YouTuber’s 296 GTB “disabled” after exhaust mod

The 296 emissions system seems extra sensitive to mods…

How To Disable A Ferrari: Emelia Hartford Goes Against Ferrari By Modifying Her 296 GTB
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Published 13 hours ago
One of the first 296 GTBs in the country gets the world's first custom exhaust - but Emelia gets a surprise when she turns it on.

Via: YouTube via Emelia Hartford
Ferrari generally don’t like it when people take apart and modify or restyle their products – but that doesn’t stop some people from doing it anyway.

You could argue that the brand’s supercars are optimal already and perfectly engineered, or you could be on the other side of the fence: why does Ferrari have the right to ‘lock you out’ or prevent you customizing a vehicle bought and paid for?

DJ Deadmau5 and singer Justin Bieber famously got in trouble for modifying their cars, but the kind of modifying YouTuber Emelia Hartford is going to do in her latest video installment is more subtle -but not without its risks.



Ferrari Mods: Emelia Hartford’s Ferrari 296 GTB
Emelia Hartford, prolific content creator who made her money providing car-based entertainment to the world is back with a new car – one of the first Ferrari 296 GTBs in the US.

Her goal is to take out the factory exhaust and replace it with a custom unit to change the exhaust’s tone and make the car louder, which is risky for a couple of reasons. Not only would Ferrari rather she doesn’t do this, but the car also got designed to lock down if it detects a non-OEM part fitted to the powertrain.

This could result in her car getting rendered useless, staying in limp mode and having its power reduced to a fraction; or not even starting at all. It would be a relatively-subtle upgrade as the team will leave the car ‘looking stock’ from the outside, but the car will sound very different and presumably the warranty will be void; Emelia could even get blacklisted from owning another Ferrari if the

brand discovers the modification.

Swapping wheels and wrapping a Ferrari is potentially less damaging than a powertrain upgrade because the car can ‘sense’ an aftermarket or custom part such as an exhaust; so best to leave any changes reversible, then.

Can You Modify A Ferrari – Emelia Finds Out

Plucky American Emelia removes the OEM exhausts, and over the period of a week, constructs a bespoke welded pair of exhausts that go straight through to the back, while keeping the catalysts.

Her impressive dexterity with a blow torch and patience results in a competed setup, with the ‘stock’ rear outlet. All that’s left is to fire it up, and it does start but throws up a lot of warnings on the driver’s gauge cluster immediately, as well as limits any power or revving as it changes to ‘limp mode’. She says she can’t even engage reverse. The car tells Emelia to ‘contact the dealer’ due to a ‘engine control system failure’.

She will now try to find a workaround or presumably refit the original system again.

Ferrari 296 GTBs are not cheap, working out to around $350,000 - those lucky enough to sample one will be able to experience the 3-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid setup with around 820 hp.