Big brake kit for F430
Discussion
Slippydiff said:
Glad you're pleased with them 
The lads at BG are excellent (as is the quality of the components they manufacture) I'm looking forward to receiving my commission cheque off them ! !
Cheers. I picked it up today in fact after having it's annual at DK Engineering. I've been busy over the winter and in addition to the BBK have swapped out the Daytona seats for Sparco lightweights (-40kgs), fitted an AntiGravity Li battery (-16kgs), an OEM sports exhaust (-8kgs), CF airboxes, a DMS tune, Michelin PS 4S tyres and Novitec progressive springs all round. The car is now lighter, lower, stiffer and hopefully a little more powerful. I'm out on Silverstone on Wednesday so we'll see.The lads at BG are excellent (as is the quality of the components they manufacture) I'm looking forward to receiving my commission cheque off them ! !
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 19th February 16:39
thecook101 said:
Cheers. I picked it up today in fact after having it's annual at DK Engineering. I've been busy over the winter and in addition to the BBK have swapped out the Daytona seats for Sparco lightweights (-40kgs), fitted an AntiGravity Li battery (-16kgs), an OEM sports exhaust (-8kgs), CF airboxes, a DMS tune, Michelin PS 4S tyres and Novitec progressive springs all round. The car is now lighter, lower, stiffer and hopefully a little more powerful. I'm out on Silverstone on Wednesday so we'll see.
You're not my long-lost twin brother by any chance are you ? The above mods are pretty much exactly what i'd planned to do to this car which i viewed yesterday :http://steelcitysportsandprestige.co.uk/listings/f...
Here's my email sent to a mate an hour ago ....
"I really wanted a discrete colour ie not red or yellow, and I always liked Grigio Titanium with Bordeaux on the 550 and 360. Grigio Silverstone is the replacement for GT and is very subtle/discreet.
I wouldn’t want to pay any more than £75k for the GS car, and I think the dealer is expecting a low ball offer from what he said yesterday.
I’d planned to modify the car with some BBS wheels/decent tyres, get M*** at ***** to trim some proper bucket seats with Bordeaux stitching and Prancing Horse logo and fit a 430 Scuderia front bumper along with some high quality aftermarket lowering springs (or factory option items) and some bigger diameter brake discs using the standard calipers initially (though the standard brakes were fine yesterday despite being passed their prime) No doubt they’d be found wanting under duress.
All reversible mods, but would make the car much nicer to drive, a bit more focused, and a lot better to look at, all whilst remaining discrete. Total spend £12-14k as and when the budget allowed. No need to do any engine mods, though possibly fit a factory sports exhaust to replace the boomy aftermarket item currently fitted.
End result, a usable car (due to its “high” mileage) that wasn’t overly expensive to purchase initially, that would be discrete, good looking, comfortable for me (due to the bucket seat install) and fun to drive, and practical/not too high maintenance to keep looking clean"
Spooky or what ? Great minds ...
Slippydiff said:
You're not my long-lost twin brother by any chance are you ? The above mods are pretty much exactly what i'd planned to do to this car which i viewed yesterday :
http://steelcitysportsandprestige.co.uk/listings/f...
Here's my email sent to a mate an hour ago ....
"I really wanted a discrete colour ie not red or yellow, and I always liked Grigio Titanium with Bordeaux on the 550 and 360. Grigio Silverstone is the replacement for GT and is very subtle/discreet.
I wouldn’t want to pay any more than £75k for the GS car, and I think the dealer is expecting a low ball offer from what he said yesterday.
I’d planned to modify the car with some BBS wheels/decent tyres, get M*** at ***** to trim some proper bucket seats with Bordeaux stitching and Prancing Horse logo and fit a 430 Scuderia front bumper along with some high quality aftermarket lowering springs (or factory option items) and some bigger diameter brake discs using the standard calipers initially (though the standard brakes were fine yesterday despite being passed their prime) No doubt they’d be found wanting under duress.
All reversible mods, but would make the car much nicer to drive, a bit more focused, and a lot better to look at, all whilst remaining discrete. Total spend £12-14k as and when the budget allowed. No need to do any engine mods, though possibly fit a factory sports exhaust to replace the boomy aftermarket item currently fitted.
End result, a usable car (due to its “high” mileage) that wasn’t overly expensive to purchase initially, that would be discrete, good looking, comfortable for me (due to the bucket seat install) and fun to drive, and practical/not too high maintenance to keep looking clean"
Weird or what ?
Sounds spot on. You should definitely do it. I've not only had a lot of enjoyment completing the modifications but have ended up with a car that is hugely entertaining to drive and track. Silverstone was wet in the morning on Wednesday and stayed greasy the entire day so made for some interesting grip levels but the car was hugely entertaining once I sorted the tyre pressures. I have always had Bridgestones on it but last week put a set of Michelin PS 4S on and they are very different. I would normally drop the pressures a fair bit on the Bridgestones when out on track, but the Michelins have a much software sidewall and I was all over the place until I eventually settled on 2.3 bar in the front and 2.5 at the back. Anyway - I know it's not a race but by the afternoon I was going past everything including challenge cars and the (admittedly rather tentatively driven) Huracan Performante that was out there (well done to that owner!) Here are some pics of the car after the day and a video. Best time of the day (of course only looking at the data afterwards) was a 2:30 which on a wet/greasy track I was really happy with. More to the point though - a huge amount of fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDbp7Xf9SgYhttp://steelcitysportsandprestige.co.uk/listings/f...
Here's my email sent to a mate an hour ago ....
"I really wanted a discrete colour ie not red or yellow, and I always liked Grigio Titanium with Bordeaux on the 550 and 360. Grigio Silverstone is the replacement for GT and is very subtle/discreet.
I wouldn’t want to pay any more than £75k for the GS car, and I think the dealer is expecting a low ball offer from what he said yesterday.
I’d planned to modify the car with some BBS wheels/decent tyres, get M*** at ***** to trim some proper bucket seats with Bordeaux stitching and Prancing Horse logo and fit a 430 Scuderia front bumper along with some high quality aftermarket lowering springs (or factory option items) and some bigger diameter brake discs using the standard calipers initially (though the standard brakes were fine yesterday despite being passed their prime) No doubt they’d be found wanting under duress.
All reversible mods, but would make the car much nicer to drive, a bit more focused, and a lot better to look at, all whilst remaining discrete. Total spend £12-14k as and when the budget allowed. No need to do any engine mods, though possibly fit a factory sports exhaust to replace the boomy aftermarket item currently fitted.
End result, a usable car (due to its “high” mileage) that wasn’t overly expensive to purchase initially, that would be discrete, good looking, comfortable for me (due to the bucket seat install) and fun to drive, and practical/not too high maintenance to keep looking clean"
Weird or what ?
thecook101 said:
Sounds spot on. You should definitely do it. I've not only had a lot of enjoyment completing the modifications but have ended up with a car that is hugely entertaining to drive and track. Silverstone was wet in the morning on Wednesday and stayed greasy the entire day so made for some interesting grip levels but the car was hugely entertaining once I sorted the tyre pressures. I have always had Bridgestones on it but last week put a set of Michelin PS 4S on and they are very different. I would normally drop the pressures a fair bit on the Bridgestones when out on track, but the Michelins have a much software sidewall and I was all over the place until I eventually settled on 2.3 bar in the front and 2.5 at the back. Anyway - I know it's not a race but by the afternoon I was going past everything including challenge cars and the (admittedly rather tentatively driven) Huracan Performante that was out there (well done to that owner!) Here are some pics of the car after the day and a video. Best time of the day (of course only looking at the data afterwards) was a 2:30 which on a wet/greasy track I was really happy with. More to the point though - a huge amount of fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDbp7Xf9SgY
I thought your entry speed at 4.00 looked slightly ambitious 
Do you take a change of underpants with you on trackdays ?? 
Sorry, so many questions ...
How were the brakes ? (they clearly produce lots of brake dust if those images are anything to go by) .... What pads did BGD supply with the calipers ?
I hear really good things about the PS4S's in the wet. Have you had the car aligned since fitting the Novitec springs ? If so, did you go with stock settings, or add some additional camber ?
How much were the springs, and how much have they lowered the car ?
Is this a factory Sports exhaust or another aftermarket exhaust ? :
Slippydiff said:
I thought your entry speed at 4.00 looked slightly ambitious Do you take a change of underpants with you on trackdays ??
Sorry, so many questions ...
How were the brakes ? (they clearly produce lots of brake dust if those images are anything to go by) .... What pads did BGD supply with the calipers ?
I hear really good things about the PS4S's in the wet. Have you had the car aligned since fitting the Novitec springs ? If so, did you go with stock settings, or add some additional camber ?
How much were the springs, and how much have they lowered the car ?
Is this a factory Sports exhaust or another aftermarket exhaust ? :
Silverstone is such a wide open track there's little chance of doing damage if you are sensible about it. Copse is brilliant for finding your limits and going beyond as there is plenty of runoff for when you go that bit too far. Mind you, that was a case of dropping a gear to get past the 458 and taking my eye off just how close to the corner I was. Do you take a change of underpants with you on trackdays ?? Sorry, so many questions ...
How were the brakes ? (they clearly produce lots of brake dust if those images are anything to go by) .... What pads did BGD supply with the calipers ?
I hear really good things about the PS4S's in the wet. Have you had the car aligned since fitting the Novitec springs ? If so, did you go with stock settings, or add some additional camber ?
How much were the springs, and how much have they lowered the car ?
Is this a factory Sports exhaust or another aftermarket exhaust ? :
I am definitely one of those who pushes for 105% and then dials it back Underpants are optional!Brakes were fantastic. I was doing sessions of up to 15-20 laps at a time pushing as hard as I could and had zero brake fade. Bear in mind I have the larger brakes on the front only so it was also interesting to see how much that brought the brake bias forward. Braking hard into Stowe and Village, for example, the back was definitely a little looser but nothing to worry about - I can absolutely recommend the upgrade. I thought the dust of the new fronts wasn't too bad considering the abuse they got - the pads are Ferodo DS2500s. The rears are EBC Yellow stuff and you can see from the picture above how much more dust they shed. I think I will go to something harder like Pagid Blue next time.
The Novitec springs were £770 although I had DK Eng fit them for me after seeing a few youtube spring compressor accidents
They are 35mm shorter than OEM (so lots of fiddling with collars needed) and stiffer - but progressive which was the clincher for me. I considered Challenge springs but they are SO stiff that I felt I would never be able to use it on the road. The Novitec have some give but then stiffen up pretty aggressively after that. I already had the car set to Scud height but will go down another 5mm once the new springs have settled. At that point I will get the geo done again - and yes, a little more front camber would help with curing understeer.Michelin PS 4S were great once I figured out what pressures to run at. You can hear the squeal in the video and that was on a still drying track - although it was also the first session on the new Silverstone surface.
That pic looks like the factory sports exhaust - same as mine.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 23 February 14:20
thecook101 said:
Silverstone is such a wide open track there's little chance of doing damage if you are sensible about it. Copse is brilliant for finding your limits and going beyond as there is plenty of runoff for when you go that bit too far. Mind you, that was a case of dropping a gear to get past the 458 and taking my eye off just how close to the corner I was. I am definitely one of those who pushes for 105% and then dials it back Underpants are optional!
Brakes were fantastic. I was doing sessions of up to 15-20 laps at a time pushing as hard as I could and had zero brake fade. Bear in mind I have the larger brakes on the front only so it was also interesting to see how much that brought the brake bias forward. Braking hard into Stowe and Village, for example, the back was definitely a little looser but nothing to worry about - I can absolutely recommend the upgrade. I thought the dust of the new fronts wasn't too bad considering the abuse they got - the pads are Ferodo DS2500s. The rears are EBC Yellow stuff and you can see from the picture above how much more dust they shed. I think I will go to something harder like Pagid Blue next time.
The Novitec springs were £770 although I had DK Eng fit them for me after seeing a few youtube spring compressor accidents They are 35mm shorter than OEM (so lots of fiddling with collars needed) and stiffer - but progressive which was the clincher for me. I considered Challenge springs but they are SO stiff that I felt I would never be able to use it on the road. The Novitec have some give but then stiffen up pretty aggressively after that. I already had the car set to Scud height but will go down another 5mm once the new springs have settled. At that point I will get the geo done again - and yes, a little more front camber would help with curing understeer.
Michelin PS 4S were great once I figured out what pressures to run at. You can hear the squeal in the video and that was on a still drying track - although it was also the first session on the new Silverstone surface.
That pic looks like the factory sports exhaust - same as mine.
Ive never seen that factory sports exhaust before, whats the cost for one of those? can you even get them anymore? is it made by Tubi? I am definitely one of those who pushes for 105% and then dials it back Underpants are optional!Brakes were fantastic. I was doing sessions of up to 15-20 laps at a time pushing as hard as I could and had zero brake fade. Bear in mind I have the larger brakes on the front only so it was also interesting to see how much that brought the brake bias forward. Braking hard into Stowe and Village, for example, the back was definitely a little looser but nothing to worry about - I can absolutely recommend the upgrade. I thought the dust of the new fronts wasn't too bad considering the abuse they got - the pads are Ferodo DS2500s. The rears are EBC Yellow stuff and you can see from the picture above how much more dust they shed. I think I will go to something harder like Pagid Blue next time.
The Novitec springs were £770 although I had DK Eng fit them for me after seeing a few youtube spring compressor accidents
They are 35mm shorter than OEM (so lots of fiddling with collars needed) and stiffer - but progressive which was the clincher for me. I considered Challenge springs but they are SO stiff that I felt I would never be able to use it on the road. The Novitec have some give but then stiffen up pretty aggressively after that. I already had the car set to Scud height but will go down another 5mm once the new springs have settled. At that point I will get the geo done again - and yes, a little more front camber would help with curing understeer.Michelin PS 4S were great once I figured out what pressures to run at. You can hear the squeal in the video and that was on a still drying track - although it was also the first session on the new Silverstone surface.
That pic looks like the factory sports exhaust - same as mine.
Edited by thecook101 on Friday 23 February 14:20
The sports exhaust was an option direct from Ferrari at about £4,000. Someone mentioned it was actually made by Tubi to a Ferrari specification but I'm not sure. There are deals about though - I purchased my from Dick Lovett's eBay store ferraripartsglobal https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/ferraripartsglobal for £1,700 in December last year. Pretty straightforward to fit and saves around 8 kilos but importantly moves the weight much lower down as gets rid of the top muffler. This also reduces engine bay temps. There were two options available - black or silver tips, quiet or loud baffles. I have the black tips and loud version. I think it is quieter than stock with the valves closed but louder when open. I was still under the noise limit at Silverstone with it on.
I had disconnected the valves for a bit but found it very 'boomy' at low revs and so have reconnected them - slippydif that may be the issue with the car you looked at above..? EDIT: Just looked at the pictures again and the one on the car in slippydif's post may be the Tubi version and not the OEM one - doesn't appear to have the heat shielding on the mufflers.
I had disconnected the valves for a bit but found it very 'boomy' at low revs and so have reconnected them - slippydif that may be the issue with the car you looked at above..? EDIT: Just looked at the pictures again and the one on the car in slippydif's post may be the Tubi version and not the OEM one - doesn't appear to have the heat shielding on the mufflers.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 26th February 10:54
Having searched the interweb, it’s clear the system fitted to the car I viewed/drove last week, was indeed the Tubi version.
The factory Sport system looks to be better built than the Tubi (not sure if Tubi do make the OE factory Sport system) but the Tubi was very boomy and droned (though I got the vendor to do a couple of fly bys and it wasn’t ridiculously loud).
New OE Sports systems can be found on eBay occasionally.
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-GENUINE-OEM-FER...
The factory Sport system looks to be better built than the Tubi (not sure if Tubi do make the OE factory Sport system) but the Tubi was very boomy and droned (though I got the vendor to do a couple of fly bys and it wasn’t ridiculously loud).
New OE Sports systems can be found on eBay occasionally.
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-GENUINE-OEM-FER...
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