F430 as a London daily
Discussion
Hi guys,
Planning on moving to London with the whole family. I currently run around in land rover, audi a8 and f430. Living up north I have tonnes of space and open road to enjoy all 3, however I'm planning get rid of the a8 and just keep the other 2 for the wife and i.
I'm not sure how suitable the Fez will be as a daily in London though? The bushes and suspension bits on 430s can be a bit delicate so not sure if I'll end up constantly having to change those due to all the speed humps? Also, what's the impact on the clutch going to be like with stop/start traffic? I guess on the plus side, I'll be using public transport more in London (up north, buses are for the socially disaffected only).
Should I look to getting a more suitable London supercar? Note that Porsches and R8s do nothing for me - I don't consider them exotic in the slightest. If I get a more suitable one then the cost to change to (say) a 12C (which I believe has awesome suspension) is going to be about 60k for me. If I look at this purely economically then the Fez will never cost me that much to maintain (plus the ongoing maintenance for a Mac is probably twice as much anyhow given the indie route is not an option).
Any London 430 owners out there that can offer up their experiences? Or for that matter, owners of other special cars that use them regularly in London?
Thanks folks!
Planning on moving to London with the whole family. I currently run around in land rover, audi a8 and f430. Living up north I have tonnes of space and open road to enjoy all 3, however I'm planning get rid of the a8 and just keep the other 2 for the wife and i.
I'm not sure how suitable the Fez will be as a daily in London though? The bushes and suspension bits on 430s can be a bit delicate so not sure if I'll end up constantly having to change those due to all the speed humps? Also, what's the impact on the clutch going to be like with stop/start traffic? I guess on the plus side, I'll be using public transport more in London (up north, buses are for the socially disaffected only).
Should I look to getting a more suitable London supercar? Note that Porsches and R8s do nothing for me - I don't consider them exotic in the slightest. If I get a more suitable one then the cost to change to (say) a 12C (which I believe has awesome suspension) is going to be about 60k for me. If I look at this purely economically then the Fez will never cost me that much to maintain (plus the ongoing maintenance for a Mac is probably twice as much anyhow given the indie route is not an option).
Any London 430 owners out there that can offer up their experiences? Or for that matter, owners of other special cars that use them regularly in London?
Thanks folks!
Surely getting a cheap daily driver to commute is the answer?
I don't work in London but having visited i can't understand why you would want to commute through in the Ferrari. It would just end up taking the joy of driving out of it IMO.
The car should be able to do it no problem although city traffic will most certainly reduce the life of the clutch a lot quicker.
I don't work in London but having visited i can't understand why you would want to commute through in the Ferrari. It would just end up taking the joy of driving out of it IMO.
The car should be able to do it no problem although city traffic will most certainly reduce the life of the clutch a lot quicker.
pork911 said:
an f430 in london is for what you'd call the socially disaffected up north
touche :-) maybe i should see my mate joe macari and ask him to source me a laferrari.regarding commuting. i'll be living near a tube station so don't see myself doing a daily commute, maybe a drive into the city 2 or 3 times a week. i'd defintely want to use it evenings and weekends though.
Slickhillsy said:
+1 I sometimes choose to drive to the Wharf just to get some seat time and find it no bother at all...
And yours is a scud! So must be fine :-)I've had to change all of my ball joints, bushes etc for new over the past 12 months and that's with almost zero speed humps and good free flowing traffic up north. Still wondering if I'll be doing this more often if I'm using it in London. Any thoughts on this? I'm expecting more brake and clutch wear - that's just a given but changing those suspension bits just aint cheap(!)
I've just got rid of my 550, which although practical in terms of reliability and boot space etc, is still not great in London, mainly due to speed bumps. Parking etc I never had an issue with. Speed bumps are a nightmare and can cause great damage; to under trays, exhausts, thermocouple cables etc. A great shame, especially when they dont seem to slow normal cars down either.
Claret Badger said:
I've just got rid of my 550, which although practical in terms of reliability and boot space etc, is still not great in London, mainly due to speed bumps. Parking etc I never had an issue with. Speed bumps are a nightmare and can cause great damage; to under trays, exhausts, thermocouple cables etc. A great shame, especially when they dont seem to slow normal cars down either.
I wonder if adding (lightweight) metal plating under the bumpers and other 'at risk' areas might help(?). I could just buy a different car, but I'm guessing I'll be faced with the same challenges.I pity you southerners, My commute consists of about 600yrds of 30mph limit (like the pit exit) then 5 miles of Nurburbring style country roads followed by a top speed straight section (motorway) and then under the Tinsley viaduct (great for getting the windows down and appreciating a Ferrari V8).
Anyway, F430 should be fine in traffic, I've used my F355 in cities before and never had an issue. The only thing is why would you want to? Surely it'll take the shine off the car for when you take it out for a proper drive?
Anyway, F430 should be fine in traffic, I've used my F355 in cities before and never had an issue. The only thing is why would you want to? Surely it'll take the shine off the car for when you take it out for a proper drive?
Guy that parks next to me daily in Soho has a 430, he uses it a couple of days a week and then tubes it other days, i drive in daily (from Oxford) in my R8, he commutes in from Barnes, takes him the same time as me to do our commutes and he moans about the roads but enjoys it the days he does come in.
JFDI.
JFDI.
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