerting because it sounds like the brakes of an old truck but the squealing happened on the old brake pads I had last year and also the new set I got in May. Just something to live with I guess. I also looked for an aftermarket head unit to replace my Becker - both Sony and Panasonic do some top-end head units that I considered but I had a garage fit a Transit BLU adapter to the Becker which allows me to stream music from my iPhone which was what I really wanted so the Becker head unit has had a stay of execution.
Well I'll ad a question. I notice there is often a fairly substantial price differential between an automatic and a 6 speed. How hard/expensive is shaping out the auto and replacing it with a manual?
Basically you would need to find a donor manual car and a mechanic able to do the swap. Off the top of my head, although technically possible, I do not believe it would make much economic sense, as you would probably never recover the money spent to do it. If the automatic is well maintained and works well, it is a very enjoyable car that has nothing to envy the manual. Just my opinion, of course.