IS FERRARI GETTING CHEEP WITH THERE MONEY?

On a 6-speed you know what gear you're in due to the position of the gear-lever. On an F1 system you don't unless you count every single gear-change or are good at knowing revs to speed ratios.

Guess they didn't see a need for it on a 6-speed car.

 

agreed. they should have a different gauge.

however, be careful what you ask for. the easiest and WAY more likely fix woudld be for them to reconnect that wire - and then you'll have a six speed that shows you what gear you're in

if my memory serves (and we're taxing it now) i think i remember the old fiero had such a device along with a "shift now" light that'd illuminate when, theoretically, it was time to upshift.

of course you could make the same argument that unused switches should warrant a separate dash unit so you don't see unused switch areas - just regular dash. at some point it becomes excessive, no?

doody.

 

He's right though. Back in the day, you wouldn't have seen that. It gives the car more of a "mass produced" feel.

 

Wait until you get to the UK and they switch to RHD.

Ferrari don't bother to change over the position of the handbrake in the centre of the console or change over the position of the central clock and light (for spiders). End result - lack of comfort when using either!!

Whilst I appreciate the prestige, performance and other brand issues why we pay so much for these cars but let's not forget that one bit is that they are hand made. To this end, I agree with Buttuz

 

LOL, my Saturn had that...! It was a little red light, as i recall; that thing flashed on and off so much, passengers thought the car had an alarm...!

 

Yeah, but back in the "day" there was not an F1 gearbox, thus no need to have a digital display telling you what gear you were in.

 

I'm going to agree on this one. Kind of reminds me of the dummy button plugs on imports where the A/C would be or whatever on a higher model. Or dummy lights for guages, etc. It's obviously not THAT bad or to that point but it's the same idea

 

Buttuz,

I get you message.

They should plug the hole or use a different face for the tach so you wouldn't get the impression that you're driving around in a multi-option kit car.

 

I get your message man. a F- should not have the mass produced feel to it. On the other hand Mercedes plugs up their unused button and I hate it. Makes me feel like the car was a cheaper version of something else... I agree though, F- should not leave a whole, especially on near the most important part of the interior -the tach!!

All F should have a horse sign on the steering wheel that lights up whenever another f is close by.

 

First of all I understand exactly what you are saying ... but I have to laugh at the above comment.

If you had bought a Ferrari in the 50's you would have probably got a hastily rebodied car that had just finished Le Mans the week before.

There was no association with Ferrari and quality ... never was, they used to just make fast cars.

This attempt at quality is a relatively new idea, and not part of Enzo's time.

Thus if you want to buy a quality product, er, I think you are looking in the wrong place ... because you wont find it in Italy. Ducatis and Ferraris are exactly the same and just as poorly put together ... along with Alfa Romeos, etc.

Pete

 

"this kind of pisses me off in a way you know that they would never have cut corners in the old days"

Ha Ha, good one... I guess you have never seen a 250gte with the body off, or seen the underside of a 512bb, or checked the welds on a 308gtb.

The build quality of a modern Ferrari surpasses that of an old hand built Ferrari by a large margin.

 

No not really but we are just trying to point out that Ferrari are not known for quality, and never have been.

The GTO you were looking at will have more flaws than a 1975 Toyota Corolla, you just cannot see them due to the overall beauty.

I believe the Enzo, for example, has horrible door gaps that a $AUS15,000 Daewoo would be ashamed of.

Also many years ago NART or some other American race team bought a NEW '70's 512M race car and completely stripped and re-engineered it. The comments from the guys that did this process is completely embarrassing. In the end they found something like 50 hp more simply by blueprinting the engine properly.

When they showed up at Le Mans, Enzo Ferrari conned the team to lending their motor to the works cars ... guess which car finished (the works car with the American built engine), not theirs as Enzo gave them a Ferrari built motor.

This is what I am trying to say. When you buy a Ferrari you pay $150,000 for the badge and history and good engineering from a design point of view, the other $50,000 is how the car is put together and the cost of the materials.

BUT I have a solution for you. Maybe you could get a sticker made with the horse on it, or the number of world championships, etc. and use this sticker to cover the redundant area in the dash.

Also what I meant about looking in the wrong place, is that you should have bought a Porsche if you wanted quality ... not a Ferrari. You buy Ferraris if you want emotion!

Pete

 

Some harsh responses here, I think, to an innocent and good point. I love the classics more than anything. And I judge them by the standard that I should judge them on.
But, we aren't in 1962 anymore. We're in 2004 and Ferrari should make two different displays for F1 and 6-speed. Period.

 

Agree, but I would love to hear the response to an official complaint.

When my father was service manager to a Porsche dealership (and many others, Mercedes, etc.) one thing he really like about working with German companies is they actually listened to complaints and followed them through. Renault, for example, used to completely ignore my father ... as they sold so few cars in NZ they did not care. I cannot see Ferrari caring either, but then they made the Testarossa for the US market so you never know ...


Pete

 

Obviously a step backward, because in the 355 you do get a different display. You gain an oil temp dial

I fully accept what you're saying. No car costing this much should have such corners cut. If a company like TVR can bespoke make pretty much everything (including dials and stalks), then why can't Ferrari?

 

I'm not angry at all , and I agree they should make a separate dash or something.

This site gets many posts from owners that are upset about spending so much money on a Ferrari and then it does not meet the expected level of quality ... and I am pointing out that that is normal UNFORTUNATELY. Thus Ferrari have been cheap and used the same dash as the F1 car ... well I can tell you that is not the only area they have been cheap on, just one of the most noticeable.

So to answer your original question:

IS FERRARI GETTING CHEaP WITH THERE MONEY?

NO, they always have been , and full credit to TVR if they go the extra distance (as someone stated). For example is the switch gear in a Ferrari still the same as some mundane FIAT?, like it used to be ...

And some still do not get the Ferrari thing, ie:

Again you are buying a car that cost 1/2 of the price to build, the rest is the Ferrari name, and if you cannot accept that then maybe a Ferrari is not for you. Nothing will stop them cutting corners, that is the Italian way UNFORTUNATELY.

Cheers
Happy Pete