Why a 456,550,&575 over a 360 or F430

The maser is too close to a maranello. I would get the maranello if you get rid of the maser. I'm a 550 guy had two still own one. That said the only Ferrari that would tempt me to buy an F1 shifter ferrari is the 430. IMO the 430 was the best of the V8 style cars. The new v8 look cars no thanks at all.

 

I love both my 430 and 575, but if I had to choose, the 575 wins hands down. In my mind it looks, sounds, smells and feels like a timeless Ferrari should!

But I agree with fbb, too much overlap with your maserati. If you swapped your Maserati with a cayman, gt4 or emira that would be a nice combo.

 

Nice pairing! If a nice 430 crosses my path you never know....

 

There are a couple different things to consider but in my mind it all comes down to design and drive. I can still grab a cup of coffee, go to my garage and just look at the car. Sit in it and enjoy. I think she is beautiful, more so then any other car. Tastes differ, so just look at the cars (in real life, not the picture) and see where the chemistry is. Go to a Ferrari meet and ask if you can sit in a car you like, talk to the owners and ask why they bought that car. And what they would do if they were you with your dilemma. You’ll get some interesting inputs!

Next is the drive. I drive 5-7K/yr and spend quite a bit time in traffic, so I actually looked for an automatic. I love it, but again, opinion differs and that is OK. Oh, and I just love V12’s.

The nice thing about the V12’s is that they are relatively easy to work on if you are handy, the 456 is probably the most analogue of all of them.

you can fix all sounds with aftermarket pipes, so I would not worry too much about that.

if you have small(!) kids consider the advantage of a 2+2.

last but not least, colorcombo is critical, in my view it can make a car stand out or make it average, look at some different combinations.

I looked for over a year for a Tdf blue with cuio interior. Your Dreamcar does exist, my advise is to not trade off on anything you want, just keep looking.

And yep, Ferry is right….. nothing beats a V12!

 

That's why I keep a 550. I do not like maranello suspensions. They are like merc but not fully merc developed. So I did my own shocks and springs for street and light track duty. I keep the 550 for when I sell the racecars and just do trackdays. I can feel my racing "sell by" date rapidly approaching. In the 550 you can have the highest level of "old man" sport and still get in and out of the car and drive it for a few hundred miles at a time without bleeding kidneys or ringing ear drums. A/C is the best I have ever had in a Ferrari and I'm one of the lucky 6 or so who have MSW's no longer available cruise control for the long trips. The 575 is the 328 of the maranellos but the F1 is not DIY without a significant investment like an SD unit. Some like Taz bought a lesser scan tool for his shop guys and it seems to do fine for what he has needed so far. I think it was under $10k. I forget the name of the unit. Other than that the maranellos are completely DIY.

When you think of 550 v. 575 purchase price differences think about the upgrade costs to get 575 reliability. There are either more 550 diy guys posting or 575's have less problems due to model year improvements. All 550's will need if not done already fuel tank system servicing. Those living in hot climates claim marginal cooling system where solutions have varied from just getting the fans working better by getting fans off the fuse box to 575 cooling shrouds and bigger radiators. DIY saves you plenty here but a ron davis radiator is still $1500. Could both items from a shop cost you $5k? Sure? Could it be $10k? I do not know. 550's leak water in moderate to heavy rain at the A pillers especially the passenger side right on top of the ECU's. In some cars this does not happen but it happens enough that we know about it. I never hear of this in 575's I do not know why since everything in there is basically the same. The problem goes unsolved but could be something as simple as harness positions and wicking of water? Rain and me driving the 550 at the same time are so infrequent in SoCal that I just never bothered to really search out the cause and the fix. That said the 550 is totally reliable. Is the 575 better? Yes just like the 328 iteration is better than the 308 but I think the gap of 550 to 575 is smaller than gap of 308 to 328.

I'm not one to pay a premium for 6speed which I prefer nor would I want an F1 car converted to 6speed. While there are 575 6speeds like 98% are F1. So if you want F1 get 575. If you want 6 speed get 550. There really isn't much to justify one over the other. If you want less future maintenance issues 550 gets the win because the 6 speed is just a gearbox. Even I can rebuild one.

 

550 all day long, you won’t regret it

 

550. No contest.

PS I had a Granturismo when I had my 550 and the Maser was always second best except in two repects: back seats, and that exhaust note - the 550 sounds very dull compared to the Maser, which is gorgeous!

 

The 550 is the best sounding Ferrari you just need the fiammenghi exhaust setup. The reason they sound tame is due to regulations introduced in the 90s right when the car was about to be released that impeded on the sound of the car. Once you correct this with fiammenghis full exhaust system. It has to be the best v12 sound. Just like a 90s formula 1 car

 

Horses for courses. A F360 or F430 is a pure sports car. You can drive one cross country, just don't pack much luggage. A 550/575 is a hybrid sports car. It does best on open sweeper roads. My recommendation is to buy both. Keep the F360/F430 in the North Carolina mountains. Keep the 550/575 in the Rockies.

 

I have both a 2014 maser (4,7l) and a 550.

for me they are not at all too similar, as you know the v8 was used in the f430, and won engine of the year, I read somewhere that maserati test the exhaust note on women to find the most desirable sound, well I think that deep rumble coupled with the rasps and pops on up shift are pure joy... never selling that car..... the 550, well it feels so different, incredibly connected to the road through the steering, lighter, more nimble, faster and with a an engine that has so many usable Characteristics throughout the rev range,

 

For me the best combo is a rear-mid V8 and a 550 Maranello (after having sold my 599, I bought a 488 GTB as my first and only new Ferrari - I then added a 550 to enjoy again the V12, in a more classic form).
The rear-mid V8 is more nimble, easier to drive on tracks; but the 550 has the V12 and the classic feel of an older manual car.
Maybe to add some confusion, I'd say that my favorite Ferrari has been, and still is, the 599 with the F1 gearbox - in one single car, it's the one that gives the most in terms of the broadness of experience. Still, two different cars - choosing a modern mid-rear V8 and an outdated V12 with a manual gearbox - provide a wider scope of sensations.

 

I would remind you to remember to look over the fence at a Lamborghini Diablo. Mid engine V-12 with more power than the Ferrari 12s of the era, great styling, all were manuals so no premiums and definitely not a grand tourer.

I’m not a fan of single clutch automatics so if not a 550, then I would skip to an F12.

Fun decision ahead, and trying a 12 cylinder is highly recommended.

 

Close, but try taking away two cylinders:

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what's in the stable these days John ?

 

Surely this in itself is enough reason ?

 

I have made a significant reduction in the toy department in the last few years, eventually settling on these two:

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hmmm I notice a theme.

any sellers remorse over any?

 

I always have seller's remorse, every time I sell a car!!

The main reason I sold off a number of my cars is simply that I was not using them enough, and we all know that cars need to be used. I couldn't make up my mind which cars to sell, so I decided to let the market decide and put them all up for sale a few years ago. My 911 was the first one to walk out of the door, followed a few weeks later by the Dino. Next to go was the Maserati, at which point I decided to stick with the 550, Turbo R and E-type. However, I became increasingly frustrated in my enjoyment of the 550 by driving conditions here in the UK - if I wasn't being held up by traffic, I was under the watchful eye of our ever-increasing network of speed cameras. What is the point in having a 200 mph car when you rarely get the chance to do even half that speed? So it was time to let it go.

I have many happy memories of both my Ferraris, especially my trip to Maranello in the Dino for the 50th. anniversary meeting in 2018. I had always wanted a traditional Ferrari - a front-engined V12 2-seater GT - so the Maranello fitted the bill perfectly. And the Dino is IMO the best all-round road car Ferrari ever built.

You may be interested to know that both of my Ferraris ended up in Australia.

 

I've only taken my 456 out a handful of times since I got it, but the induction feel of a V12 when you get on the gas simply cannot be replicated in recorded audio or any other engine configuration. It feels like the car could inhale a horse. I was cross-shopping with maser 4200's and it's just not on the same planet. I think the difference between a flat plane V8 and a V12 is the V8 sounds great to everyone else, but a V12 sounds great to the driver. One man's opinion.

 

Having had a 360 (my first Ferrari) and now a 550, I can say that I wish I had bought the 550 right away! The 360 is a beautiful car (I never really liked the 430). But similar to what you stated, it was exciting to drive but a bit exhausting. I would go out for a quick blast around the area and then park it. I always had the feeling that the F1 system would break and cost me big bucks (updating the TCU to a later version wasn’t an option because mine was an early production model – so if looking at a 360, get a later year). The 550 is still exciting to drive but it’s so much more comfortable, I could drive it for hours. And with the manual it much more engaging to drive. I suppose it depends on whether you want a pure sports car or GT (but one that still handles really well).

 

Curious how your 456 has continued to impress and hoping for an update and some photos?

 

Back to the OP's question, modern mid-engine V8 and front-engine V-12 Ferraris are so different it's like comparing a fine chardonnay to a fine cabernet. They are both great in their own right but just too different to make any meaningful comparisons. You like what you like, and it's possible to like both for different reasons. So...how about both!