Contemplating a foray into the ferrari world..

uh huh.

 

Welcome. Do a search and you will find most of your questions answered. My advice is to educate yourself thoroughly on the car you're interested in, test drive and talk to other owners. That's what I did. This question is asked every week. Best.

 

Hi,

Unfortunately, unless you provide more information a lot of people are not going to take you seriously/be able to help. We need specific questions to help. For example, posting the ads of the two cars you are considering would help. You have a GT3RS; do you want another manual or want to try F1? etc.

Regarding your other questions, the search button is your friend. There is TONS of information on this forum if you go searching for it.

Comparing to your porsche, why don't you go test drive and see? No matter what we say, the best route to discovery is by trial.

 

Are you serious? The cars are only priced $4k apart. That is almost nothing in this price range. The real question is what color and features do you want on your car? That will tell you if either one is interesting or not. Then do the research & background on the car that catches your fancy.

 

They will both be great cars, it should be a personal preference to which one you like better. Additionally, once you experience your first, you're going to want to get another. The 458 will be on your radar next year so I would consider re-sale on this Ferrari and for that, you may want to steer towards buying the F1 transmission.

I never owned a GT3 RS but I did have an 997 TT and I also had the Mas GTS. I sold them both after I bought my first Ferrari. The 911 is a great car but nothing compared to the experience of driving a Ferrari. If you often track your GT3 RS, you may be disappointed with the standard F430 on track days, but not so much for DE events. If you're in run group A or an instructor, the standard F430 will come up short of the GT3 RS on the track. You didn't say whether or not you were keeping the Porsche. You will be amazed on how better balanced the Ferrari is compared to the 911.

The best part of the Mas GTS is the exhaust note in sport mode. Other than that, it's a very heavy car and it just didn't give me all I wanted from a power stand point. The back seats on the Mas are very usable and as a GT car, it has a lot to offer. If you are keeping your Porsche and Maserati, the F430 is a great addition. You'll have your track car, your sports car and the sexy GT car with good back seats.

Let us know what you decide. In terms of your choice between the two 430's, buy the one that catches your eye the most. But beware, once you have this Ferrari, you will be looking for another one and if you drive a 430 Scuderia, you'll have a classified ad with your GT3 RS for sale.

Chad

 

I would recommend the switch from the RS to the 430 for several reasons. First, the RS (I'm guessing) doesn't get the track time it deserves. And when it's not on the track, you're driving a track oriented car with a massive carbon fiber wing around town (pointless IMO).

Second, the Ferrari is a more emotional experience than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. And on the road it's the feel, power and sound that makes a Ferrari so special and emotional. On another note, you'll see several 911 variants on the road at any given time, not so with a Ferrari.

I don't think you'll miss the short shifts and heavy clutch pedal of the GT3 RS one bit. On the con side of the F430, people will jump out of their cars while you're getting gas and gaze at the car, you'll come out of restaurants and there will be people taking pictures on their cell phone cameras and the worst so far for me is people taking video on their iPhones while on the highway, not paying attention and veering into my lane. Small price to pay

 

My vote would be the red with stick- both the tranny and color make it more desirable in my book than the black F1, and well worth the nominal difference in asking price. If you would only want stick with your porsche, well this car is as focused of a driver's car vs. the maserati which as you said is used more for everyday stuff.

Will you track the car a lot? F1 is great on the track I have heard on this site so that may be a consideration, although I'd still want the personal involvement of a stick even if I were going to track the car. I love the stick in my 360 and while the F1 especially by the 430 is very refined, there was only one choice for me.

The red will have better resale, be easier to keep clean and is the "traditional" ferrari color if any of that has any relevance to you.

-Andrew

 

DON'T DO IT!!!!

 

I owned a 997 GT3, and a 997 RS before my 430. That was the best car move I ever made. I've lost all interest in Porsche since then, though I still think highly of them. They're just so common, and every variant looks alike. The driving dynamics of the 430 is more exciting, the looks are to die for, and the sound is killer. I also prefers open top cars.

Of the two you are looking at, I'd go for the low mile red car. Sounds perfect. The other car is also very nice, I assume it's an F1. You can't go wrong with either, just choose a color and transmission.

You'll find many people here have graduated from Porsche to Ferrari, just do a search. You won't regret the switch. In fact, I don't recall anyone going from Ferrari to Porsche.

I do like the little Porsches, I still long for a Boxster, having owned two, as a great little around town car in the summer.