Ferrari 458 new owner initial thoughts and ownership thread
Discussion
Order66 said:
Gibbo205 said:
When I converted my 911 to steels for track work the specialist and Porsche both informed me that ceramic pads work fine with both steels and ceramics but never use steel pads with ceramic disc as will kill them fast.
It suppose depends on the compound - Pagid RS29/RS19 are commonly used on ceramics or steels. Not sure how the wear rate is though, but I don't believe there is anything inherently "special" about pads commonly used on ceramics - sure some compounds will wear quicker than others and bite more or less, but perhaps "kill them" is an overstatement? Sub-optimal wear I could believe.Does any one know the part number for the better pads on 458 please?
Well a bit of an update a pretty boring one. I haven't had chance to have another proper drive yet I did go to work in it Saturday and was planning an epic 40 mile drive home but got tied up with other things and ended up just trundling home!
One thing I hadn't had chance to do was swap over the incorrect trickle charger fly lead I had in the car and set up the charger. After a week of inactivity you could see the dash lights dimming a bit on startup so I was keen to get this little job done over the weekend
I had bought a genuine ctek extension lead to run up behind the seat to make connecting the charger easier
I also installed a garage sign I bought. I have Porsche/Lotus and Vauxhall ones that were £80 each the Fez one was £250. My first taste of Ferrari tax I'm sure not the last!
I'm in negotiations with the Mrs at the moment to have a bit of downtime and myself and a pal are looking at having a little drive to Modena. Watch this space!
One thing I hadn't had chance to do was swap over the incorrect trickle charger fly lead I had in the car and set up the charger. After a week of inactivity you could see the dash lights dimming a bit on startup so I was keen to get this little job done over the weekend
I had bought a genuine ctek extension lead to run up behind the seat to make connecting the charger easier
I also installed a garage sign I bought. I have Porsche/Lotus and Vauxhall ones that were £80 each the Fez one was £250. My first taste of Ferrari tax I'm sure not the last!
I'm in negotiations with the Mrs at the moment to have a bit of downtime and myself and a pal are looking at having a little drive to Modena. Watch this space!
What year is your 458 fridaypassion ?
Why i ask is mine is a late 2012 car and the lack of exhaust note on the over run is a bit disappointing also not confirmed yet as i have not driven it really hard but mine does not give that raspy "auto blip" on the throttle on the down shifts, from memory it does not give much of a blip at all.
I have read the 2011 on cars had different software up-dates, but mine sounds really tame
Why i ask is mine is a late 2012 car and the lack of exhaust note on the over run is a bit disappointing also not confirmed yet as i have not driven it really hard but mine does not give that raspy "auto blip" on the throttle on the down shifts, from memory it does not give much of a blip at all.
I have read the 2011 on cars had different software up-dates, but mine sounds really tame
There are a lot of threads about this topic on FerrariChat. From what I have read once you have a dealer service the software in automatically updated and these effects are no more. I presume the dealer is required to plug the car into the SD3 and it actively communicates with Italy. US owners love getting this put back my a 3rd party re-map. My 2011 458 Italia does not pop and bang, downshifts are mega if you are driving aggressively.
fridaypassion said:
Well a bit of an update a pretty boring one. I haven't had chance to have another proper drive yet I did go to work in it Saturday and was planning an epic 40 mile drive home but got tied up with other things and ended up just trundling home!
One thing I hadn't had chance to do was swap over the incorrect trickle charger fly lead I had in the car and set up the charger. After a week of inactivity you could see the dash lights dimming a bit on startup so I was keen to get this little job done over the weekend
I had bought a genuine ctek extension lead to run up behind the seat to make connecting the charger easier
I also installed a garage sign I bought. I have Porsche/Lotus and Vauxhall ones that were £80 each the Fez one was £250. My first taste of Ferrari tax I'm sure not the last!
I'm in negotiations with the Mrs at the moment to have a bit of downtime and myself and a pal are looking at having a little drive to Modena. Watch this space!
Of topic but may I ask where you get your Ferrari sign from please in your garage?One thing I hadn't had chance to do was swap over the incorrect trickle charger fly lead I had in the car and set up the charger. After a week of inactivity you could see the dash lights dimming a bit on startup so I was keen to get this little job done over the weekend
I had bought a genuine ctek extension lead to run up behind the seat to make connecting the charger easier
I also installed a garage sign I bought. I have Porsche/Lotus and Vauxhall ones that were £80 each the Fez one was £250. My first taste of Ferrari tax I'm sure not the last!
I'm in negotiations with the Mrs at the moment to have a bit of downtime and myself and a pal are looking at having a little drive to Modena. Watch this space!
chippy348 said:
Why i ask is mine is a late 2012 car and the lack of exhaust note on the over run is a bit disappointing also not confirmed yet as i have not driven it really hard but mine does not give that raspy "auto blip" on the throttle on the down shifts, from memory it does not give much of a blip at all.
Do you have a remote valve controller? It will only pop when the valves are fully open - so either race mode above 4k revs or a valve controller and valves fully open. A cold engine and valves fully open will definitely pop/bang. Not so much when warm.For the blip - put it in race mode, and brake hard from a fairly high speed, it will aggressively downshift and blip. It has to be race mode though, Sport/Wet don't blip much.
chippy348 said:
What year is your 458 fridaypassion ?
Why i ask is mine is a late 2012 car and the lack of exhaust note on the over run is a bit disappointing also not confirmed yet as i have not driven it really hard but mine does not give that raspy "auto blip" on the throttle on the down shifts, from memory it does not give much of a blip at all.
I have read the 2011 on cars had different software up-dates, but mine sounds really tame
Mines a 12/62. The trick with the downshifts is race mode and change down higher up the revs than you may think like 4/4.5k that gets it going Why i ask is mine is a late 2012 car and the lack of exhaust note on the over run is a bit disappointing also not confirmed yet as i have not driven it really hard but mine does not give that raspy "auto blip" on the throttle on the down shifts, from memory it does not give much of a blip at all.
I have read the 2011 on cars had different software up-dates, but mine sounds really tame
Made a bit of progress with the brakes. Unbelievably I think whats happened is I have had a car with the brakes completely not bedded in!
I can't remember if mentioned earlier in the thread but the car had a full front axle set as part of the prep apparently a chip on one or both front discs so the whole lot is new. Plus rear pads changed now too.
I noticed after my efforts at seeing how close I could get to crashing by not drawing up on the approach to corners that the front discs were half and half in terms of shade. I figured out that the front pads were only contacting half the disc surface! So last weekend I carved out an hour to take the car out and go on a proper bedding in mission.
So several 80 to 40 stops plus 10 *20 to 80 stops has brought some life in to the brakes. I got them hot enough to smell the pad material which is finally properly transferring to the disc. Will probably do another session but the pedal feel is much improved and finally some confidence in the stoppers! It has been slightly unnerving to have bought a car from a main dealer though and them to be frankly so fecking clueless on this! Is this normal from F dealers? Bear in mind that it's been back in once shortly after purchase for this issue and old luddite here has fixed it when their "top tech" declared the brakes the same as any other 458. Needless to say we will be travelling for next year's service. Safe to say I now have zero confidence in their technical ability I feel this was a pretty simple issue. I'm pretty sure this car could have caused an accident in the state it was in previously!
One thing I'm pretty sure of is 570BHP in the fashion this car delivers it is more than enough for the road! It's so quick it just rips through those first 3 gears truly savage performance! I love how it writhes around it does slip and slide a bit especially in race mode and the TC although a good safety net I think it leaves enough on hand to enable you to get in trouble if you don't have some driving skill.
I certainly wouldn't want this thread to derail into a McLaren bashing thread but it's such a more tactile car than a 570. The 570 you could just stick your foot down and the very advanced electronic systems just manage everything so it feels quite clinical. The chassis is vastly better on the 570 though that was something that shone through the accompanying ride quality was something the Fez can't get anywhere near with its more traditional construction. The engine and noise plus better steering more than make up for it though!
I can't remember if mentioned earlier in the thread but the car had a full front axle set as part of the prep apparently a chip on one or both front discs so the whole lot is new. Plus rear pads changed now too.
I noticed after my efforts at seeing how close I could get to crashing by not drawing up on the approach to corners that the front discs were half and half in terms of shade. I figured out that the front pads were only contacting half the disc surface! So last weekend I carved out an hour to take the car out and go on a proper bedding in mission.
So several 80 to 40 stops plus 10 *20 to 80 stops has brought some life in to the brakes. I got them hot enough to smell the pad material which is finally properly transferring to the disc. Will probably do another session but the pedal feel is much improved and finally some confidence in the stoppers! It has been slightly unnerving to have bought a car from a main dealer though and them to be frankly so fecking clueless on this! Is this normal from F dealers? Bear in mind that it's been back in once shortly after purchase for this issue and old luddite here has fixed it when their "top tech" declared the brakes the same as any other 458. Needless to say we will be travelling for next year's service. Safe to say I now have zero confidence in their technical ability I feel this was a pretty simple issue. I'm pretty sure this car could have caused an accident in the state it was in previously!
One thing I'm pretty sure of is 570BHP in the fashion this car delivers it is more than enough for the road! It's so quick it just rips through those first 3 gears truly savage performance! I love how it writhes around it does slip and slide a bit especially in race mode and the TC although a good safety net I think it leaves enough on hand to enable you to get in trouble if you don't have some driving skill.
I certainly wouldn't want this thread to derail into a McLaren bashing thread but it's such a more tactile car than a 570. The 570 you could just stick your foot down and the very advanced electronic systems just manage everything so it feels quite clinical. The chassis is vastly better on the 570 though that was something that shone through the accompanying ride quality was something the Fez can't get anywhere near with its more traditional construction. The engine and noise plus better steering more than make up for it though!
Edited by fridaypassion on Tuesday 21st July 20:29
Order66 said:
This is the controller: http://www.forzacomponenti.com/controller_b4.html
The Scud/16M has ceramic discs also - the pads are exactly the same size, so are interchangeable (fronts at least). In reality there is no real difference between ceramic and non-ceramic pads, maybe slightly different flavours of compound to match the heat characteristics, but there's nothing "special" about the pads you use for ceramic discs (compared to steel discs).
Great thread OP and echo all your thoughts apart from I've not had a particular issue with brakes, including a lot of spirited stop start through the alps.The Scud/16M has ceramic discs also - the pads are exactly the same size, so are interchangeable (fronts at least). In reality there is no real difference between ceramic and non-ceramic pads, maybe slightly different flavours of compound to match the heat characteristics, but there's nothing "special" about the pads you use for ceramic discs (compared to steel discs).
But just wanted to highlight the forza valve controller, best mod you can make for these cars IMHO and no affiliation etc. No wires spliced and mine has been into Ferrari twice now for service since fitting it and nothing has been picked up, it's hidden away just behind the cabin, you should order the extra long cable if you get one.
Off for my 2nd big euro trip in this car next week, down to Como via autobahns and there's not another car I'd rather do it in.
Brakes are a bit of an issue on 458s - they need to be used. If you take your car on track, you will find that once you have the brakes and tyres up to temperature (which you can of course check on the dashboard) the brakes are just fine but they don’t like being cold or just poodling about. The best 458 brakes I know are on a friend’s car who does a lot of track days.
Yeah I'm nearly there with mine I have a far far better initial bite than it had when I first got it. I still can't quite believe a main dealer could send a car out without the brakes bedded in on a carbon ceramic car but hey ho it looks like I've sorted it! The brakes still aren't anywhere close to McLaren levels I suspect a larger master cylinder would ultimately sort it. I had a Cayman with PCCB and we fitted a GT3 MC to that and it was a great mod giving much better.
So anyway almost a month in and it still has the capacity to scare me which is always a good thing! Race mode with bumpy road activated is amazing when it's up on it's toes. Decent weight to the steering and as I have found it's a car best driven at a brisk pace it's really rewarding when you get into the groove but it certainly requires your full attention to keep it in that sweet spot. The shift is just amazing. Back when the car was new it must have been like something beemed in from the future!
Stuff that's not so good? That fecking throttle! What an odd setup it is with the well documented hair trigger thing you are like a nodding dog driving normally but yet it seems like the back 30% of the peddle travel doesn't really do anything? I think this looking into a bigger master cylinder would be two things I would invest some time and effort into sorting if the car was a longer term keeper. I plan to keep it for 2 years so I think I can cope.
The planned trip to Modena has been put on ice but I'm still quite keen to do "something" with he car so thinking of NC500 maybe September.
So anyway almost a month in and it still has the capacity to scare me which is always a good thing! Race mode with bumpy road activated is amazing when it's up on it's toes. Decent weight to the steering and as I have found it's a car best driven at a brisk pace it's really rewarding when you get into the groove but it certainly requires your full attention to keep it in that sweet spot. The shift is just amazing. Back when the car was new it must have been like something beemed in from the future!
Stuff that's not so good? That fecking throttle! What an odd setup it is with the well documented hair trigger thing you are like a nodding dog driving normally but yet it seems like the back 30% of the peddle travel doesn't really do anything? I think this looking into a bigger master cylinder would be two things I would invest some time and effort into sorting if the car was a longer term keeper. I plan to keep it for 2 years so I think I can cope.
The planned trip to Modena has been put on ice but I'm still quite keen to do "something" with he car so thinking of NC500 maybe September.
Glad your enjoying
I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 but pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo
Engine just beautifup
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Probably a bit to much attention seeking for me but I knew that would happen
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo, which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i have ended up turning down meets etc due to mileage
In the end I have thought about buying another car to offset this which is just crazy. I’m still quite young and this is my only toy which I want to use so It is a bit tricky .
Not sure what to do
I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 but pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo
Engine just beautifup
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Probably a bit to much attention seeking for me but I knew that would happen
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo, which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i have ended up turning down meets etc due to mileage
In the end I have thought about buying another car to offset this which is just crazy. I’m still quite young and this is my only toy which I want to use so It is a bit tricky .
Not sure what to do
Edited by Regy53 on Thursday 30th July 05:36
Regy53 said:
Glad your enjoying
I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo still very fast
Engine just beautiful as is gearbox
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i ended up turning down meets due to mileage
Not sure what to do
I have to admit to having similar experiences and currently considering whether to sell mine on again and have actually even had some offers that aren’t to painful. I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo still very fast
Engine just beautiful as is gearbox
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i ended up turning down meets due to mileage
Not sure what to do
jsw777 said:
Regy53 said:
Glad your enjoying
I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo still very fast
Engine just beautiful as is gearbox
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i ended up turning down meets due to mileage
Not sure what to do
I have to admit to having similar experiences and currently considering whether to sell mine on again and have actually even had some offers that aren’t to painful. I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo still very fast
Engine just beautiful as is gearbox
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i ended up turning down meets due to mileage
Not sure what to do
Pah give your heads a wobble! We have both bought recently and we are taking a bath probably on the price regardless. Just drive it! I couldn't care less about the miles I'm in it for 2 years maybe 3 if I fancy it and it's chopped in for something else fruity probably a GT3 or maybe a Huracan.
I wouldn't say I'm in love with it its not that sort of car for me and its the first car I've ever owned on a pcp type arrangement so I know going into it that is not something I'll be handing down to my lad and keeping for and extended period. I have a wonderful Lotus Elise that is all those things for me.
It's an event it's that box you can feel very lucky to tick that you've had one. Also the other thing with ferrari for me there's no upgrade path as I would never have a turbocharged car so I think that's holding me back from becoming a fan boy! Really enjoying it for now anyway I think you do need to be in full attack mode to see the best of it I would agree that at lower speeds you may as well be driving a Golf it doesn't have that low speed tactility of say a Porsche and certainly not a Lotus. I have a business trip to Hinkley coming up which rarely for me I don't need to be in my van for but I won't go in the 458 as sitting on the motorway is not really what it's about.
I wouldn't say I'm in love with it its not that sort of car for me and its the first car I've ever owned on a pcp type arrangement so I know going into it that is not something I'll be handing down to my lad and keeping for and extended period. I have a wonderful Lotus Elise that is all those things for me.
It's an event it's that box you can feel very lucky to tick that you've had one. Also the other thing with ferrari for me there's no upgrade path as I would never have a turbocharged car so I think that's holding me back from becoming a fan boy! Really enjoying it for now anyway I think you do need to be in full attack mode to see the best of it I would agree that at lower speeds you may as well be driving a Golf it doesn't have that low speed tactility of say a Porsche and certainly not a Lotus. I have a business trip to Hinkley coming up which rarely for me I don't need to be in my van for but I won't go in the 458 as sitting on the motorway is not really what it's about.
I can understand the mileage thing but a bit of common sense has got to come into play, use it when you've got free time and the sun's out, a Ferrari is never going to be worthless even with 50,000 miles on it.
The trouble is there seems to be some fictional rulebook regarding cars, the mileage on modern Ferraris being one of them. If someone was buying a car from the 70s they wouldn't worry about the mileage too much,they would be more interested about condition and invoices for work carried out.
Enjoy your car, avoid using it as a daily workhorse but make sure you use it when you want to go for a drive.
The trouble is there seems to be some fictional rulebook regarding cars, the mileage on modern Ferraris being one of them. If someone was buying a car from the 70s they wouldn't worry about the mileage too much,they would be more interested about condition and invoices for work carried out.
Enjoy your car, avoid using it as a daily workhorse but make sure you use it when you want to go for a drive.
Regy53 said:
jsw777 said:
Regy53 said:
Glad your enjoying
I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo still very fast
Engine just beautiful as is gearbox
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i ended up turning down meets due to mileage
Not sure what to do
I have to admit to having similar experiences and currently considering whether to sell mine on again and have actually even had some offers that aren’t to painful. I have found it a bit hard to own a 458 so far.
Great if driven a 8/10 pretty bland below
Throttle crazy
Gearbox is good but does feel a tad lazy compared to newer cars imo still very fast
Engine just beautiful as is gearbox
Looks to die for
Interior still decent but miss’s tech
Biggest issue is how you use it, if you stick miles on it.. your doomed imo which means limited use which means its very expensive imo.. Somthing bothers me with this as i pulled 400 miles in a few weeks which is around 25% of the yearly average and i ended up turning down meets due to mileage
Not sure what to do
Yes my supplying dealer are at around a £5k hit for me.
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