F430 performance enhancements

Yes, to all of the above.. IMO, it's a worthwhile investment. The increase in HP, the sound, the throttle response.. It's hard to believe that you can make these cars better, but I'm here to tell you, the fabspeed speed upgrades make these cars into frekin' animals!

 

Sounds interesting.... Will check this out too for my car.

 

It's well worth doing a re-tune of the ecu in addition to the cat deteles. Unfortunately the emissions needs come way before performance in the catalytic design process and the ecu's are tuned to allow room for error so that Ferrari doesn't end up buying you an engine if something goes out of whack.

There's definitely something to be gained here.

The secondary benefit is that the Ferrari cats are EXPENSIVE and don't have a great survival rate, so by putting them on the shelf you'll always have a set of preserved working cats for those emissions realted needs down the road.

It's an investment for a few different reasons, in my opinion.

 

If you do the ECU work and get an engine check light, how to you prevent the dealer from finger-pointing it was not the ECU reprogramming or exhaust work causing the problem?

Mike

 

Exactly. I'm not doing anything to my car until the warranty expires.

 

What year was it built and how many miles on it before the exhaust went to lunch?

 

There are ways to set the exhaust up so it doesn't set a CEL. As far as avoiding finger pointing...there's no way to guarantee that. That decision is made on the spot by whom ever is performing the work on the car and their willingness to work with the customer can vary greatly.

Some people have better relationships with their service dept. than others.

 

It is illegal in the USA (all 50 states) to remove catalysts or to replace a working catalyst with a "free-flow" alternative. If a licensed repair shop sees your car with test pipes/etc., there is a high likelyhood of them reporting your car to your state ARB/DEQ and/or the EPA.

This includes your dealer.

They can get a reward for reporting you, a fine for not reporting you.

Hilarity will NOT ensue. Your car can be impounded and even destroyed.

It seems a few more in this industry are going to have to be fined six or seven figures before this stuff stops.

For those that think this is a joke, see:

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/decrees/civil/caa/casper-cd.pdf

for an example.

 

I was thinking this was some kind of Extenze sponsored thread.

 

This is Bob.
http://www.spike.com/video/enzyte-smiling-bob/3266209

Funny commercials

 

and if Bob had a Ferrari, he would be smiling w/o Enzyte

 

I,am in the stage of doing my 09 scuderia been talking with Andrea Taurino best deal is a complete Capristo , 309 headers, free flow cats., capristo muffler with remote control valve for sound control all good for about 50hp and more Torque, I wouldnt touch ECU upgrade and ajustment just leave it alone, all my stock exhaust I,am going to put it away.

 

check it .....
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nice!

 

Everyone knows that test pipes are for off-road use only.. I don't know anyone that would dare to drive a car around town without having proper catalytic converters.

 

09 scud- Changing the exhaust voids the warranty. Unless you are absolutely filthy rich and do not care, very few sane owners would do that. Even if your car's warranty began in Fall 2008, you still have at least a year left.

Have you posted photos of your car here? Must be a nice one.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

My 07 was delivered in Jan '08 but my warranty expires Jan '11. So 3 year factory warranty, not 4. Was this extra year available at purchase?

 

Everyone "knows" wrong.

If you guys really don't think the EPA knows what's going on, you're only fooling yourselves.

This magical "off road" exemption doesn't exist.

Tuners are currently being subpoenaed by CARB and the EPA.

(Specifically because they have been "tampering")

Now, why do you think those tuners got subpoenaed?

Because one of their customers got caught - ratted like a fink.

So then the tuners get subpoenaed

Then they get the list of all the customers and WHAM - you get a visit from the EPA.

Big fines, seizures and forfeitures all around.

Unfortunately as Ferrari owners we're all big targets - you're all just making it easy.

 

+1

 

Well, if the EPA moves as fast as the SEC we won't have anything to worry about for awhile.

 

What I'm telling you is that the ball is already in play. I'm already getting panicked calls from customers and vendors of other tuners.

 

BB22- I was referring to 09 scud and his warranty, but, yes, there was another year of warranty over the 36 months available for a pretty substantial cost. Even the 3 years was a pretty good deal. Earlier cars like the 575M only had a two year warranty.

Ferrari has been playing hardball on the warranties lately and even simple things like exhaust changes can result in a refusal of warranty service. Their story, and they are sticking to it, is that changing the exhaust can adversely affect longevity, emissions, and the certified EPA/CARB configuration. Remember all those years of 49 state cars? I believe there are still some now, but forget which ones.

California is the worst place for screwing around with the OEM configuration, as Jim noted.

Taz
Terry Phillips
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I'm totally with LndShrk on the emissions issue, not only on the legal front but because I believe maintaining low emissions is the responsible thing to do.

But to go slightly off-topic, there does seem to be a problem with the pre-cats on at least some 360s, so what to do? It seems there is no legal way out. Replacing the headers with pre-cat-less ones is tampering, but replacing them with factory ones is (1) no guarantee of no problems; and (2) very, very expensive. I suppose the expense comes with the territory of owning these cars and one should just bite the bullet, but because there is no guarantee the replacements are any better than the originals you could just be throwing money away. So, just wait until the material starts to come loose and ends up damaging the engine? I don't think I should have to bear that risk, especially when the pre-cats are only responsible for enhancing low cold start emissions (which probably isn't much of an issue for most of us anyway, since most of us keep our cars in garages where it's not that cold).

I think the only legal solution might be to somehow "fix" the pre-cats so they don't come loose, but that may not be possible given how close they are to the exhaust ports absent a serious re-design with more robust materials and fastening methods. So we're stuck with a poor design where the only practical solution appears to be one that the law does not allow.

 

You are absolutely right.. there is no magic off road exemption and there is no way around "tampering" when making a modification to any car that rolls off the manufacturing line designed for highway use.. so whatever you do, never ever ever make any modifications to your cars, even if you race your cars for competition use only. Also, all you guys that unplugged your vacuum lines to bypass your mufflers, your illegal too (that's no joke).
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