Ferrari sued for lack of speed

Thought the community might like to catch this story:

Bloomberg News on June 27th announced a German Businessman is suing Ferrari because he claims his new car did not reach a top speed of 300 kilometers (180 miles) per hour as advertised in the company' brochure. The 60 year old driver, from Berlin, told a local newspaper that his Challenge Stradale cannot go faster than 282 kilometers per hour and wants a refund of the $204,427 he paid for the car after waiting 18 months for delivery. Ferrari is refusing to give him back the $.

There is one in every bunch!

 

Well, if it's advertised as being capable of that speed and it can't make it, he should get compensated. Mazda has been stung twice over car models that didn't have the advertised horsepower. Just a truth-in-advertising case.

 

Sam, can you provide a link or a source for that story...? Thanks...

 

I agree. If a manufacturer is claiming a top speed, the car should go that fast!

ken

 

I got free maintenance on my rx-8 because of this.

 

Rob,

It was from 250 to 238.

 

Wow that's an UGLY curve. Detonation, limiter, or ???

 

secondary injectors @ 3700 rpm

 

The thing is the CS can hit that top speed with the conditions permitting, the owner probably was trying to do this with the altitude off, or temp to high or low, etc. the Mazda just didnt have enough hp

 

Here's the story:

German Driver Sues Ferrari Because Car Is Too Slow, Bild Says
2005-06-27 05:16 (New York)


By Jeremy van Loon
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- A German businessman is suing Ferrari
SpA because he claims his new sports car doesn't reach the top
speed of 300 kilometers (180 miles) per hour advertised in the
company's brochure, Bild Zeitung said, citing the man.
The 60 year-old driver from Berlin, identified only as Joerg
W., told the newspaper that his Ferrari Challenge Stradale car
can't go faster than 282 kilometers per hour and he wants a
refund. The man paid 168,115 euros ($204,427) for the vehicle and
waited 18 months for it to be delivered, Bild reported.
Ferrari, which is controlled by Fiat SpA and makes the
Formula One racing car driven by Michael Schumacher, is refusing
to give Joerg W. his money back, according to Bild. The dispute
will now be decided by a local court.

(Bild Zeitung 6-27 5)

{BSZT <GO>} for the newspaper's Web site.

--Editor: Blackman.

Story illustration: See: {F IM <Equity> EM <GO>} to track Fiat's
performance in recent years. For Fiat's management:
{F IM <Equity> MGMT <GO>}. For a graph of European automotive
stocks performance, see {BEAUTOS <Index> GP <GO>}. Click on
{FONE<GO>} for Formula One stories and {ISPO<GO>} for top sports
stories.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at (49) (30) 70010-6231 or
[email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at (49)(69) 92041 145 or [email protected].

 

I sold my Borla because of the harmonic buzz @ 4000 RPM @ 80 MPH.

I have heard that the MAFS retards the motor if there is not enough air flow while on a dyno. It's a neat car but they should have done more R & D on it.

 

I wonder what's really behind what this German guy is trying to do. Is it a bad PR thing set up by the competition, is the guy just trying to get out of owning it, is he trying to leverage Ferrari for something or is he just trying to make a point?

 

How does he know his speedo isn't just wrong. They all are anyway.

 

Chances are speed is actually lower than speedo indicates.

 

At that speed the speedo can be way off. I just got a 04 Crown Vic with 100 miles on it. We have to have our cars calibrated with radar for court. Mine is off almost 3 miles per hour at 70 mph.

 

And I thought we had a worldwide exclusive on idiotic litigation.

 

I don't think it's idiotic to expect a product to perform as advertised.

I think Ferrari should have advised him to take the car to a dealer for an inspection. If they couldn't tweak the car to make it right (assuming the 300 KPH wasn't a bald faced lie) then they should have accepted the car back.

Ken

 

I'm just surprised because I thought a CS would easily pass 175mph.

Too much drag/downforce compared to the stock 360? I imagine that the rear diffusers could retard speed at least 6-10mph.

 

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64584. Please merge.

Ferrari speedometers have always been a little generous. But my guess is that this guy is just not good at driving.

 

Lap times are one thing, but top speed runs only require pressing your right foot down and keeping the wheel straight until the RPM's max out in 6th.

I'm assuming he can do that almost daily on the right autobahn.

 

"I don't think it's idiotic to expect a product to perform as advertised."

I'm tired of living in a world where litigation is the answer to every one of life's disappointments, no matter how trivial.

Let's give our plaintiff the benefit of the doubt, and assume he tested the top speed of his CS under exactly the circumstances on which Ferrari based its top speed claim. We have a guy with sufficient wealth to afford a CS, and who finds it will only go ... what ... 170mph? Ooooooh nooooo! Instead of selling the car and moving on, he takes up the judicial system's time and resources suing Ferrari.

I checked my owner's manual - claimed top speed is 186.4 mph. I'm not sure there's a track in the US - at least, one I've ever been to - where I'd expect to get to that speed. I can't say I'd have suffered any great loss by being deprived of a few mph at the top end.

Sorry, no sympathy here. Sell the car and move along - but insist on a test drive next time.

 

Well, I have no sympathy for this guy either. I bet Ferrari will win in court as well on technicalities. I would never sue a car company over this kind of issue, for me it's a waste of effort.


However I do still think that any car company should post realistic numbers and not just a 'best case scenario' thing. Remember the fake HP numbers from the 1960's in the US? Today they are much stricter on what is published.

Ken

 

I disagree on the lawsuit thing, but I do agree he is right to be pissed that the car doesn't perform as advertised.

I'd just sell the car and turn to the darkside. And get a cookie with whipped cream.