carbon Fiber Hand brake handle

I have not commented on any of the other Ferraricarbon group buy threads in the 355 area. But the comparison to our handbrake (we're the other supplier mentioned above) got me to comment. Its an apples and oranges comparison. The product in the group buy has several issues that make it an inferior product.

First, it’s a two piece construction that has a tendency to split in half. The two-piece construction also leads to an ugly seam on the top surface where you see it the most. We build ours with a one-piece core so there is no chance of breakage and the top surface is perfect carbon.

Second, the finish is not in the same league and needs to be wet sanded and polished to get a good finish. Ours is ready to install when you get it.

Third, they've simplified the design to eliminate the rubber end cap - so it no longer looks like an OEM CF piece. Ours preserves the rubber cap and we even supply a new one.

As with most things, if its cheap there is a reason.

 

John- Good points. The 355 never came with any carbon fiber parts so not as critical. The 575 did. How much are your handles?

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

John,
I second Terry. How much for your handles? Any type of "group buy" rate available?
Thanks.

 

I'm not trying to start trouble but Macarbon won't do group buys. There stuff is very ,very nice but the price is way to high $950 for his carbon fiber door sills and $350 for his carbon fiber handles and shipping is not included. Are group buy's if your scared the handle is going to brake you can buy two of them cheaper then his price but it ends I think after New Years. Some of us F355 guys were able to get the carbon fiber door sills and brake handle for around $710 shipped you be the judge. $1350 shipping not included or $710 shipped.

 

Dave- I ordered one, too. If I do not like it, I will sell it on FerrariAds for a small loss to someone whose car did not originally have a CF option.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Dave- I am eligible for social security so not much sympathy here. I told Jeff I would buy one, so I will. Check went out today. We can work on a price if I do not like it.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

I ordered one also, for the price it won't be a horrible mistake if I don't like it. As mentioned, the piece is kind of hidden in our cars, I just want to remove the rubber OEM piece that will eventually melt.

How do you remove the original handle to make the swap?

 

They say you twist and it pops off but we will find out.

 

I'm actually VERY happy that Ferraricarbon did this group buy. It will get a lot of people adding a touch of carbon to their interiors who would not have done it otherwise. Once you've added that first piece, it’s hard to stop.

If anything, this whole episode has shown me that MAcarbon needs to do a better job of communicating what makes our products special and worth the premium over other vendors. Carbon is not a commodity product. There are differences from one manufacturer to another. Each company approaches a piece in their own way.

With that, a few comments on the price comparison that Craig made.

The price comparison is for a Ferraricarbon one-time group buy price against our normal retail price. Their normal price would be $1060 plus shipping vs. 1325 plus shipping. I think the doorsill group buy had already closed by the time subsequent posts were made. Although we are still more expensive, its not quite the difference that the group buy provides.

I've described why we don't do group buys on this thread: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268698

The Ferraricarbon doorsills are most likely one piece of carbon with a gel coat finish and a fiberglass backing. When you receive yours, check the back for the fiberglass spaghetti stings. Our sills are seven layers of carbon with a clear coat finish. Gel coat does have a different look and is much cheaper to produce. A gel coat product pops out of the wet mold almost done. Clearing a raw CF piece that does not have gel coat is like trying to paint your shirt. Obviously, since the door sills are cosmetic so its up to you which you prefer. From a purely cosmetic angle, I feel the carbon ‘pops’ much better with clear coat than buried under gel coat. This is the way all of their large pieces were made when I was the USA importer, so if its changed, then I’ll be happy to be corrected.

I've pointed out the difference in the handbrakes. I can understand going for a good price. But the seam going down the middle of the top is the only part of the handbrake you ever really see. Not only is there a seam but there is a large amount of distortion around the seam. It’s not an ideal solution. And if you have to buy two of them in case it splits in half, then it’s not that cheap after all. I prefer our solution as it solves all of the issues mentioned above. I've attached a pic of the FC handbrake (best I had) and an upclose pic of ours.
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Good explanation John, most buyers dont understand the manufacturing techniques for carbon fiber parts, and how they can really change the prices.

 

In carbon fiber, you really do get what you pay for. Thanks for the explanation, John.

575M sills and inserts are ~$2450. You could do well with those, I believe, but there are not nearly as many 575Ms as eight cylinders.

Taz
Terry phillips

 

The 550/575 model is one of my favorites. However, there just does not seem to be the demand for CF parts for it as there are for 8 cylinder cars. It’s partially a function of production numbers but more importantly, there are fewer parts to degrade in the interior of a 550. Half the Ferrari CF market is driven by the customers loving the look of CF. The other half is just people wanting relief from sticky plastic. That's why Robbie and his sticky-no-more service has done so well. We have a decent selection of parts for the Maranello but even then don't see that much movement. We do have molds for the 550 center console but have not had time to finish it.

 

John- There is probably as much of a market for the 575M as there is for the 550, even though there were three or so times more 550s. The reason is CF was a factory option on the 575M, and the OEM CF parts are clearly defined. Cost to buy OEM CF parts individually approaches $50K. The door panels alone are ~$9K each. The CF bins on the door panels are actually unavailable as spare parts. Considering the option was ~$9K, individual parts are atrociously priced.

Things like the radio panel surround would be very easy for you to do. If you want to buy OEM, you need to buy the entire tunnel piece with CF insert at ~ $2800. You could probably make a separate piece of CF for $300-400 retail and sell quite a few. The Superamerica actually had as standard a CF instrument panel, roof control surround and afore-mentioned radio panel surround. The seat control panel surrounds are another example, very expensive OEM (~$1800 each), but not that complicated to duplicate at a reasonable price.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Taz,

When I took out my interior in the 348 to make a racecar from it I was shocked at the mass! We had 50lb/seat...no lie! The console was heavy with many leather covered metal parts and 10,000 screws holding it all together and 10,000 steel ears to weld into. We can all agree that the 550/75 are pigs. In race trim a 550 is 2500lbs! That means we got over 1000lbs of crap on the cars. A pound here and a pound there add up to 1000lbs. CF interiors can do much to lighten the cars and make the engine performance and suspension shine brighter. The lightness of my 348 killed more powerful 355challenge cars on track. I think 500lbs out of a 550/75 is pretty easy. There is 150lbs right in the OE exhaust and 100 in the seats and I bet you could cut that in half. 500lbs is 2 big people out of your car. I guarantee you can feel that in all measures of performance. Our shock and spring combos are huge and heavy. Have you ever tried to one hand the front undertray? That thing weights a ton. Cf the undertray or even fiberglass it would be a huge improvement in mass.

 

FBB- There is absolutely no doubt weight was not much of a consideration in the Maranellos, or any 65 deg V12 Ferrari, except the F50 and Enzo, aluminum bodies notwithstanding. The CF interior pieces on the 575M are strictly ornamental, except possibly on the back of the racing seats. In the 575M, the CF trim is often in addition to the normal trim and adds weight. The instrument panel face and seat control covers come to mind. Nothing was there before.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Terry,

I learned recently that those door pockets are NLA. We'll have an interesting thread coming up soon on those - although we are not going to be making them.

I'll have to take a closer look at the 575's interior. I knew that CF was an option and that the Barchettas had it as standard. But I'll come back to my earlier statement that we don't see a lot of movement in the 550/575 market. We did the mirror triangles (which fit both cars) and although we've sold a few sets, it’s not been enough to really make us launch a whole program for the car. But I will take a look at your recommendation and see what we can come up with.
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John- The mirror triangles are nice, but were not part of the factory option on the 575M. Let me know if you would like me to make a list of all the OEM CF parts for the 575M for you.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Beautiful CF parts John!! Now send those sticky mirror triangles down to me!

 

Terry,

The triangles replace the ugly sticky factory and are great looking to boot. Maybe the 12 cylinder crowd likes to stay 'stock' but these are a nice upgrade that would fit in with factory parts.

That would be great if you'd make a list. Thanks for the help. Although if we just stuck to what the factory did, the list of Ferrari parts we do would be very small. I will say we've only gotten 3 requests in four years to doa CF wheel for the 575 - and the factory did offer the wheel. Maybe what we are missing is the critical mass of parts for the car.

Robbie, the triangles are almost not worth the postage...... but if you want them....

 

Dave,
What year is your car? The mirror switch is different between early and late models. I think the switchover was around 2000 but I've seen them mixed into various years.