Soon, (not too soon but in a few years after I own a home) I want an F430 spider.


Just out of boredom, I went to look on cars.com for market prices.



I had to go through 64 results before I found the first one (coupe OR spider) with a stick-shift.


Since the overwhelming majority of these cars features the F1 (tells you something about some of the buyers...since I'm sure most of them don't race!) I was considering trying to warm up to it.


Can anyone who has driven it give a brief review? Do you like it? Prefer it? What are the benefits? Is it just as fun to drive? Do you ever wish you had the stick? Any additional info.



Thanks for all your input I should go ask Fchat too.

 

The F1 transmission in the 430 is excellent. I would see no reason to go with a 6speed unless you really feel you need it. The F1 is easier to drive fast and actually faster than the 6speed. It is a blast to drive IMO.

 

The F1 has improved over the years. IMO, early F1s were clunky - the car might lurch when shifted. The F1 in the 599 and 430, however, is very quick and smooth.

You need to drive the car, of course, to decide whether the "stick" is essential for you. I race, and find the F1 much like proper sequential gearboxes.

 

IMO, it's crap. Better than the 360, much better than the 355, but still driver-isolating boy-racer nonsense.

 

I really enjoy stick-shifting. If I was a racer/tracker I would use the F1.


I think that if I am going to invest a lot of $$ into my dream car I am going to get it how I want it


Thanks guys.

 

is it like the 360 where if you pull up to say a driveway slowly, to inch onto it, you have to press the gas hard and sharp to get the car "moving" and then modulate the throttle from there to move up the driveway?

hard to explain, but in the 360 i had to pull up to the driveway, and instead of pressing the gas pedal softly and smoothly, i had to press it hard, then release quickly to get the clutch to disengage or something. wasn't the easiest thing to maneuver in a tight spot.

i find it hard to fathom someone who wouldn't want the feeling of banging the 6 speed through the metal gate, awesome.

 

I'm happy with the F1 tranny in my F430. 1st to 2nd somewhat lurches but I need a bit more practice. The other gears are really smooth shifting.

Don't need to step on the gas hard either while manuevering.

Since my M3 is a 6 speed manual, I prefer the F1 in the F430.

 

Do you ever find yourself wanting the 6 speed or missing it?



Has anyone driven the 6 speed to give some evaluation?

 

I've driven both. I'm not crazy on the 430 in general in the looks department, but the gearbox is as good as anything they've made yet. Very easy to shift, no chatter or other nonsense slipping into first. Just does what you want it to.

The F1 is as boring as all the other cars that have it.

 

"I think that if I am going to invest a lot of $$ into my dream car I am going to get it how I want it"


And that, my friend, is the only way to go.

Funny how the F1 v. stick debate always brings out the "purists." Do the "stick or walk" folks miss the manual typewriter, which offered such exquisite feel? The black and white TV, which offered gorgeous grays? I don't get it, but it doesn't matter!

It's all about what you like. Good luck.

 

That is generally believed, but honestly, I am not a purist. I am extremely liberal.


I just genuinely enjoy the stick more. Call me crazy.



To me, driving stick is like second nature. When I am not in a stick car, I find myself looking for the clutch and sometimes the handbrake.


It's strange because if you think about the concept of a manual transmission, it is VERY outdated technology, yet for some reason having that perceived control of your car and its actions is irreplaceable.

 

A typewriter, and arguably a TV, are tools. I'll use whatever one works better, just as I prefer a mac to a pc for the same reason.

A road-going sports car is not a tool, or at least it shouldn't be. If all a car is to someone is a tool, they should probably just get a Lexus or a Caddie with a slushbox to haul them from a to b in luxury, and be done with it.

A Ferrari, or any sports car really, is about the experience of driving. It's about being involved in the process and enjoying it to the fullest. It's about being in control of your vehicle. It's something that requires skill to do properly.

Now, personally, I love technological advances in cars, so long as they make the car better, and aren't a bandaid for a driver lacking skill, or a gimmic of the same.

I'm not one of those who consider carbs better than EFI-- because EFI is better. Same deal with four-valve multi-cam engines versus older designs. Direct-fire ignitions, carbon brakes, better suspension geometries and so on, all good things.

However, traction control, stability control, ABS, flappy paddles, and anything else that attempts to do something better than a human are not good things, because they numb the experience and make up for driver shortcomings. If you can't drive a F40 properly, the answer is you shouldn't, or you should learn how, not, oh, we can fix that with a few computers.

The arguments for flappy paddles, in particular, is that they do a better job than a human can in certain situations. They shift faster, so it's said, and always execute a perfect rev-match without the driver ever having to know how to do it.

I say nonsense. My sports cars are not race cars which I run competively in a series, in which a few miliseconds a shift, or a missed shift, will cost me a position or worse. They're driven on the road, and in all "driving in anger" instances I can shift a conventional gearbox just as well, if not better in some cases, than a computer can.

However, the part the boy racer wannabes tend to ignore as they're going on about how fast their F1 box will shift, is the situations one runs into on the road in which F1 sucks horribly. Like crawling slowly in traffic, inching up an incline slowly, backing up a steep driveway, and any kind of off-throttle slow crusing. These are situations in which computers can't do a better job than a human, because they aren't smart enough to be situationally aware of all the things someone who drives a stick automatically is. They have been getting better, certainly, and there may be a day when they're just as good as a human shifting gears, but they're a pretty long way off right now.

So, for me at least, for a sports car driven on the road, I can do it better than a computer can when flogging it through the twisties, and much better than a computer can while cruising around or crawling through traffic. And ignoring the technical, driving a manual for me is more rewarding, and more enjoyable by far than yanking on flappies and letting the computer decide what it wants to let me do.

 

Interesting reply - I agree with you about the F1 in traffic, it's easier just to put the thing in "auto" mode and forget about it.

Perhaps the F1 truly shines on track - I've owned and raced cars with sequential boxes, and I have a 430 Challenge (not a sequential, but flappy paddles). The flappy paddles prevent errant and expensive downshifts, of course, but also enhance control IMO.

I feel that those who insist on a manual as the only true path - as opposed to those who merely state a preference for it - are simply picking the package of technology they prefer, for example manual but no ABS - and elevating it to be all and end all status. I think the distinction between "things that make the car better" and "bandaids" is difficult to make and probably subjective.

But, great post and, to each his own.

Regards, Will

 

I'm printing this out this whole post and showing to everyone who keeps asking me: "Why do you always buy a stick?"

 

I'm printing this out this whole post and showing to everyone who keeps asking me: "Why do you always buy a stick?"


?

Well, print this out, too: I strongly recommend the F1, and wouldn't order a Ferrari without it. I'd also recommend the ceramic brakes.