Fellas- just came back from visiting my best friend from high school, who now lives in Paradise Valley, AZ- a very ritzy suburb of Phoenix. Although he was never a car guy and drove a candy apple Renault Alliance (a serious POS) thru most of the 80's and 90's before it left him stranded, he finally got the car bug and now owns a 2009 Aston Martin DBS, 2008 Ferrari 599 GTB, and most recently a 2009 Ferrari F430 Scuderia- with a '03 M5 as his daily driver. Besides spending some quality time catching up over lunch each day at In-N-Out, he also let me take the Scud out for some canyon-carving along some mountains just north of Phoenix. At the risk of sounding like a drooling high school kid fantasizing about Pamela Anderson on Baywatch years ago, I have to say that the Scud is a serious driving machine- heck, it's a complete driving experience. From it's spectacular lines, to it's super aggressive stance, carbon-fiber encased engine bay, stylish yet purpose-built ****pit, unmatched engine note, unparalleled handling, sublime steering, throttle response, etc, it is everything the mags say it is and more. But at the same time my mind was filled with all of these thoughts- I came away thinking too that the Scud also reinforced the GT3/911's place in the pantheon of great driver's cars- it really is 90+% of the F430 at a fraction of the cost, and makes me apprec the GT3 even more-

(Tried attaching pictures but uploads failed )

 

The Scud is Pimp, no 2 ways about it.. The Gt3 though can put it in its place for less $$ as you said..

MIke

 

The Scuderia is an awesome car, and very at home on the track. The GT3 is a fabulous car as well, no need to think twice about either car!

 

Give him a few years and some miles with the scud and then ask him how much fun he's having with repairs . $6-10K to hear "it's on a boat from Italy " . also ask him what it feels like to lose 100K on trade in versus keeping it to spend 30K to watch it break again .

Talk to the guys who work on the car . They are quite genius at figuring out what Ferrari seems to overlook in their repiar manuals. Unlike Porsche .. which is so organized in explaning solutions to common quirks.

That Ferrari. Yes it drives well but still can't shift like PDK unless one buys the 458 and I am still not so sure if their double clutch will be as reliable as Porsches system . It certainly wasn't reliable in the Ferrari California and you can find plenty of those for sale on auto trader.

It is a beautiful looking car BUT so is looking at an account value which isn't spent on a Ferrari. Because if one spends 200-400K for a car (used or new) -- it needs ro deliver in all areas from how it drives. to how easiliy it can be fixed, to how well it holds its value .

 

one's a high school sweetheart and one's a supermodel. they both have pros and cons.

 

yrralis1 totally nailed it! F-cars are fun to "date" but you don't want to "marry" one unless you have some serious financial resources behind you. The expression "money to burn" comes to mind.

The Italian supercars are arguably some of the sexiest designs in the world but unlike Porsche they don't have the engineering and quality control behind them to make them reliable. My Porsche salesman has some experience with "brand F" and he told me that some of their models will set you back 6K just for an oil change! When it comes to F-cars the price on the sticker is just the beginning.

From what I'ved learned about the history of "brand F" Enzo himself had virtually no interest in producing road cars. He was only interested in racing. It was an associate who convinced Enzo to build road cars and sell them in wealthy countries, primarily the USA so they could help finance his racing efforts. I don't believe Enzo spent much, if any time developing the road cars. If memory serves they were designed and built by a team put together just for that purpose. I'm sure he must have been involved to some degree if nothing else I'm sure he at least approved the designs and tested the models since it was his name going on them but his passion was racing and not road cars.

 

Just watch 2 episodes of Ultimate Factories back to back: the Porsche one, then the Lamborghini one. Just to get a sense.....

 

All of this seems to go around the money. He has a DBS, 599, F430 sud, and an M5...he doesnt care about money so why worry. F-cars are in no way designed to be DD and do not try to be. The saying "you have to pay to play" comes to mind.

Although a GT3 is one heck of a car, if I had the money I would choose the F430 Scud as well...you know you would too. There is a reason why Italy is the capital of fashion and cars. It's because the passion is there. Passion you dont really get from anyone else.

 

You guys are right on target about the $$$ involved - on both sides. For this guy, the initial outlay is not such a big deal - it would be equivalent to me buying a Camry (loaded up 6-cylinder, of course), but still he does gripe a bit about the service cost ($1500 for the 1000 mile service), insurance, and most of all yearly state and local registration which in AZ is based on the value of the vehicle- so he's paying about $15-20K/yr on each car for state and local tags, which doesn't improve much year to year given their relatively stable book values- according to the Arizona DMV. That's just plain insane. Of course, if I win the Powerball Mega Millions ($240 MM) tonite...

 

Agreed.
While we're at it: Forza Italia!

 

sorry dude, i'm winning te powerball tonite. if i do, i'll buy you a scud - preowned

 

F430 is an amazing car, My buddy acualy has a similar line up, 599 GTB (BLK) and an F430 (white w/red interior ) and his daily is an X6....anyways those ferraris are crazzzyy and they sound amazing, Love those cars

 

Most people say that the F-car steering is lacking, not on par with Porsche's.

 

but there is no way to really compare the two cars. The Ferrari is just a completely different experience. Not saying its better or worse but just completely different. For those that buy these cars the cost of maintaining the car is normally known going in and its just part of the game.

I know if money was not a consideration for me I'm taking a scud over a GT3 all day, but then again I would have a GT3 RS right next to my scud, and a zonda too.

Nice pics. wish I would have had the same experience this weekend

 

If you lust for F-cars... trade your Lambo for one.

.