aussie jimmy

why am i sensing a great deal of 'ferrari love' round here lately?
what's goin' on over there?
whats that all about, then?

aussie jimmy

is rad the only one who has seen the light?

BobbyC

Ron - your track passion (and drover skills) have progressed very rapidly! Have fun with the new toys...best.

aussie jimmy

is the 'everyday' campaign having the reverse effect on long-time p-owners?

TRAKCAR

Rad's has not broken his yet.

NJ-GT

No, my friend cgomez saw the light too. He races a 2011 GT3 Cup (just finished 3rd at Laguna Seca starting from 16th). He went from M3, to 911S, to 997 GT2, to Scuderia.

Unfortunately, the price of admission was too high for this car for a while, but now you can get a Scuderia for $180k, and not long ago people were paying that kind of money for 2007 GT3 RS 3.6 a vastly inferior car.

If someone wants a Scuderia for $150k-$160k I have a lead on two of them, but only to serious buyers (no, I'm not selling mine, this car is too good).

NJ-GT

10,000+ miles, and going strong. This car is rarely used on streets, most of the miles are on track, autoX, Time Trials, etc. It also has another 10,000+ miles riding on a trailer across places in U.S.

The Scuderia is the first really reliable car Fiat has made. Anything made before the Scuderia had issues.

The California is a reliable car, the 2009 and newer 599 are reliable.

The F458 has a few flaws. Fiat just released a faster and more reliable F458 for 2012, plenty of changes made. Fiat makes changes to the cars every year.

2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 F430 are all different. The 2008 and 2009 F430 are identical, but they still have problems.

For track use, the F458 carries almost 400 lbs of extra weight over the Scuderia, so other than straight line performance, it loses to the Scuderia everywhere else.

Downside of the Scuderia is suspension (soft springs) a cheap and easy fix. The vibration on the exhaust system, another cheap fix using Capristo muffler mounts spring supported. The last issue is the cost for brakes, I'm still researching on developing a kit for the brakes, as there is no aftermarket support, and other options are $$$ expensive. I should be done with this project in 3-4 months. Once I have finished it, I'm going to have cheaper rotors and cheaper brake pads than the Aero Beetles.

rlips

back on topic (or so), here is the new track machine.

vf430

Absolutely faster than my 2011 GT3. At least thats how it feels.

vf430

Congrats to the OP. I have no regrets since i traded my GT3 for the F430. GT3 is a great car for the track , but the street F430 is fantastic in every way , better overall car IMO. I am glad you are getting the 6 speed.

mclaudio

How about the 308/328 platform as really reliable F cars? I have had a few and find them very reliable especially the 328s. In fact, more reliable than some Porsches I've owned.

To rlips, congrats on the Firehawk. I have a 944 Cup car that raced at a couple of Firehawk endurance races (88-89, IIRC). Good to have a dedicated track car with less performance compromises.

carcommander

328's are slow, a 430 is not.

NJ-GT

For me reliable means drag racing, racetrack driving, autocrosses, ProSolos, Time Trials, Canyon driving, reckless driving, and the car running with no failures. With this said, the 308, 328, 348, 355, 360, Stradale, F430, 996 GT3, 2007 GT3 RS, Cayman S are not reliable.

I can't call reliable a car that is stored permanently in a garage, plugged to a battery tender and going out for 10 miles to Starbucks every Sunday.

My 01 Boxster S: not relialble. My 996 GT3: horrible reliability. My 2007 GT3 RS: this one made me be on the phone with PCNA, horrible reliability. My Toyota overheats the brakes in 2 autoX laps, so it can't handle anything beyond that, it snapped a bushing in 6 autoX laps. 2007 Cayman S, worse reliability I have seen in a long time. 2006 Cayenne Turbo: most reliable Porsche so far, but went to service a few days ago with 13 things that needed fix (still under warranty).

mclaudio

Understood. My service $/mile has been good with the 3x8, but they're not track miles. I would do a few things to such cars before I would take it to the track.

I'm surprised to hear about your GT3 reliability experience.

NJ-GT

996 GT3

1. oil leaks at 600 miles from engine, loose fitting
2. seized diff at 2000 miles
3. 4 clutches in 34,000 miles. You can blame the driver, but my Fiat is still on the original clutch and my Toyota has 86,000 miles on the original clutch as well
4. 2nd diff failed at 8,000 miles
5. cracked front rotors on 2nd track day
6. dumped all the coolant on LR tire at LimeRock, melted expansion tank
7. broken shift linkage (happened to my SpecBox, my 01 Boxster S, not yet to my Cayman)
8. 2 RMS oil leaks fixed under warranty

997 GT3 RS

1. this one was fine, other than 6 different RMS oil leaks, and a little stress to get the engine replaced after being inspected by independent shop (Werks II) to be found to have a crankcase with porosity. New engine from Porsche
2. Dead diff

Cayman: list is too long.