Last Friday, I traded in my GT3 for a 2005 F430 coupe with sport seats and ceramic brakes. The very next day, I gave it a good pounding around the track. It was a surprisingly good experience considering it was only on Pirelli Rossos and have had no alignment work done yet. I've ordered some Corsa System tires and will get a Scuderia-type alignment done shortly.

The car is sooo nicely balanced, which makes it a whole lot easier to control at the limit and thus makes going to the limit a very welcoming experience. The brakes are phenomenal. The feel is a lot better than the Porsche ceramics with the motorsport pads and the stopping power/wear seems at least as good. Very impressed.

The F1 transmission is also a lot nicer than rowing your own at the track. At Autobahn, there would be a fair number of turns where you could change gears in the GT3, but the work just wasn't worth it. In the F430, there's very little work involved, so you change even if for just a few seconds.

It doesn't feel quite as raw and connected as the GT3, though. There's just something about the steering of that 911 that's incredible. Perhaps some better tires and alignment will help mitigate that, though, we'll see.

All in all, I was really happy with the GT3 and am sad to see it go. But in the end, the car didn't do enough for me on the street and keeping it as a track-only car didn't quite add up for me.

Here's a picture of the new baby:

 

blah blah blah blah


damn you.

enjoy!

 

Really sweet. Haven't had the good luck to drive one but loved the 360 Stradale when I drove it.

 

Pretty car, good luck with it!

 

have fun. what a great car. Nice that you will not have to drop the motor for the 30,000 service.

 

All fun and laughs...until it breaks down. And it will.

Flash

 

30,000 miles? On a Ferrari? hahahahaha

Kidding, kidding.

 

Funny, I did the opposite

 

Funny, I kept both.

 

Congrats! Great choice.

IMHO, Track use: GT3>F430. Street use: F430>GT3. This is based on cost of track tires, pads, durability, valet parking status etc etc.

 

Is that the 430 you used to have? Are you going to take this out to LAPS?

 

Jim, it's definitely coming out to Laps on Monday! My last F430 was a spider, which wasn't all that great on the track. This is a ton better. Monday will still be with the rosso's + vanilla alignment (only -0.6deg camber in front!), so I won't be setting any lap records .

Thanks for all the other nice comments. Regarding reliability, we'll definitely see. I have no intention of babying this around. It'll be both tracked and driven daily.

 

Now that's unique...tracking and putting on mileage on an F430! Real steel...

 

In my experience, Ferrari with the F430 and even the 360 are in the same quality class as Porsche, very few mechanical issues.

Gary

 

Have to definitely agree on the steering feel issue. Same holds true for the car's ability to telegraph WTF the rear is doing as well. But yeah, the GT3 is just OK for the street, not as well rounded as the F430 IMO.