F1 transmission 458 vs 430

The comparison is like a gun and a knife. The 430 and 430 Scud transmission are more visceral for sure but they do have lag and depending on how hard you are driving them they shift almost like a gun. Kind of Ka Bang.

The 458 has no lag, the shifts are instantaneous, almost like a CVT. More like a Ka without the Bang. It is like a butter knife through butter.

Recently I had the pleasure of driving multiple 458s and 430 Scuderias back to back to back with professional racecar drivers thrown in and everyone expressed amazement at the difference between the 458 and the Scud and that included the shifting.

The Scud and 458 are supposed to be the same speed, the truth is the 458 is way quicker than the Scud and not just in the hands of professional racecar drivers but in the hands of average Ferrari drivers too.

The transmission is part of the reason for this. In trying to compare the two, and I am not being a smartass, but there is no comparison. The 458 is not a step higher but a giant leap over the 430. You really have to drive one hard on a race track to experience what it is capable of. I can truly say that I have never had an experience like the one given by the 458 when you are shifting at 9000 RPM in every gear..........oops gotta change my shorts again

 

Night and day.

With dual clutch in the 458, there is no interruption of torque delivery to the wheels in between shifts, thus making it super fast, and super smooth.

In the 430, you'll get a 150 millisecond interruption of torque delivery to the wheels (60 milliseconds in a Scuderia), which is the jerk you feel when shifting.

 

can't wait to try it!

 

But does it feel too "automatic" or smooth? The visceral feel, especially in the Scud, is what makes it feel like you are actually shifting the car to me. Seamless or near-seamless shifting seems like it would take away from the visceral connection with the car? I'm sure I would not think that once I drive one though.

 

CVT....you mean like the one in a Subaru?

 

I'd use the term "quantum leap" in this context

There was certainly improvement in shift times and shift smoothness between the 360 and F430, but it's definitely a quantum leap into the 458.