458 Italia no more Manual

Yes but this is a street car. If building a race car to win is the primary goal there should be a lot of other things deleted as well.

 

Somewhat agree. But aren't you talking about F1 and Hawkeye taking about Dual Clutch? ;-)

 

No. I'm mainly speaking about the 458's dual-clutch auto-manual - which I believe is still labeled the "F1" - since the 458 is the car we're discussing. However, the previous generation single clutch auto-manual (355-430), though less sophisticated, is operated in a similar manner - via shift paddles. So, even though the new dual clutch is a superior auto-manual, the question of driver-involvement applies to both.

As we all know, this is not a new argument. It's been ongoing since the original paddle shift F1 became available (in the 1997 F355, IIRC).

 

It's 1998 in the 355. And as I have pointed out before, the beauty of the 355 F1 is the mechanical throttle linkage which means you still have to blip the downshifts yourself. So far, the old school system is the most involving if you ask me.

But I'd trade for a 458 and throw in my left foot for good measure .

 

You probably know.. but just to recap, forget what Ferrari calls this transmission.

The main difference is that up to 430, it's sequential clutch (with a conventional clutch, just operated semi-automatically without the clutch pedal). But 458's transmission is NOT operated by a regular clutch. It's a dual clutch, which has a completely different design as the conventional clutch. It's a totally different mechanism that it shouldn't really be called a clutch, automatic, sequential...

In other words, sequential transmission is different from regular stick shift transmission. But dual clutch is far more different than the sequential transmission more so than how sequential clutch is different from stick shift.

 

The 355 F1 didn't blip the throttle on down-shifts? I thought it did.

I do remember 1998 being the first year for the 355 F1 in the US, but wasn't it available in Europe for the 1997 model year? I don't remember.

 

No, it doesn't

I've played with "heel & toeing" the car while pulling on the left paddle ... sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't.

 

I'm well aware of the differences between the dual-clutch and the single clutch auto-manuals. Regardless of how they work mechanically, ultimately, they both perform the same function - they shift gears with the flick of a paddle. So, for the sake of this discussion (the demise of the Ferrari manual), it doesn't matter which F1 system we're talking about.

If the discussion was about how the single-clutch and dual-clutch systems differ or how well each performs, then what you're saying would come into play.

 

OK. You are right on that. ;-) Dual clutch is super nice, though, and it really does a better job than the manual or sequential or anything else and that's what we are just trying to say...

 

Understood. Hope you're enjoying the 458, it's an awesome car. How do you like having a red car over your old black one? Must be fun.

 

When I buy cars, I usually buy the cars with the color of its own distinction. For example, Ferrari's color is a Corsa Red. Lamborghini's colors are Ithaca Green or Orange. Porsche's best matching color is White, Corvette's colors are Blue, Yellow or Red... and so on. Although some cars listed here might have a second opinion as well.

My favorite color is a Solid Blue. So, if a car does not really matter what color it looks good with, then I go with Blue.

When I bought the F430 with black/black, I personally hated it. That's one of the reasons I let it go so soon to change with this Corsa Red 458. So, color-wise, I love it. Moreover, the leather and interior accents are beige, which is my favorite interior color and also the carpet color is black, which is also my favorite carpet color. Carpet always gets very dirty so why not have a color that never gets dirty is my opinion. ;-)

So, yes this 458 has the perfect color combination so love it. Driving-wise, I still can't tell much since I haven't driven much. When I drive more, then I will be able to say something later on. I will drive a lot this coming two Sundays so will know a little more by then.

 

I always think of Porsche's best color as silver.

 

Rob- The 355 does blip the throttle on downshifts, but without a digital throttle, the system does not have enough authority/travel to match revs perfectly. So 355 F1 owners got to have fun by heel and toeing or using the left foot on the brake and right foot on the throttle to perfectly match revs.

Taz
Terry Phillips