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Why would you change Ferrari wheels.
Not too sure some bling chromed alloy jappers would look the part.
Not too sure some bling chromed alloy jappers would look the part.
New V12 Daily Driver (Ferrari 550 Maranello)
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The 1UZFE EGR Delete Kit is available for sale here.
This is pretty much what Im saying. Im sure the stock rims are probably forged. But yes, lighter or same weight, but definitly wider. I wasnt trying to sound like a jerk, sorry if it came across like that Zuffen. I just think the car could look better with different rim & definitly high dollar ones. The rims need to command as much respect, as the car does, if one is going to make that move.
John, check out www.SharpHID.com They have 55watt true HID kits for $55 in all bulb types/color temps. I have installed these on 4 different lexus cars and can vouch their quality. I have bought $250 HID kits previously and these are of the same quality for 1/4 the price.
Can you post a pic of the Larini x pipe?
spdrcr771
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No one said anything about "chromed alloy jappers". If you can afford a Ferrari, then a really nice set of Forged 2 or 3 pcs wheels is not a problem. He's not staying stock on suspension, & it sounds like it already has aftermarket exhaust, which he said, he was gonna change also. If it were mine, Id put on a nice set of 2-3pcs staggered 19" wheels with a nice lip front & rear, & probably stay with a 5 star pattern & have them paint matched to the car with a Ferrari emblem on the center cap. So that it appears stock, but not.
spf_lexus
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If it were mine, I would only consider dymags or maybe Weds full carbon rims. Aftermarket rims on a ferrari make no sense unless their lighter or potentially wider than stock. I would guess that the stockers are pretty lightweight already? My vote is for stock unless a cool $10k is expendable for rims!
spdrcr771
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This is pretty much what Im saying. Im sure the stock rims are probably forged. But yes, lighter or same weight, but definitly wider. I wasnt trying to sound like a jerk, sorry if it came across like that Zuffen. I just think the car could look better with different rim & definitly high dollar ones. The rims need to command as much respect, as the car does, if one is going to make that move.
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XR8tt
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Ah go upmarket with some Lexus wheels... Lol....
stevechumo
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There's quite a few Ferrari and other exotic cars run on aftermarket wheels. However, only expensive aftermarket wheels will be worth on exotic cars.
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When you look at a Ferrari you look at a "finished" work of art.
They are as much about the look as the drive.
You don't see body kits for Ferraris because very few people have the ability, or taste, to improve on them.
The Ferraris you see with aftermarket wheels or, God forbid, added spoilers are usually the cheaper end of the market that some jerk has fiddled around with and effectively shot its resale value out the window.
I made my living out of being the Insurer who insured more than half the Ferraris in the country so I guess I have a good insight into how those guys think.
The car has enough bling without more.
The aftermarket exhaust won't change the car's looks and neither will the exhaust.
Keep the bling for cars that need it.
Before you comment I've owned 3 Ferraris and a bunch of Porsches so I've "lived the dream".
They are as much about the look as the drive.
You don't see body kits for Ferraris because very few people have the ability, or taste, to improve on them.
The Ferraris you see with aftermarket wheels or, God forbid, added spoilers are usually the cheaper end of the market that some jerk has fiddled around with and effectively shot its resale value out the window.
I made my living out of being the Insurer who insured more than half the Ferraris in the country so I guess I have a good insight into how those guys think.
The car has enough bling without more.
The aftermarket exhaust won't change the car's looks and neither will the exhaust.
Keep the bling for cars that need it.
Before you comment I've owned 3 Ferraris and a bunch of Porsches so I've "lived the dream".
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Wheel wise I'm keeping the OEM's pretty much for the reasons Zuffen stated. These are some simple, but very elegant looking wheels, IMO, and I've not seen any others that I thought improved the Maranello's looks (and I've been looking closely at Maranello's for the last 2-3 years). HRE make a very nice, and typically very expensive 3 piece, 5 spoke wheel that was a factory option, but IMO it looks too "busy" on the car with all the exposed hardware. Novi-Tec make a 19" wheel for this car, and there's a Maranello that's been on eBay for 6 months with them in powder coated black. Maybe they'd look OK on another car, but IMO they make the Maranello look hideous. There may be other reasons why this car hasn't sold, but these rims are definitely not doing it any favors. So it's the factory wheels for me.
For cars that were going to be tracked, or for owners who just wanted a tighter suspension, a "Fiorano Handling Package" was offered from the factory, which included a stiffer rear sway bar, stiffer springs, and spacers for the rear wheels. The car was also lowered a bit as a result of the stiffer springs. We're not going the whole way with the Fiorano package, but are lowering the car just a bit, and are putting the rear spacers on. If, down the road, I decide to go the rest of the way, it'll be a simple matter to add the sway bar, and/or the springs. I've already had one unpleasant, bone jarring experience with stiffer springs on the Supra, so that's one reason why I'm not doing it with this car.
We'll see how it sounds with the X-pipe. I've been advised that the lack of resonators may cause too much of a "drone", and if so, it's easy enough to undo and put the resonators back on. I was tempted to go all the way and replace the cats with test pipes, but the harness would require a bit of modification for the O2 sims to avoid the CEL's, and one thing I'm not going to do with this car is allow any harness mods. Both the resonator replacement X-pipe, and the cat replacement pipes are made by Larini in England, so they're very high quality stainless pieces.
I really would like to have some xenon headlights on this car, as I've gotten used to their superior light output with the Supra and they make the car much more enjoyable and safer to drive at night, especially now that my night vision isn't what it once was.... Unfortunately this car has the same problem the Supra did; it wasn't offered with xenon projectors in any of its markets, so the only good alternative is to "retrofit" a set of 3rd party xenon projectors into the existing headlight housings as we did with the Supra. This could be a very dodgy proposition for a car of this calibre, so I'm going to have to weigh the pros & cons very carefully before proceeding, as this is something that can't be undone, and could easily go all wrong......
At the end of the day, the guiding points for any mods I might do are:
1) To personalise the car tastefully, without altering its appearance
2) Whatever is done, must be able to be undone fairly easily if it doesn't provide the anticipated result/benefit.
3) It must either add value to the car, or at least not be perceived as reducing the car's value.
For cars that were going to be tracked, or for owners who just wanted a tighter suspension, a "Fiorano Handling Package" was offered from the factory, which included a stiffer rear sway bar, stiffer springs, and spacers for the rear wheels. The car was also lowered a bit as a result of the stiffer springs. We're not going the whole way with the Fiorano package, but are lowering the car just a bit, and are putting the rear spacers on. If, down the road, I decide to go the rest of the way, it'll be a simple matter to add the sway bar, and/or the springs. I've already had one unpleasant, bone jarring experience with stiffer springs on the Supra, so that's one reason why I'm not doing it with this car.
We'll see how it sounds with the X-pipe. I've been advised that the lack of resonators may cause too much of a "drone", and if so, it's easy enough to undo and put the resonators back on. I was tempted to go all the way and replace the cats with test pipes, but the harness would require a bit of modification for the O2 sims to avoid the CEL's, and one thing I'm not going to do with this car is allow any harness mods. Both the resonator replacement X-pipe, and the cat replacement pipes are made by Larini in England, so they're very high quality stainless pieces.
I really would like to have some xenon headlights on this car, as I've gotten used to their superior light output with the Supra and they make the car much more enjoyable and safer to drive at night, especially now that my night vision isn't what it once was.... Unfortunately this car has the same problem the Supra did; it wasn't offered with xenon projectors in any of its markets, so the only good alternative is to "retrofit" a set of 3rd party xenon projectors into the existing headlight housings as we did with the Supra. This could be a very dodgy proposition for a car of this calibre, so I'm going to have to weigh the pros & cons very carefully before proceeding, as this is something that can't be undone, and could easily go all wrong......
At the end of the day, the guiding points for any mods I might do are:
1) To personalise the car tastefully, without altering its appearance
2) Whatever is done, must be able to be undone fairly easily if it doesn't provide the anticipated result/benefit.
3) It must either add value to the car, or at least not be perceived as reducing the car's value.
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spf_lexus
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John, check out www.SharpHID.com They have 55watt true HID kits for $55 in all bulb types/color temps. I have installed these on 4 different lexus cars and can vouch their quality. I have bought $250 HID kits previously and these are of the same quality for 1/4 the price.
Can you post a pic of the Larini x pipe?
XR8tt
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Yep good now you can save some miles on your good cars ... LOL.....
WDoherty
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One vote for vids with exhaust sound and aggressive acceleration when you get it back.
JBrady
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I was going to make a joke post about running the "biggest nos system you can find with purge ports right next to the Ferrari badges"... but was worried someone might actually take it seriously 
I am a BIG fan of the factory look. Drive it, enjoy it, experience it. Like a beautiful woman or a fine bottle of wine the experience is wasting... carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
I am a BIG fan of the factory look. Drive it, enjoy it, experience it. Like a beautiful woman or a fine bottle of wine the experience is wasting... carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
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Another Latin scholar I've forgotten most of mine, but IIRC, that means something like "Seize the moment, give minimum credibility to the (posterity?)"
Not sure about that last part, but I think the overall 'gist is "Do what you enjoy and think is right, and don't be too concerned about what they'll think in the future."
@ WDoherty: Definitely will be doing some vids & sound bytes before & after
@ Graeme: Yea, like my Supra needs less mileage It gets so little mileage now that the tires are getting flatspotted. Guess I need to pump them up to 50psi or so to see if that helps.
@ Sean: Sorry, I didn't see your post; here's a pic of the Larini X-pipe for the 550 Maranello:
I've forgotten most of mine, but IIRC, that means something like "Seize the moment, give minimum credibility to the (posterity?)" Not sure about that last part, but I think the overall 'gist is "Do what you enjoy and think is right, and don't be too concerned about what they'll think in the future."
@ WDoherty: Definitely will be doing some vids & sound bytes before & after
@ Graeme: Yea, like my Supra needs less mileage
It gets so little mileage now that the tires are getting flatspotted. Guess I need to pump them up to 50psi or so to see if that helps.@ Sean: Sorry, I didn't see your post; here's a pic of the Larini X-pipe for the 550 Maranello:
hungryforinfo
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Here's a (poorly done) "before" vid of the Maranello's exhaust at the shop in Virginia. It'll be there around 5-6 weeks for some TLC and mods. It's odd, but the exhaust sounds more aggressive at idle than when it's revved:
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All the Maranello's parts have come in, and she's back on the lift at Josh's shop, Exotic Car Specialties, in Sterling VA. Here's some pics of things going back together.
The Larini X-pipe resonator replacement installed:
The newly powdercoated calipers and SF shields installed. The traditional Ferrari script will be applied to the calipers today or tomorrow:
The new OS Giken clutch.
It’s an 8.5” triple with metallic linings to replace the 11” single disc organic. This is Giken’s first street clutch for the 550 Maranello, and my car is the beta test case. Here’s the old & new setups side by side:
Some weight comparisons:
OEM Clutch w/Flywheel: 45lbs
Giken Clutch w/Flywheel: 31lbs
OEM Flywheel: 20lbs
Giken Flywheel: 16lbs
OEM Clutch: 25lbs
Giken Clutch: 15lbs
People who know me will think I’ve completely lost my mind buying this clutch after all the moaning I’ve done about the TRD Twin Disc in my Supra, but we’re hoping for greater things with this Giken clutch than the TRD. First, the Maranello is NOT torque challenged at launch, like the Supra so it should be able to launch better with a lighter setup than the Supra does, second, we’ve only shed perhaps 31% of the weight of the OEM setup, so at 31 lbs total, it’s still a fairly heavy setup. We’re not going from OEM 35lbs to 15 lbs like the TRD setup. Third, Giken have put their lightest pressure plate on this, to ease the engagement, and fourth, Giken’s metallic clutches are known to be some of the easiest to drive metallics in the business. So here’s keeping my fingers crossed that this isn’t an undriveable on/off switch……
Here's the Scuderia Rampant Innovations (SRI) coolant hose kit going in:
Ferrari manufactures a car that is a piece of rolling art, and is engineered to perform extremely well. Unfortunately, it’s not engineered to be reliable, at least not in the sense of GM/Ford/Toyota type reliability. Many Ferrari replacement parts are known to be of fairly shoddy quality, and their hoses are some of the best (worst?) examples. On the Maranello model, it’s not unusual to have to replace these coolant hoses under the intake manifold every 3-4 years or so. On my 1999 car, the service history shows they were done twice already, and one was leaking again. Shocking.
So an enterprising Ferrari technician & shop owner set up a cottage business called Scuderia Rampante Innovations, to improve upon certain areas of Ferrari’s poor reliability, and these hose kits are one of his products. His goal is to make his hose kit the last set of hoses the car will ever need. He also does fuel hoses, replacement fuse boxes, and gold plated connector kits for many of the vintage Ferrari.
So, hopefully Josh will be finishing up the car today or tomorrow, loading it on the trailer, and heading for Houston.
The Larini X-pipe resonator replacement installed:
The newly powdercoated calipers and SF shields installed. The traditional Ferrari script will be applied to the calipers today or tomorrow:
The new OS Giken clutch.
It’s an 8.5” triple with metallic linings to replace the 11” single disc organic. This is Giken’s first street clutch for the 550 Maranello, and my car is the beta test case. Here’s the old & new setups side by side:
Some weight comparisons:
OEM Clutch w/Flywheel: 45lbs
Giken Clutch w/Flywheel: 31lbs
OEM Flywheel: 20lbs
Giken Flywheel: 16lbs
OEM Clutch: 25lbs
Giken Clutch: 15lbs
People who know me will think I’ve completely lost my mind buying this clutch after all the moaning I’ve done about the TRD Twin Disc in my Supra, but we’re hoping for greater things with this Giken clutch than the TRD. First, the Maranello is NOT torque challenged at launch, like the Supra so it should be able to launch better with a lighter setup than the Supra does, second, we’ve only shed perhaps 31% of the weight of the OEM setup, so at 31 lbs total, it’s still a fairly heavy setup. We’re not going from OEM 35lbs to 15 lbs like the TRD setup. Third, Giken have put their lightest pressure plate on this, to ease the engagement, and fourth, Giken’s metallic clutches are known to be some of the easiest to drive metallics in the business. So here’s keeping my fingers crossed that this isn’t an undriveable on/off switch……
Here's the Scuderia Rampant Innovations (SRI) coolant hose kit going in:
Ferrari manufactures a car that is a piece of rolling art, and is engineered to perform extremely well. Unfortunately, it’s not engineered to be reliable, at least not in the sense of GM/Ford/Toyota type reliability. Many Ferrari replacement parts are known to be of fairly shoddy quality, and their hoses are some of the best (worst?) examples. On the Maranello model, it’s not unusual to have to replace these coolant hoses under the intake manifold every 3-4 years or so. On my 1999 car, the service history shows they were done twice already, and one was leaking again. Shocking.
So an enterprising Ferrari technician & shop owner set up a cottage business called Scuderia Rampante Innovations, to improve upon certain areas of Ferrari’s poor reliability, and these hose kits are one of his products. His goal is to make his hose kit the last set of hoses the car will ever need. He also does fuel hoses, replacement fuse boxes, and gold plated connector kits for many of the vintage Ferrari.
So, hopefully Josh will be finishing up the car today or tomorrow, loading it on the trailer, and heading for Houston.
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JustenGT8
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You're a brave man John, gotta admire you for that and it sure looks like a sweet ride
and it sure looks like a sweet ride
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Cheers Justen, the jury's still out on whether this clutch will be great or a real dog. Should know something tomorrow when Josh takes it for a test spin before loading it on the trailer. Unfortunately there's 4" of fresh snow up in Virginia so he won't be able to give it a good test.
I got some very positive feedback on Giken's quad and triple disc clutches from another Supra owner that I have a ton of respect for. He's had three Gikens on his Supras over the last 12 years and loves 'em. His recommendation is what finally swayed me on this.
I got some very positive feedback on Giken's quad and triple disc clutches from another Supra owner that I have a ton of respect for. He's had three Gikens on his Supras over the last 12 years and loves 'em. His recommendation is what finally swayed me on this.
XR8tt
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My guess ?? .. It will be o/k due to large surface area ?? Less Lb per squ inch ...
Are the hoses made of silicon ?? Suttle changes can make it so much more reliable...
NICE !!!
Are the hoses made of silicon ?? Suttle changes can make it so much more reliable...
NICE !!!
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Thanks Graeme, I'm sure hoping you're right about the surface area 'cause that's what I'm betting on too for a lighter pedal. It's also one of the main reasons I went with this clutch, instead of another OEM. The pedal with the OEM was too heavy for the wife and I wanted her to be able to drive this car if she wants to. She gave me her blessing to buy the car in the first place, so I'd like for her to be able to enjoy it too, not just me.
To overcome the metallic's natural tendency for a harsher engagement, I'm betting on the lighter pressure plate (which may backfire and just produce more chatter) and still having a fairly high MOI with the fairly heavy flywheel, etc.. That and having a great OEM hydraulic release bearing system.
Pure silicone on the hoses. Not just a silicone outer layer.
To overcome the metallic's natural tendency for a harsher engagement, I'm betting on the lighter pressure plate (which may backfire and just produce more chatter) and still having a fairly high MOI with the fairly heavy flywheel, etc.. That and having a great OEM hydraulic release bearing system.
Pure silicone on the hoses. Not just a silicone outer layer.
