Finally got to mounting my Premier Motorsport skidplates today after having scraped the bottom of my bumper a couple of times. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had mine installed before I took delivery. I was really surprised how big they were as compared to the little ones on my 360. I hope we never have to use them! Frank
It's a good idea to install them immediately at delivery to prevent any scrapes to the bumper. These boomerang skidplates are much larger than the 360 ones, they cover the complete bottom.
I had them put on prior to pick as well. They have worked out quite well in protecting the front bottoms.
I have the Premier ones on both my CS and my F430. He revised the CS ones so they wrap all the way around like the F430 ones. Much better!
We need to get Dave at Premier Motorsport to check whether the Scuderia will use the same skidplates as the F430 or it needs a slightly different shape.
+1 Those are the nicest skid plates [coverage-wise] I have ever seen! I want to see what the 360 ones look like, may have to jump ship...
They are by far the BEST, most OEM-looking, and effective skid plates made bar none! All those little short generic-shaped skid plates look like an afterthought (which they are) but Dave's look like they came from the factory. Ferrari of Orange County installs them on all their new cars prior to delivery.
I think Ferrari of Orange County charges $200 or $250 a set depending on the car. You can do installation yourself ... very simple. I happen to have a lift in my garage so it was really easy with the front bumper hanging off the edge of the lift. Without a lift you would need to jack up the front. Best to do the install with two people. Need to align it properly and mark the spots to drill about five or six holes for the screws/nuts. Loosen the floor panel and you can get your hand up inside the bumper with a wrench. Small socket (8mm I think) and the wrench and you'll be done with the complete install in about 45 minutes.
So, Tarek, is this (Premier Autobody (310) 559-1562. Owner is Dave.) the same "Premier" where you bought these skidplates or is Premier Motorsport a different place?
I have never installed them on any of my Ferrari's. When I have the Accuclear installed, I ask the installer to double up the bottom and that usually protects me from minor scrapes. The only car I have a problem with is my 911 GT3 RS which has a spoiler lip about 1" off the ground and because of its shape, the bottom edge cant be covered. Luckily it only costs about $250 installed. I have already replaced it in the first 30 days of ownership.
Yes, it's not Premier Autobody, it's Premier Motorsport Inc. Phone number is correct....the owner is David Freed.....excellent guy.
Skidplates cost US$ 485,-. I installed them myself. Installation is a simple task....takes about an hour with no sweating, however you need a car lift.
That is part of any F430. I hadn't reinstalled the front guard yet which covers that section and is bolted to the bumper.
Doesn't the skid plate get scratched if/when you hit something??? By adding to the bumper, doesn't that create LESS ground clearance? What's the difference between spending $500 on skid plates that require you to 'drill' holes into the bumper, than spending $500 to get the bumper painted in a few years if you really want to?
If you don't have the skidplates, scraping the bumper not only scratches and removes the paint but also wears the fiberglass material of the bumper making it weaker which can lead to cracks in the bumper material. These are difficult to fix and costly. If you look under the F430, you will also find 8 bolts at the front just behind the bumper, which secure the front undertray or guard to the bumper. These bolts are lower than the bottom of the bumper by about 5mm. When you scrape the first thing which hits the road is one of those bolt heads which puts a lot of stress on a very small fiberglass fixing point on the bumper's inner lip which causes it to crack, making you loose at least one fixing point which you need to repair which is a hassle. Fitting skidplates makes the bumper the lowest point, therefore when you scrape, the skidplate will take the hit and more or less distribute the stress over a larger surface area which is the bumper's bottom and it will be the skidplate which wears off. I am telling you this from experience as I did not install skidplates on my first F430 and I did not notice that these fiberglass fixing points on the bumper's inner lip were broken due to the bolt heads hitting the obstacle first until the whole undertray came loose after the last one or two broke. The result.....I bought a new bumper which was very costly and I installed the skidplates which prevented the above issues from happening again. Now I also have the skidplates on my 2007 F430.
