I've read the magazine articles and they all rave about it. But real world, objective experience is always better. Any and all experiences, even second-hand, are welcome? Forza, Cavallini
My brother just got his GTC 2 days ago...all I heard is that it's quite stiff for our roads. And he is complaining about the gear change that it seems to drop the rpm too much and a bit slow in picking up the rpm...might be a bug in the computer.
I read about the stiffness as well but the magazines said it wasn't too stiff. They were driving in Italy, the Alps and I think in Germany. I don't remember any of them taking the car on the notorious British B roads. Keep us posted of his experiences, if you would. Many thanks, Cavallini
I picked her up last Thursday. So far I've driven about 550km. Here is some short notes regarding what I found. 1- Sounds great idling. She has a deeper growl than a 360 and a much prettier noise comparing to 575M. Especially now, 500km later, she sounds even better! 2- Suspention is stiff. I haven't tried the 360CS but for sure this one is much stiffer than a regular 360, even the G. I also never drove a 575M so I can' compare them. However, the stiffness seems to be stopped just short of reaching my butt. I can feel the stiffness and that very low profile tires being punished by our horrendous road condition, but again it seems to have stopped before reaching the seat. If you know what I mean. 3- The F1 is not as well refined as I expected it to be after reading all reviews. I think there must be a computer glitch with my car regarding the transmission. Every time I change gear, the rev drops about 1,000 rpm which is not a bad thing, but there is about 1-2 second delay before the rev picks up. I checked and made sure my right foot is not lifted, and it was still doing the same thing. 4- Craftsmanship can be greatly improved. I got at least 6 spots to complain about on leather condition alone! The worst is the two pen marks on the lower dashboard just above that Championship plaque. I hope this help.
Many thanks. Other than the unthinkable craftmanship problems, it seems to confirm the reviews, although I can't wait to hear your handling experiences. When you describe your roads as bad do you mean bad in an urban, pothole, New York City sense, or do you mean it in an English B-road sense? Do you plan to take it back and demand new leather seats? Many thanks again, Cavallini
Dear Cavallini, I asked the dealer to take photo of the seats and all defects inside of the car in order for them to claim back to the factory. He had no idea though as to what the factory will do. He said that the leather shelf can be replaced with a new one. As for the seats, I don't have much problem with them because as time goes by, they will be worn anyway. Now that I have more time with her, the paint also has a few defect areas. I can't believe what time is revealing to me. I found at least three spots where finishing is way below par. Our road condition in Thailand is quite different from where you guys live though. It's like a mix between NY potholes and English B-road. Not that I've seen any English B-road, I've only read about them. But I've been through NY potholes though. The car will not have any ride problem if she is used where the road is respectably paved and kept up. I will drive more this coming weekend with our Sprint group. More report will be posted after the weekend.
Cavallini...we live in Thailand.....land of smiles...and horrible roads..ha ha ha. Some of the raods are very well paved and good condition. Some can be so bad you can't drive through them...so you really get to test the suspension and tires here, but it'd better be a luxo SUV...
Hey pwongd, congratulations on the new car. I had a similar problem with my 360 with the F1 transmission. I had just had a new clutch change and a little while after that (maybe a few hundred km) I recieved that the shifts were slightly delayed. I then tried to put the car into sport mode to see what would happen and everytime I downshift the tach would drop to 1000 RPM (even when downshifting from 6th to 5th gear on the highway). As soon as I put my foot on the gas again, the RPM would shoot up to 5000 or 6000 RPM. Long story short, I took it to my Ferrari dealer and they said the transmission ECU was gone. I paid $3500 CDN and got a new one and now the car is perfectly fine.
P, please forgive my rudeness. I didn't even congratulate you on your fantastic new beast in proper F-chat fashion. Congratulations! Give us a few details about her- color, interior trim etc, the usual F-chat requests. As far as I know you're the first on the board to have a GTC. You should start your own thread, when you have some pics to post of course. They'll hound you to death about them. I agree with you about the seats. I'd do the same. From what I've read here about the paint inconsistencies, some of that comes from the hands-on approach Ferrari still follows, obviously for better or worse. I'd ask some of the other members about there experiences and findings in this area. Congratulations again and many thanks, Enjoy the drive, Cavallini
I hadn't heard about the road part of Thailand but I have heard about the smiles. A friend of mine spent a few months there a year or so agao and loved it. He couldn't pay enough compliments to the people and their attitudes, everywhere and from all walks of life. We could use some of that over here. Is it something in the water there? Maybe you could export it. Forza, Cavallini
ksm360, thank you for your info. I just called the dealer today and let them know now that there is this problem with the car. I'll try her for a few more times before sending her in. However, I hope the warranty should still cover this part eventhough it's moving part since the car is so new. cavallini, My car is Titanium with Tan (Cucio) interior, not creme. Seats are Daytona with Black stripes. Shelf is leather shelf, sadly my request to add a GTO package was too late. There are also Scuderia shiels on the fenders. I'll have to ask Pong, my brother, to post the pic for me as he has the file. I am not that good at posting pics. Sorry. I hope he will get around to doing it tomorrow. He may be kind enough to post the one pic with his car in it!
Titanio and cuoio (SP) is gorgeous, one of my favorite combinations. The pics should be superb. Congratulations again, Cavallini
