Enough with the Flappy-Paddles only

When I was waiting for an allocation for a 6 speed 430. I got several calls from then dealer offering me an allocation for an F1. They told me the factory was not building many 6 speeds and was concentrating on F1 cars

 

This is accurate, but I'd also add ferrari builds cars to perform. Paddle shift boxes are simply faster than humans. Too many new car buyers wants bragging rights. It's sad to stay, but the manual's days are numbered...and I'm a die hard three pedal person.


Mark

 

Having driven both I still prefer a manual in a sports car, less disconnected imo.

 

i have 2x modenas
one is stickshift and the other one is f1, the tcu software is 197533

as a 3 peddal guy, I have to say , the f1 is more fun to drive and it totally changed my mind after owning it.

 

That is true. And if you pass your manual test then you can drive both.

The general, simplified principle used by the authorities when it comes to cars in Europe is that if there is no clutch pedal or manual clutch control mechanism that has to be operated by the driver then the car is officially classified as an automatic and can be driven with an automatic licence.

So all of Ferrari's flappy paddle road cars can be driven on the public highway with an auto licence (but their F1 car, were it road legal, would need a manual licence due to there being manual clutch paddles behind the steering wheel!).


Just to add:

The number of people who would want to have a manual gearbox in a Ferrari now is just too small to justify the cost of development.

Slowly, one by one, We old dinosaurs who grew up shifting a gear-lever around to change gear are dying out! - The playstation generation that are following us are growing up getting used to paddle shifts long before they can even legally drive!

To them, shifting gears using a gear-lever will be the equivalent of what driving a car that requires to be started using a crank handle on the front of the car would be to us!

 

I understand fun, a rollercoster is fun, but there is no personal satisfaction of a skill well executed.

 

What he said. I was reading a preview article on the new Audi TT today (European version), and the 0-62 mph performance difference was close to a full second. You'd really have to order the Dumbed Down and Slow package to delete the DSG box. The DSG in my current Audi is second only the the PDK I test drove in a new Boxster, but both are phenomenal once you learn the cars.

I agree with you, but ... why do you WANT a 458 if it's more boring than the cars you have, will depreciate rapidly, and you have no need to go faster? I'm sure a big chunk of Ferrari's investment in the 458 went into the gearbox.

I also have a 356A Speedster, and as you know it's the other end of the spectrum from an F430. Which is exactly why I love it. But, an old school three-pedal manual would be out of place in a modern Ferrari, the same way fuel injection would ruin the character of the 356.

All of which shows that this board isn't a representative sample of new Ferrari buyers. If you look at the hundreds of used F430s on the market, they're mostly F1 Spiders. Yet many (most?) here would say they want a three-pedal coupe. Ditto the 308/328, where people fawn over GTBs, when the real world answer was that 6 out of 7 buyers (approx) went for the spider.

 

This. I am a flappy paddle guy. Had lots of 3 pedal cars but don't want to drive them anymore. I do think manufacturers should offer the option but it will be the first owner that makes the decision. If a car is built to order then a manual should be an option but this will leave very few 3 pedal cars left for the secondary market as virtually no one orders them that way. The future is here and 3 pedal cars are the passenger pigeon of the 21st century. Well maybe not the passenger pigeon more like the albatross. A few remaining but endangered.

 

There was a time during my driving experience when not having a manual was unthinkable. Be a Porsche or Ferrari a manual transmission was the way to go. So cool to work through the gears, especially the moment you would downshift and that sound was just music to the soul. But one day, I just woke up and decided to do something totally out of character and buy a paddle shift 1999 F355. And I must say, I really enjoy the car. Think because it is a Ferrari makes all the difference. I have a BMW Dinan 330ci quasi automatic and it is rather boring to drive. Nor would I ever buy an automatic Porsche. But to satisfy my need to shift in a Ferrari, I am looking to purchase a classic, all be it expensive 308. Be it 3 pedal or flappy-paddle it is still a Ferrari, one of the best cars to drive period.

 

3 pedals. Have flappy paddles on my modern DD, and I much prefer rowing the gears on my 308.

 

Most newer Ferrari's that I see on the road around Vancouver are owned by people stuck in traffic in 'auto mode'. They didn't buy the car for cool drives but so they look good pulling upfront at a trendy place. The 458 is the first Ferrari since the 355 that I really like. I wish they had a three pedal option.

 

There is something immensely satisfying for myself executing the perfect heel & toe downshift before entering a sharp turn, a supreme connection with myself ,the car, the road/track, that the mundane effort of touching a flappy paddle will never duplicate.

I'll gladly concede the higher lap time, for the Greater sensation,connection,enjoyment of 3 pedals.

 

well i guess the good news is that in 20 years, hardly anybody will be able to steal most of my cars !!

 

I prefer manual, but it took me time and eventually gave up searching for a late-model red manual 360 and decided, to hell with it, am going for F1. Life is too short...

 

Yes, but Italians don't even buy Ferraris so it's a moot point.

 

Maybe the original consumers of $300,000 cars can,
But what about the people who take over these cars at 5 years, 10, years, 20 years down the road?

Anyway I happen to have the scratch for a 458, but for now I am keeping my F355 M6.........

 

This might have something to do with it.

Ferraris Out of Fashion as Italy Nabs Tax Evaders - Bloomberg

 

I remember doing laps at Road Atlanta in a 355 (F1 and MT), which is a very challenging road course for sure. No question - for a track like that, you'll definitely appreciate what an F1 transmission can do for you. F1 lightens the work load and lets you focus on driving the car.

However, for driving on public roads, I see no great justifiable need for the F1 system and find MT to be much more involving. The focus on public roads is far different from a track, IMO.

 

+ 1, for most of us in their 50s-60s we relate more to manual and not so much to high tech- split second electronic aid. My new BMW X3 2.8 is full of electronic gadgets for energy efficiency-navigation/on star-adaptative cruise control and many other guizmos that honestly I barely use and find it more distraction/accident prone than safety enancement.
I have serious reserve about all that wizzardery 5-10 years from now either in the BMW or say a F 458. For that reason my friend who owns an Italia will change it before it's extended warranty expires so he is already commited to a $ 300,000 plus expense 3 years from now ( minus the trade-in) that does'nt make sense to me.

 

If Ferrari could make more money making manuals, they would have done it.

The manual car is on the same evolutionary curve as the Dodo bird. It's being killed off one at a time until no know notices there aren't any more of them -- and few care about it.

 

Ferrari do not build cars for these people!

 

I find this very disheartening. This just serves to justify cars that continue to isolate us from the road; on to the path where cars drive themselves, and we will no longer be allowed to drive at all.

At least Ferrari lets you turn all that garbage off.

Judging from the high premium prices for used Ferraris with MT, I still believe there is a market for this type of transmission.

I would love to see Ferrari build an "F40" type minimalist car again for those who really want to drive them without all the automated assistance. They should be cheaper to produce as well - and lighter.

 

Interesting to note, the more "nanny" features, the Greater driver disconnection from the vehicle, the more mundane the driving experience becomes.
Modern cars with incredible performance potential/s, that few drivers ever come close to even marginally experiencing.

Unless a high performance modern Sports car is actually taken to a track & driven by an owner with High Speed/ Performance Driving training, where are this 500-1,000 Horse Power cars able to be exercised?

Being that the overwhelming majority of flappy paddle Ferraris will NEVER be tracked, the micro-second shifting becomes a mute point when taking the girlfriend out to dinner.

 

Having just picked up an '80 308 on Tuesday, let me just say this: A manual in a car like that with 200HP makes the driving experience charming; trying to put a manual in a LaFerrari would probably cause the universe to self-annihilate. The very idea is preposterous.

Note the professional driver who kept his paddle shift in automatic to get the best times. The clunky auto in my 456M is not in that universe, but it sure does make driving aggressively perfectly, simply, logical: You have a go pedal, and you have a slow pedal. This is the future.

Those of us who treasure the analog involvement of the past are becoming relics, so we drive relics. I happen to appreciate modern tech too, so I have a more modern V12 to enjoy that.

That era is over, unless a retro-modern movement happens...

Cheers,

George