Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Dennis Liu in NYT

(continued)

Let's not forget that SJ is an F40 owner....for this reason alone I can see
him a bigger fan of the CS vs. a standard 430.
For a car with a lot less power, it seems like the CS can hold its own to
the 430 in lap times. This leads me to believe that the car handles and
brakes better than the F430 and as we know it's probably more fun to drive
for F40 type reasons...after all if best lap times are what it's all about
the Gallardo seems to have it on the F430, and we all know how ultra
exciting that Audi is ;)
I'm in agreement with all that a 430 CS will own all comers and be
ill.....but will it be able to take down the Super Leggera? The SL looks
like it has some character...
Nobody knows. And I'll pre-emptively quote Lashdeep:
"And nobody cares."
:)
FG

On 7/2/07, Steve Jenkins <steve [at] stevejenkins.com> wrote:

No idea on the tires!
Again, I'll grant you (and your friend) your respective points. I just
prefer a 360CS to a standard 430 for how I like to drive. But I'm hoping
I'll get a chance to have a 430CS to smoke them all. :)
SJ
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Liu [mailto:bigheaddennis [at] gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 9:03 AM
To: 'Steve Jenkins'
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Dennis Liu in NYT

Re the Portland clinic, what tires were the 430s on?  If not the
R-compound
Corsas, then that might explain the difference.  FWIW, a 430 on
R-compounds
will smoke a 360CS at the track.
And I think my friend's point about the 430 v. 360CS, and I'm in
agreement,
is not about the compliance/softness of the suspension, but rather how the
car handles at the ragged edges - the 360CS, like all other 360s, is very
unstable at the edge, while the 430 is much more stable, both due to
aerodynamics and suspension set-up, as well as electronic aids.  I have
seen
way, way, way too many 360s crash when pushed to the limit.
Vty,
--Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Jenkins [mailto:steve [at] stevejenkins.com]
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 12:02 PM
To: BigHeadDennis [at] gmail.com
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Dennis Liu in NYT
I've been in a 430 Challenge car, and THAT was sprung perfectly. But I
still
find the 430 street car's suspension a touch soft for my tastes. I'm no a
challenge champ or FDE instructor, but I know what I like. :)
During a Ferrari Driving Clinic I attended in Portland last year, the two
guys the 360CSs were killing each of the 6 guys in the 430s. Could have
been
all driver ability, but an interesting stat nonetheless.
I don't doubt that for your friend's driving style, the 430 suits him
better. I just know the CS suits me better. Vive la difference! ;)
SteveJ
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Liu [mailto:bigheaddennis [at] gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 8:46 AM
To: 'Steve Jenkins'
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Dennis Liu in NYT

FWIW, a very good friend of mine who is an ex-360 Challenge champion and
Ferrari Driving Experience instructor says that the 430 is WORLDS better
than the 360CS.  Night and day, as he puts it.  Of course, this is all the
more exciting for the potential of the 430CS (not that I'll get that
either!!!)
Vty,
--Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Jenkins [mailto:steve [at] stevejenkins.com]
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 11:46 AM
To: BigHeadDennis [at] gmail.com
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: RE: [Ferrari] Dennis Liu in NYT
Interesting, Dennis. Personally, I find the 360 CS more stable than the
430.
But maybe it's driving style differences between the two of us (which
we've
seen this season can have a big difference with F1 drivers who have
switched
teams to cars that were previously set up for different styles). My ONLY
complaint about the 430 has been that even in race mode, the suspension
isn't quite tight enough for me. I'm hoping they fix that with the 430 CS
(or LP, or P).
SJ
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Liu [mailto:bigheaddennis [at] gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 8:09 AM
To: Steve Jenkins
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Dennis Liu in NYT

Young Fellippe wrote, re "Dennis Liu in NYT"
>"I've been on the waiting list since 2004, and the delivery date is
always
nine months away."
>The author concludes:
>"I have a feeling that when Dennis Liu finally gets his F430, he won't be
disappointed. But if he can't get his car, he can always settle for this:
http://www.lamborghinioc.com/index.cfm?pg=inventory_gallery&po=1&id=220 "

==================
Bwahahaha!!  That's funny.  Now, to be fair, everyone should know that
Fellippe took some editorial liberty and added his own Last Line to the
article.  (No, the writer did not, in fact, point to a Lambo).  Below is
the
full text.  It's actually a hilarious read!
My favorite quote:  "It's a total experience, one that dopes every
pleasure
receptor in your brain with automotive giddiness. Achieving that abstract
goal is always trickier than hitting hard performance targets - call it
the
alchemy of desirability."
I spent the day at Lime Rock on Friday for a private event, and for the
last
run, went out with a student in his new 430.  SCORCHING.  Worlds more
stable
than a 360 Modena or Challenge Stradale.  Yummy.
Vty,
--Dennis

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/automobiles/autoreviews/01AUTO.html?_r=1&p
agewanted=all
Behind The Wheel | Ferrari F430
Machine Is a Dream. Wait Is a Nightmare.
Prices start around $185,000 for the "entry level" Ferrari, the F430.
By EZRA DYER
Published: July 1, 2007
BOSTON
FERRARI is on a roll. These days, we take for granted that auto
enthusiasts
with very deep pockets line up for whatever the Maranello factory deigns
to
produce, but this wasn't always so. Consider the unloved 348 of the late
1980s and early '90s, which has depreciated enough that an irresponsible
family man could ask himself, "Do I buy the loaded Honda Odyssey or the
used
Ferrari?"
I'm going to venture a guess that the F430, the entry-level car in the
Ferrari line, will never depreciate into minivan territory. In fact, for
the
moment, it's not depreciating at all. While new F430s list for about
$185,000, my unscientific eBay research found that used F430s are going
for
around $300,000.
This thing must cause meltdowns in the mainframe at Kelly Blue Book.
Used-car appreciation? Does not compute!
The F430's unlikely worth in the used-car market comes down to two
factors.
First, it's a brilliant car, as I'll explain. Perhaps more important,
Ferrari refuses to build enough cars to satisfy demand.
Because nothing whips rich people into a frenzy quite like telling them
they
can't have something, the line for F430 ownership is like the wait for
Space
Mountain - as soon as you turn a corner and think you're there, you
discover
the line just keeps going.
Last summer, a Boston-area Ferrari owner, Dennis Liu, told me he was on
the
waiting list for an F430. He's still waiting. "I've been on the waiting
list
since 2004," Mr. Liu said. "And the delivery date is always nine months
away."
It bears mentioning that Mr. Liu is president of the New England chapter
of
the Ferrari Club of America. Even he can't conjure an F430.
If the National Cattlemen's Beef Association embraced Ferrari's
self-restrained approach to production, a Fenway Frank would cost as much
as
a plasma TV, and you'd have to order it two years in advance.
Ferrari had 1,000 orders for the $650,000 Enzo after the car was unveiled
in
2002, but the company stuck to its decision to build only 399 cars (plus
one
for the pope). By my math, that means it left $390,000,000 on the table in
the name of exclusivity and almighty demand. With those 600 never-built
Enzos, Ferrari essentially invested $390 million in its own legend.
"It's not a case where we can produce as many cars as we want to," said
Maurizio Parlato, president and chief executive of Ferrari North America.
That said, Ferrari could produce more cars than it does.
"There's a magic relationship between volume and price," Mr. Parlato said.
"We have very sophisticated market intelligence working for us." That
intelligence says Ferrari needs to find its growth in untapped markets.
"Ferrari has increased production capability for emerging markets - China,
Singapore, Australia - while maintaining exclusivity," Mr. Parlato said.
You'd have to be some kind of snob if you live in Palm Beach and you're
upset about a few extra F430s tooling around Shanghai.
Of course, stoking demand with limited production doesn't make sense
unless
the demand is there in the first place. With all the hoopla over this car,
you'd think it would be nearly impossible for it to live up to
expectations.
But the F430 manages to deliver, despite the baggage inherent in its
status
as the It Car of the prancing-horse brand.
This car plays in the realm where performance numbers are everything, and
on
that front it duly hangs with the Porsche 911 Turbos and Corvette Z06s of
the world (as well it should, considering its price).
But the F430 is more than a cold-blooded G-force generator. It's a total
experience, one that dopes every pleasure receptor in your brain with
automotive giddiness. Achieving that abstract goal is always trickier than
hitting hard performance targets - call it the alchemy of desirability.
You get the impression that in designing the F430, Ferrari's every
decision
was framed by the question, "How can we make this more like a Formula One
car?"
So the 4.3-liter, 479-horsepower V-8 got a motor with a high-pitched,
hard-edged wail that's unlike anything else you'll hear from a car with
license plates. That high-strung motor is mounted behind the passenger
compartment and ahead of the rear axles, just like a Formula One car.
The F1 sequential manual transmission does away with a clutch pedal,
instead
giving the driver shift paddles on either side of the steering column,
just
like a Formula One car (although traditionalists can still order a
six-speed
manual). The steering wheel features Ferrari's "mannetino," a small rotary
switch with six settings to tailor the car's electronic aggressiveness,
from
a snow-and-ice mode (as if!) to race, to the position beyond race that
Ferrari's people politely asked me not to engage, as it disables all
traction and stability control and could easily lead to a Code Red
Disgraced
Journalist Situation.
Pat yourself on the back if you can guess what also has a mannetino: the
Ferrari Formula One car!
In some vehicles - a Dale Earnhardt edition Monte Carlo springs to mind -
racecar affectations come off as marketing silliness. Here, you get the
idea
that they're not only a tangible link to the real open-wheel deal, but
they
enhance both the F430's performance and the experience of driving it.
In some ways, this car is amazingly civilized - consider the interior
bedecked in leather and carbon fiber, the ride quality that is
counterintuitively supple, the downright practical nine-cubic-foot trunk
up
front.
(The F1 transmission even has an automatic function, but I'm proud to say
that I can't tell you how it works because I never tried it. If you're too
lazy to twitch your fingers for a shift, you shouldn't be driving a
Ferrari.)
But the beast within is always just beneath the surface. A nudge of the
throttle recalls Russell Crowe's line in "Gladiator": "At my signal,
unleash
hell."
The F430 feels even faster than its 0-to-60 time (four seconds) suggests,
because everything it does, it does dramatically. The exhaust system has
flaps that bypass the mufflers, essentially plugging that trademark howl
into a giant megaphone.
One habit I got into with the F430 was digging deep into the throttle and
then pulling back for an upshift a few thousand r.p.m. short of the
redline.
This seems to trick the engine computer into dumping loads of fuel into
the
intake ports in anticipation of a run to 8,500 r.p.m., because when the F1
transmission clicks off the shift, it's accompanied by a rifle-shot
report,
a supersonic whip-crack from the exhaust that prompts you to look in the
mirror to see if the car behind you is engulfed in a contrail of flame.
That
never got old, frankly.
Some of my colleagues in the motoring press tell me that on a track, the
F430 can be drifted, tail-out, balanced on the razor edge of adhesion. I
can
tell you that on the street, its handling imparts a sense of
invulnerability
that finds you wondering why everyone else is dawdling down off-ramps when
obviously they're perfectly negotiable at 80 m.p.h.
The steering has a quick ratio but isn't nervous - you're not constantly
correcting your path, but should you decide to change lanes you need only
glance in the proper direction and you're there. The car evinces careful
engineering to nurture this ferocious-yet-livable split personality.
For instance, this may sound as lame as pointing out that there are no cup
holders, but I also came to truly appreciate the sharp turning circle.
When
you're parking a violently red $200,000 Ferrari, it's nice to pull into a
spot without doing Austin Powers back-and-forth corrections for half an
hour. Because, believe me, people are watching.
On the debit side of the ledger, the F430 is really expensive. And, with
the
F1 transmission, it's hard to parallel-park on a hill because you have to
stab the throttle and guess how far the clutch will engage. I feel about
as
critical as Paula Abdul, here, but that's really about all I've got.
The F430 can tone down its act enough to play the role of daily driver,
but
when you let it off its leash there are few cars out there with a more
raw-edged devotion to driver involvement. I have a feeling that when
Dennis
Liu finally gets his F430, he won't be disappointed.
INSIDE TRACK: In your dreams.
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Re: Dennis Liu in NYT	<– Date –> <– Thread –>
From: Fellippe Galletta (fellippe.gallettagmail.com)
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 10:12:06 -0700 (PDT)