Handling 550 vs 575

believe some felt the early 575's were a bit soft and tended to 'porpoise' as you describe vs. the 550.

suggest you drive both and see what you think....550 vs 575 w and w/o fhp

if you do a search...you will see exactly what components fhp changes out.

if you agree...and you have difficulty finding a 575 w fhp...it can be added. i have seen price quotes for the entire package installed between 5-10K$....believe it was only about $4K as factory option.

i felt the porpoising was quite noticeable after driving several...and was lucky enough to find a 575 w fhp. they are out there.

good luck.

 

Or just changing the springs is the cheapest way to solve the porpoiseing thing on either model. The 575 is expectedly more refined as it should be. The price of them figures in too. 3 pedal vs f1 are also an issue where 550 is 3 pedal and 575 are mostly f1. From there it is mostly tomato or toe ma to.

 

So is the 550 not supposed to porpoise at all? It seems like mine does under hard acceleration. I thought that was expected. New springs/shocks in order?

 

Hokie, agree with P1turbo's advice and FBB solution. Also think the dealers comments were exagerated. The early 575's do porpoise to some degree. As the car has evolved with upgrades, it became less and less. FHP cars do drive more firm however, everyone's taste is different.
In my case, I was set on a particular color combined with a good maintenance history and ended up opting for a 2002 without FHP. Figured I'd try it, decided FHP was needed and added it. As FBB said, you can start with springs and add parts to taste. The single most positive change for me were the springs.
As a matter of perspective, I drove a C6 Z06 and prefer a firm ride.
Bill
FL

 

O0550,

Porpoising is not weight transfer travel but undulating due to improper spring selection and failure to set car up right. It empirically starts with spring select tion based on chassis frequency then tuning. Sometimes a oem only gets it almost right.

 

Most 575 do not have FHP and I'm happy to believe most of their owners do not even take them out of standard suspension mode as they are not sports cars but touring cars with a sporty edge

As noted above salesmen are not always the best informed or accurate and it is relatively cheap & easy to tighten a standard 575 is so desired

 

Ahh, ok. Thanks FBB

 

Not exactly as most early cars had their suspension ecu upgraded - there are several iterations and many threads detailing the part numbers etc

 

Hi there,

I have 3 Maranellos 2 550s and 1 575 all 3 pedals stick shifts cars...

The 550 Rosso with all stock options just as the way Ferrari built it, is awesome... nothing you need to change when driving it on the street, maybe a set of Tubi rear mufflers and a straight center pipes and or X-pipes to brings out the sound... Very enjoyful to drive... smooth, fluidly elasticity engine response... Took it to the track several times... not quite so fun and fast when trying to push for laptimes...

The 575MM came with Fiorano Handling Package which is nice on the street... still the original 550 feels better on the street... I purchased one 575GTC suspension ECU from my friend's 2005 575GTC... it improved even more... the GTC setting would be the best suspension feel a stock 575 can get... problem is mine 575 is a 2003 without steering sensor not like the 2004 and 2005 models as TAZ once mentioned... so you get the suspension warning light... I track it several times... still not enough to be agreesive enough to get a good laptime out...

My Titan 550 which I track a lot with lots of modification... A set of custom made racing suspension as I have showed to FBB... Brembo Brake Kit, ultra light weight wheels, high flow cats, straight pipes to the rear end... Took out lots of weights... Swap both original seats with only one driver side bucket seat which weighs only 15 LBS... Take out A/C... Stereo system... Track setting alignments... and lots of other stuff to go with it... the car now weights less than 3500LBS, and it drives amazing on the track, I can put out pretty agressive laptimes... at least a lot faster than my F430 3 pedals stick shifts by 3 seconds easily... and similar laptimes to my brother's Scuderia...

Alex