noisy and harsh

you can buy a rolls royce, thats as quiet as they come. You're driving a race car with a 12 cylinder engine and a tubi exhaust to make it louder and you're complaining? I have the same car and the noise combined with comfort that the v8 cars dont provide is why I bought it. I've taken it on a couple 125 mile jaunts between miami and naples and its UNREAL on the freeway, unreal, never been in a car that goes 120 and you dont feel it. I have an SLR too and that is a real piece of junk compared to the 575 on the road.

 

What wheels do you have?

 

I would try some of the new Michelin Sport 4S tires.They certainly ride better than the PS2s.

 

Old, hard tires will do just what you described, but new ones (Michelin PS 4S are the best, as mentioned) will not cure it completely. Driving in Normal instead of Sport will also help.

By Bradan (brothers Brad and Dan) exhaust, assume you mean their X-Pipe. Should tame the Tubi quite a bit.

 

Has the car stock suspension?

 

2012 ? those are toast.

 

In what way? I enjoyed driving the SLR around the UK when it came out. Slightly nose-heavy but notably faster than 575 I remember? Traditional auto box but nice V8 noise and good cruiser. What makes it a piece of junk in comparison, intrigued!

 

On the highway the SLR is a great car, very uncomfortable vs the 575, but still an AWESOME car. Its at low speeds, driving to dinner, things of that nature where the SLR has an insanely heavy steering that just doesn't work in the city. I had an SL55 before and that has the same supercharge 5.5L v8 but that was honest to god all things considered, the best car I've ever owned which is funny bc its a $20k car today. The Sl55 had it all, luxury, convertible, exhaust, comfort. Just really the best car I ever owned, the New SL cars from 2009 on have just been awful to me and I never got another car. Anyways the SLR is an amazing car, in Miami its great bc everywhere I go out everynight there is a plethora of 458's, 488's etc and as you can see I like rarity so I have the 575 and the SLR. Love them both but the 575 on the highway is really an amazing machine, its so smooth, the seats are plus and comfy vs the bucket seats in the SLR. With that said Im actually selling my SLR now and looking to buy an aventador SV. I love the SLR but its running costs are very steep and its honestly not a car that has much functionality. Im always scared to drive it and hit the nose + my wife hates getting in and out of it. Part of the reason I was able to convince her to allow me to buy another exotic lol this newer one, the 575, had to be comfortable and have no issues getting in/out for her.
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I find there is a lot of road noise that comes through on mine (granted, it's a 550, not a 575), especially on concrete highways. I like to take my 550 on road trips more and more, so while I do wish the exhaust sounded better for shorter more spirited drives, I hesitate to modify my factory exhaust because I don't want to loose the quietness on the highway. The factory setup is pretty much silent when cruising. I have a set of 18" OEM wheels and aftermarket 19" wheels that were on the car when I bought it. The car is so much smoother with the 18", I'm really surprised what a difference it makes. So definitely, tires and exhaust are going to affect the noise and harshness level. In the end, it's never going to be a cocoon like highway ride, but you can make it pretty good. It also depends how much you are in it, and what you are used to. If I get in my 550 after driving my Jag for a while, it seems quite loud again, but I quickly adapt and forget how quiet my Jag is and then it seems pretty quiet again.

 

+1 on old tires being the likely culprit here. In any case, they should be changed after 5 years from manufacturing, regardless of tread left as the rubber dries out and becomes hard, losing grip.

Ruben

 

The 550 has metal to metal joints on the shock mounts and that is where a lot of the road noise comes from in a 550. You can do the Maranello Skunkworks conversion on the mounts to hyperblocks that is now handled by Delta Vee. Also cures the spinning actuator problem.

The latest Contis are very good tires, especially in the wet, but do not put DWS (dry,wet, snow) on a Ferrari, go with their ultra performance summer tires.

Unfortunately, the Michelin PS 4S is not available in the 18" sizes for the 550 and 575M, so next best choice is the PSS, which is still an excellent tire and fitted to my 575M.

 

You could evaluate the exhaust of a Italian friend ....
I test his 575 and is veri comfortable at cruiser speed...
About suspension .... is a taste thing , for me 575 is comfortable...
M.

 

I get a huge Clash when I get my 575 up to speed.

Then it Strummes hugely. And then it Rocks to the casbah widely.

Then I realize I am listening to the best rock band in the world behind the Stones.

 

I put in resonator delete pipes and a Stebro exhaust in my 550. It was way too loud, extreme resonance at 3200 rpm (normal cruising speed in So. Cal. in 6th). I put the resonator pipe back in and it's much better now. There is quite an art to keep performance while removing resonance, Ferrari did a good job for that.

 

Aha, thank you for replying and explaining! I love the fact that the SLR isn't functional enough so you're buying..an Aventador. That's cool.
I agree about the SL55. I remember driving it at the press launch in Germany and also posting about it on a forum, saying this car was as good as a 996 Turbo and maybe even a 550 blah blah (it beat the 550 in a Car magazine group test) and everyone wondered what I was on. A Mercedes SL Bobby Ewing car! If they had made 500 of them they'd be worth hundreds of thousands.
But they are mass produced and maintenance costs, that's a car that's more expensive than a Maranello.

 

Judging by the lack of likes to this post, it seems to have gone above most’s heads! I’m a kid of the 80s, so it was not lost on me!

Ruben

 

Hi,

I got that but despite my age I'm more of a Speed King, Highway Star, Space Truckin' kinda guy. And I have never driven a 575, but a 550 and even the 456 I have are a bit hard and loud for me. But what do I know, I've mostly been driving Jaguars and the E-type is about the kind of ride and noise level I am comfortable with. I think a stock 456 and 550 will be about the same if not just a tad harder and faster!

Cheers!

 

Taz knows the part numbers
But you might want to replace the suspension ECU with the earlier version
My 575 is an 02 with the earlier ECU and not as stiff they say. Personallly I think the car is stiff enough and still handles great for my taste
I think the early ECU are a bit cheaper too and only takes 15 minutes to change out