so i recently bought a 2008 F430 spider with F1 transmission with the intention of converting it to 6 speed manual. now i am rethinking this after driving it the past 2 weeks. it is a remarkable bit of kit and similar to my old Gallardo e-gear. it did take me a few days to figure out how to take off smoothly without the Auto enabled and making turns from a stop and hills are the most challenging smooth take offs. however once going the shifts are crisp and are essentially a manual clutch gearbox simplified with a paddle. you get all the lunging feeling and deliberate changes that are missing from my F12 dual clutch. what is holding me back from conversion is reliability of the conversion and the convenience of putting it into Auto mode while in parking lots or heavy traffic which happen to me a lot while cruising in a big city. i grew up driving 2 different BMW manual 3 series (btw the inline 6 engines have a very similar note to Ferrari's V12 in the F12) so i am very proficient and i do enjoy the more physical connection with the clutch pedal and gear shift but only really on good long stretches of road. i don't enjoy it in stop/go traffic and obviously most city driving. i also noticed how the rarity of manual 6 speed increased the value of cars with OEM being the greatest but conversions being at least equivalent to the conversion price which is around 20-30k currently. perhaps i will wait till they become more mainstream and reliability and parts are more common before taking the plunge, but for now i truly love my F1 transmission!
I love the F1 on the road, only used auto for the first week or so of having the car. On the track its awsome!
I drove an F430 back in 2007 and fell in love with the car. I thought the F1 was kind of crude feeling compared to driving a manual. Fast forward 15+ years later and I also bought my F1 with the intention of converting it to a manual. I took it for a short drive and remembered that I hate the F1 transmission, lol. I’ll be converting it this winter as time permits. Different strokes for different folks, and that’s ok.
First, there are significantly cheaper options on the market than $30k, especially if you can turn a wrench (or a crank ). Second, if new tech renders anything before it obsolete then by that standard why even bother with a mid-2000’s F-car? Surely they, along with the flappy paddles (and manual cranks), have been replaced with newer faster gizmos. It’s because of what they offer that newer tech doesn’t… engagement! The whole reason for a conversion is not values, what’s collectible or not, or to waste $30k. It’s to enjoy the car for what it does best and that is to offer an engaging driving experience. For me, that’s rowing a gear shift lever. If that’s pulling a paddle for someone else, well, that’s fine too.
I don’t know why there has to be a winner, f1 vs gated, especially in a 430, both are objectively awesome. I am drawn towards manual cars, a large part for being much more fun at normal road speeds, having to put effort into driving the car well, and being in control of how smooth or snappy I want the shifts to be. Despite my preference, when I drive my friends f1 430, I can’t say I’m not grinning ear to ear firing off downshifts into a corner.
So far I have converted 2 cars on my own. When I got my last f430 spider I drove it for about a week or so as f1 and must admit it was pretty sweet. But I still preferred the manual shift The f430 is awesome either way
I'm in the minority and actually bought my F1 360 intentionally over a manual. Everyone seems to swoon over stick manuals at the minute, I'm sure plenty genuinely prefer it but I think alot of that is because every youtuber says it has to be stick or its ****. I find manuals enjoyable for about 10 minutes before I'm sick of operating the clutch but I also hate auto's (torque converter type) laggy remote feeling in sports/super cars so for me it is the perfect combo of manual box but automated clutch. I wouldn't swap for a stick even if they were cheaper.
the new dual clutch transmissions give you almost the same feeling as auto torque converters without the loss of power from them. they are the evolution of the F1 transmission no loss of power faster shifts and auto mode much smoother.
Yes I know, dsg's are far superior in every measurable way but I'm in the minority on those as well, I just prefer the direct slightly clunky old tech f1 as it just feels more engaging, must just be me that likes those transmissions the most, bonus about that is that the f1's are the cheapest though
I'm a massive manual fan, or was, because auto boxes had moved on massively! These F1 boxes are so suited to the car and todays crowded roads. In the UK in a normal town a gated manual would be a pain in the backside, as you are always in traffic at normal times of the day. I also find the F1 as a sign of the times now, bit like the M3 SMG which springs to mind and was terrible, but its aged well and now makes more sense. It was THE in technology at the time and a manual would never be a able to keep with one. The F1 is brutal and its just as exciting if not more when you are on it and you will never miss a gear or over rev, yet its still engaging and needs your input. I totally get the shiny ball in your hand as well and the rod hitting the gate as you change and thought about a conversion, but no, I am at one with the F1!
Agreed. I drove both before I purchased my F1 360. The stick with it's long throws and gate made it seem so outdated and it was no joy to drive IMO. I truly believe it's a matter of the "romance" of a stick car. I used to drive 911s and the stick was so precise that it actually was considered as quick a shift as the PDK-- and in the early years of the PDK the stick in the hands of the right driver was slightly quicker. After driving the three pedal 360 I couldn't imagine myself "rowing" through those gears and outshifting an F1. And to add, this is the first paddle shift car I have owned-- all other sports cars I owned over the past 40+ years were three pedal. I can't imagine a three pedal gated shifter in a 360 outshifting an F1. I believe that tech in our sports cars these days can get in the way of enjoying them and feeling connected. Exactly why when I drove the 458 it was a hard pass. But the F1 in my 360 is tech I have embraced and I love it. Just my .02 of course.
I love the F1 in my 2008. It's super smooth and really leaves nothing to be desired. Downshifts when going really slow sometimes are a little rough, but rarely. The only part that bothers me is the auto setting comes on as default when starting the car. I wish that was user assigned. However, I'm still converting mine to manual. Something about a gated Ferrari that seems right. I want to live out that dream with this car and enjoy it as I like rowing my own gears. It's not about speed anymore as these cars have long been surpassed on both power and speed by most anything modern. Now it's about nostalgia and driving experience. The most amazing part about it is that when I'm old and tired of pressing three pedals, I can just swap the F1 back in and keep enjoying the car. Not many other cars you can do that with and still enjoy both experiences. Usually one is way worse than the other.
Make sure PIS is adjusted correctly, change transaxle and F1 fluids. F1 is a very sweet setup when maintained properly. I truly believe that many people who don't appreciate it is because they drove cars that were not properly set up.
Part of it is also the learning curve. You can't necessarily hop into an F1 and operate it smoothly just because you're a good manual driver. You have to learn how it wants to be driven and that takes more than a few test drives.
F1 gets an unfair amount of criticism for how it drives. I think it still retains a certain level of mechanical feel that the DCTs lost. Firing away 8000rpm shifts is an absolute blast. When it is working properly, it's great! The problem is when it isn't. I think it's biggest downside is it is much harder to dial in and diagnose than a manual. I got sick of the headaches with mine and converted it because of that. At the end of the day, it is your car and do with it whatever makes you happiest [emoji846] Sent from my toilet using FerrariChat.com mobile app
"I think it's biggest downside is it is much harder to dial in and diagnose than a manual." Not sure I fully agree with this given the longstanding, multiple issues faced with their manual transmissions by more than a few people on this forum. Sent from my SM-G955F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Every part can fail. There are threads about engines grenading, but that doesn't make it a common occurrence. I've troubleshoot both and repaired both and I would much rather work with the manual system in both of those scenarios every time. Sent from my toilet using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Love the F1 in my car. I’m a manual die hard but not sure I could convert mine to a stick. Really enjoy the brutal shifts that it produces. Wouldn’t mind adding a manual 360 to the garage though to get the best of both worlds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This absolutely^^^ I own an old motorcycle; 1953 Sunbeam S7 DeLuxe. One writer reviewing the bike wrote that you have to learn to ride it like it wants to be ridden-- not how you want to ride it. Spot on. In my F1 360 it took me a bit to learn how to take off and how to ever so slightly lift off the throttle between shifts for a much smoother shift. And I learned never to use the Auto button Also I have an '03. Anyone with the earlier iteration of the F1 may have a different feel with their F1. But of course a TCU upgrade solves that.
