F40 vs. CGT - compare & contrast

To be honest, I was surprised, but I guess I shouldn't have been....I think it just shows that the 3.5 second times that are posted on most publications for the F40 are very, very real...

 

i love the F40 more then many other Ferraris... but to compare it against the CGT... the CGT has compromises where the F40 doesnt; yet on a track; the CGT will still out corner most any production car in terms of mechanical grip.

the F40 uses the best of light weight, and race track tuned balance, whereas the CGT is NS tuned balance (as well as Spa, HHR, and a few other tracks)... the CGT can be driven in teh real world... and in fact was designed to be... the F40 is the get out all out race car that happens to have street plates.
both have taken diffferent approaches; and meet similarly with over a decade separating them

I would take the CGT; but its not an easy decision.

 

To me it's the hardest decision to take.
Probably... A Ferrari F40, better if it's the LM version.;-)
A race car on the road, that's why i love it.

I had the opportunity to drive the CGT 2 months ago; i'd like to drive an F40 so i can make a proper comparison anyway.

 

I would take the F40 anyday over a CGT just because....it's an F40!

 

And IMO you made the correct choice!

 

Although i love the macho 80'sness of the F40, i would choose the CGT in this case. One thing i really love about the CGT is the noise it makes, it sounds incredible

 

Have you?

And fill out your profile.

 

As much I love the F40, I can't help but feel that it's an anachronism today. I've driven the F40 on numerous occasions.. (one had 620hp) - *ON A DETAILED POST-DRIVE ANALYSIS* I couldn't help but come away thinking - how "bad" the chassis is, in comparison to todays cars.
I thought the brakes were bloody awful, the gearbox was agricultural and the car was better suited to going quick in a straight line : The thought of taking it on a windy British road and driving FAST, fills me with horror - being unable to stop, the non-linearity of the power delivery, the heavy steering, and the bloody wheelspin everywhere. Also the build quality SUCKS! It must have been TERRIFYING in 1988.

BUT... and this is a BIG BIG BUT....

WHO CARES???

because the while the F40 is "objectively" IMO a hugely flawed car, the F40 is simultaneously the absolutely most thrilling/scary/utterly f**king SAVAGE motoring experience out there. When those turbos spool up and it's starting to lose traction over white lines in the road and the Tubi LM pipes are SCREAMING, and you're SOOO close and so involved in the action.... the other **** doesn't matter.
If I wanted to demonstrate to a car-philistine, how thrilling cars can be I'd take him out in an F40. I wish Ferrari still built cars like this.

The Porsche Carrera GT is the modern day F40 (as the Enzo is just techno overload.)

Which one would I get if I could have just one - the Porsche. But that decision is sooo much closer than the F40 has any right for it to be.


P.S.I would say that if I got an F40, I'd BUY some LM spec brakes and tweak the suspension!!!!!

 

nicely put...that about sums it up !

 

I had an F40 in the 90's for about 4 years. The car was brilliant. I drove it on the track, hillclimbs to the shops and to work. It wasn't a daily driver, nor was it my only car.....but it could be used as such if you wanted. You could putter around with it like an Accord or embarass sport bikes (which I did on a number of occassions).

As far as the brakes being poor....rubbish!! If you can drive a sports racer and you have some leg muscles, they were incredible. The stopping distances were short and the feel was perfect. And the garbage I hear about terror on windy roads..........these drivers must have zero feel, touch or enough experience with the car. There was no better 'driver's' road Ferrari on a windy road. Period...provided you knew how to drive the car and stay in the power band.

Is it a car for everyone? No Is it a car that you have to learn? Yes. Is it a car that requires deft skill? Yes. Does it reward those abilities? Yes...in spades!!

I've driven a CGT and it is a great car with some amazing technology, and is a car that like the F40, could bite hard in the wrong hands...........but so is my SL55!! The F40 is the purer exerpience, in my mind.

 

Great, interesting points Murci Boy.


Forza,


Cavallini

 

It says a great deal about this car that two different drivers have such completely different experiences. Reminds me of the CGT....



Forza,


Cavallini

 

I think there's a big difference in driving an F40 and owning one. I had one for 2 years and thought it was brilliant and predictable. Why? Because I was used to it and had a feel for it, much like you obviously did. There's just something about them.

Incidentally, I never had a brake problem with it on any of the tracks I drove it on, but then again, there weren't any sticky tyres back then that would fit the wheels...who knows how the brakes would cope with that. Big deal though...not much of an expense to upgrade.

As has been said, the fact that the F40 is even compared to any of these cars is quite remarkable.

A friend of mine had an Enzo and F40. He assures me that the Enzo is significantly faster, but nowhere near the fun. I'll have to take his word for it.

Personally, I think every car's got something and I'd never knock a CGT, Enzo, Veyron, Zonda...etc etc. Every one of them...sensational in their own right.

 

Thanks for your "constructive" views.....(i.e masked insults)

The brakes were appalling for road use. This is a widely accepted view as it was very difficult generate sufficient brake temperatures on the road. (the absence of assistance has no bearing - my leg muscles can cope just fine thank you). My assertion is backed up by my own and many others driving experience and the fact that most hard driving F40 owners have changed the brakes to LM-type derivatives (possibly with modified master cylinder) along with a set of speedline/enkei type wheels to accomodate the larger discs etc.

Although I conceed that my experience with the F40 will be limited in
comparison to an owner, there's no getting away from the fact that even with YOUR Schumacher-level skills, the cars steering, damping, and aerodynamic and mechanical grip are from a different era. And seeing as we're comparing against the Carrera GT this is very relevant. Your views are at odds with Ferrari themselves, who thought the car was exceptionally savage - Enzo Ferrari himself wanted would-be owners to come to the factory to familiarise themselves with the F40 - this is well documented.
In the 90's and with your "supreme" driving skills you were no doubt under the impression that you were going quick and the F40 was the perfect car for a windy road - I think not and prefer a more objective view personally.

Given the choice between a F355 and and F40 to drive in the Scottish highland roads, I'D ALWAYS TAKE THE F40 but I know the F355 would be a better car through the twisties.

My point is that this does not make the F40 any less thrilling though - I love this car.
I personally think the Ferrari F355 is probably the best balanced Ferrari of the modern era all the same.

 

errrrrrrr...you have GOT to be kidding?

 

fantastic! when can i pick it up?

 

a big gape between Ferrari and Porsche it s my ignorance of Porsche.
i ve got red blood in my veins, but i try to see what happened with others constructors sometimes. So compare F40 and CGT why? F40 it s a Classic
of Ferrari. CGT vs Enzo i m ok. different technologies, differents conceptions
and used.

F40 was vs Diablo, Jag 220 if i remenbered.

F40 it s a sound, pur sport, the last car build by Enzo. it s 40 years of story
resumed in one car called F40.

 

Except for the highly tweaked twin-turbos/fuel management, there was really nothing high tech about the F40, even back in '87. Its formula was simple-----light weight + high HP = FAST!!!! The light weight is a big part of the what makes the F40 magic. Bottom line it's got the light weight, and other deficiencies such as brakes/handling can be readily updated, as can power if 480 HP isn't enough!!

Though I haven't driven the F40 or CGT, I think I would rather have a well sorted upgraded F40 any day. Besides the tremendous power potential with higher turbo boost, it's an ICON of my childhood in the '80s and looks as hot as ever to me, like an '80s Le Mans prototype taken straight from the track......