I recently test drove a manual 430 in order to see if it's what I truly wanted.

After the test drive, I have mixed feelings on the car.

*puts flame suit on*

Pros:

• Great sound
• Good power
• Beautiful car
• The quality of the leather and carbon fiber on the interior was outstanding
• Good brakes (standard brakes, not carbon)
• Car handled very flat
• Ergonomics - The seat and the steering wheel fit nicely.

Cons

• Clutch felt heavy
• Shifter throws felt difficult. I felt I had to use too much force to move it.
• I broke the rear wheels free in a straight line in second and third gear several times (without trying). Burning rubber is cool, but traction is cooler.
• The car felt hesitant to move off of the line
• The electronics in the car were poor. The radio system was about 20 years out of date. The turn signal indicator on the dash would show both arrows blinking regardless of which way you signaled. The window switches looked like they were out of a Ford Explorer.
• Ergonomics - The clutch pedal felt like it was too far over to the right. I could probably get used to that though. The turn signal stalk is in an awkward place.
• Shifter gate (the gate itself) felt like it would get in the way at times. Then again, I'm not used to a gated shifter.

430 owners - Do you have the same gripes with the car that I do?

How much does maintenance cost you annually? And how much do you drive it?

Also, I've heard mixed things on the carbon ceramic brakes. Obviously the performance is stellar. However, I know that the rotors are extremely expensive. How often, if ever, would the rotors need to be replaced?

Ultimately I had extremely high expectations for the car, and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it. Part of me is wondering whether I'd be happier with a 911 Turbo or an R8 V10.

 

It's Italian. The cons are just part of the experience.

 

sounds like you would be happier with either of those choices, try an R8 V10 with a manual and report back.

 

what do you drive now? don't expect to use the F430 as a daily driver without paying through the nose on maint and depreciation. F430 is a vast improvement over F360 in terms of fit and finish, reliability. However, it's still not quite as good in these aspect compare to a 911 or R8. On average, you should expect to spend at least $5k / year on maint and repairs (including wear items like clutch, tires). 911 would be about $2-3k tops. Obviously, the driving excitement is completely different.

You may also want to look into a Gallardo, which is a cousin of R8 v10. Gallardo is better looking IMO.

 

I know that I am not quite up to the f430 range, but I have done a fair bit of pro/con shopping. If you are not willing to take care of this baby to the max (ie 5k+ service charges and unexpected repairs...) and you are not totally satisfied with the car look everywhere you can, Audi R8 or Porsche turbo are great vehicles, have you looked to vantage v12?

 

Yeah, I think I'm going to try a 997 turbo and an R8 V10 before committing to the 430. That said, I'm curious to drive an F1 style 430 just to see if I like it better than the manual.

I thought about the Gallardo, but I've heard that Lambos are very high maintenance. True or false?

Never seriously considered a vantage, although I've always loved the styling. Performance wise, would they be comparable to the others?

After more thought, I guess my feeling on the 430 is that I really do like the car, but I don't think I can justify paying the current going rate for one.

 

I had similar thoughts, I went with an 09 997 turbo cab. I can carry around the kiddies and some other things, but the wow factor is down on it over a 360/430 (I was looking at both). However, I had my DD up for service, and was able to drive the 911 in light snow. It's much more practical, but I can't help feel a "what if" type of feeling toward the ferrari. I just had a $500 service interval, try that Ferrari guys I think I will likely get a 3** ferrari someday just to enjoy the aesthetics of it and keep it as a total fun car.

 

Well put, this echoes my thoughts perfectly.

 

KD, where are you located? How's ferrari or lamo support near you? I'm in CT, my closest ferrari dealer is 1:25 away with traffic (fairfield) and our fairfield/westport lambo dealer went kaput. That was a big deciding factor.

Now the cool thing about the turbo, is having others along. I bring my 12 year old son into school every day, and he loves the car. If it's >45 degrees we have the top down, heat on full. Next year my other son is going to the same middle school, and I'll be taking him to. In my previous fun car, an Elise, It would be a no-go, and I would not be able to drive the car to work, ever. Now, I have them do rock paper scissors over who gets the front seat

 

Please turn in your 'car guy' card.