550 vs 575 | FerrariChat

550 vs 575

Discussion in '456/550/575' started by drbruno, Mar 27, 2021.

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  1. drbruno

    drbruno Formula Junior
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    Mar 23, 2014
    739
    Toronto, ON
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    Dr. Bruno L. Venditt
    Hello Group,

    I am new to the V12 thread. I currently own and enjoy at 2003 360 Coupe with a 6 speed manual transmission. I really love the car, but I think it's time to trade up to a V12. I had my heart set on a 550 given the 6 speed manual, but am now toying with the idea of a 575 with F1 shifting.

    Can you provide some insight on a 550 vs. 575? Is giving up the manual a good trade off for moving up to a 575 with all it's improvements?

    Thanks,

    Bruno Vendittelli
    Toronto, Canada
     
    Texas Forever likes this.
  2. Salami

    Salami Karting

    Oct 31, 2020
    219
    Oregon
    I wouldn’t give up a true manual ever. Period. That’s just me tho.
     
    Bas, ralfabco, rossodino and 2 others like this.
  3. root

    root Formula Junior
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    Nov 28, 2012
    472
    Bay Area, Ca
    What improvements are important to you?
     
  4. JC1720

    JC1720 Karting

    Jan 21, 2016
    102
    UK
    All I can suggest is do what I did, drive them both and see how you feel.

    I instantly chose the 550, to me it was beautifully analogue vs the 575 F1 being primitively digital - but it’s a totally personal thing, the cars I think are very equivalent.

    if you love the 360 for being a manual, I sense you may prefer the 550 but try them and see.
     
  5. drbruno

    drbruno Formula Junior
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    Mar 23, 2014
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    Dr. Bruno L. Venditt
    Thanks! The hard part is finding a 550 and 575 to test drive here in Canada.
     
  6. drbruno

    drbruno Formula Junior
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    The improvements are not important to me at all.
     
  7. Ferrari55whoa

    Ferrari55whoa F1 Rookie
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    Dec 21, 2005
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    My feeling has been that if you like “factory options” the 575’s “feel” like there are many more cars with more options (there are actually fewer 575’s...maybe they trade more frequently).

    575’s are also much less $$$$. The one that sold this week on BaT was close to the bottom). That buyer checked in and he is doing an F1-6MT conversion.....why not buy the less expensive evolved “modificata” 575 and then at some point you could do a conversion.

    Plus a few 575 systems are evolved compared to the 550....like cooling and fuel handling? Finding a 550 with those two major systems upgrades isn’t easy.
     
  8. Ferrari55whoa

    Ferrari55whoa F1 Rookie
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    FWIW Terry @tazandjan is our most tenured and active professor in this forum and he drives a 575.
     
  9. LVP488

    LVP488 F1 Rookie

    Jan 21, 2017
    4,839
    France
    The 575 is an improved 550 but the improvements were more relevant in-period than now. In 2004 I had a 550 and upgraded to a 575-F1 in 2006; the 575 is more powerful (the difference being more obvious than the 30 hp on the specs sheet) and already has far smarter electronics (the ASR on the 550 is very intrusive whereas it's better judged, and intelligently relaxed in "Sport" setting on the 575), while the F1 gearbox also helps to extract more performance. I think that at this time the switch made sense.
    But today both cars are outdated so that they cannot provide up-to-date performance, and for me the 550 is more interesting for its classic feel... last year I bought another one to complement my 488.
     
  10. F456M

    F456M F1 Rookie

    Jan 8, 2010
    3,665
    Oslo
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    Erik
    Both are great in their own ways! I have had a 550 since 2013 and I find it ultra reliable.

    Some differences worth to note:

    Many 550s have cooling problems when it is hot outside and you are stuck in traffic (also experienced when these cars were brand new according to one of our members in this forum!). The 575 has some modifications to get away from this problem. These can be retrofitted to a 550 without a lot of expences. I did all on mine. Problem solved!

    2) The 575 has no less than six catalyzers. One for each pre-cat (it is in the manifold) + one on each side after the two pre-cats per side. Some 575 owners have experienced cracks due to the heat the generate. The 550 has only two catalyzers, one for each cylinder bank. The 575 have also even more lambda / O2 sensors. More can go wrong.

    3) 575 has upper shock mounts with rubber to give less road noise. The 550 and 355 Challenge are the only models where the shock is mounted directly to the frame!

    4) 575 had xenon lights after the first year or so. 550 never had xenon.

    5) 550 has leather luggage bags in different colors, while 575 have a less vintage look more plastic type of luggage.
    (this one is really important :) )

    These are the most significant differences that I can think of. I also like the styling of the 550 better because the 575 have a re-designed front, but not the rear which is a bit strange. The only difference is the width of the opening in the rear bumper where you put your fingers to lift up the trunk. Almost impossible to spot. The interior is also designed by the same man as did the exterior for the 550 , and I am not sure that is the case with the 575, but both looks great.

    Both like gas. Especially in the city. I can get mine to 1 liter per 10 kms. at a steady 100 kph.
     
  11. Themaven

    Themaven F1 Rookie

    Nov 2, 2014
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    Darius
    Some great advice already, here.

    I owned a 550 and a manual 575 simultaneously and still have the 575. I haven’t owned a F1 575 though I have driven them extensively when they were new.

    The 550 has a more classic feel to it, somehow, things like the dash. I think it looks nicer outside too, marginally. Comparing my 550 to my 575 which has the fiorano handling pack, the 550 handling seemed a little purer at the limit, though the 575 is a more capable handler all round and has other advantages in its handling.

    The 550 had over light steering with no feel at all. 575 has great weight if not that much feel still. The 575 goes quite a lot faster all through the range. While the 550 interior is cooler in design, 575 feels far higher quality, 550 still has a bit of a hangover from the gruesome Fiat era in terms of interior. (I had a F512M at the same time so I knew about gruesome Fiat interiors).

    575 is a lot more refined as a car. Back to back you hear a lot more road roar in the 550 and its ride is less settled, more jiggly. My article comparing the two is here but it was comparing gated with gated.

    https://www.lux-mag.com/best-modern-classic-ferrari/

    The F1 vs manual question will be important for your purchase, is a manual more important than the advantages of a 575? If yes, 550.

    finally, and this may well just be about my own cars, my 550 was dreadfully unreliable and cost almost 3x as much to maintain as my 575. The fuel system and sensors were an ongoing bug. I believe this was addressed in the 575 but I will leave that to the pros.
     
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  12. Ferrari55whoa

    Ferrari55whoa F1 Rookie
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    @Qksilver has an impressive fleet. His opinion of both and more could be value added here as well.
     
  13. Qksilver

    Qksilver F1 Rookie
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  14. drbruno

    drbruno Formula Junior
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    Wow! They are gorgeous. I am looking for a V12 cruiser. I had my fun with the 360 and want something 'more grown up' to use for weekend jaunts with the wife, etc.
     
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  15. SilverF360

    SilverF360 Rookie

    Feb 9, 2011
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    Great Falls, VA
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    Michael
    I just made exactly this change, although my 360 was an F1 Spider. There is a thread on this forum when I was considering it, and several people had insightful comments that you might want to review. I loved my 360, but I have really enjoyed the 575 after a few months of ownership. It is hard to overstate the differences between what, to most, would be two Ferrari two-seater sportscars from the same era. I definitely find the 575 to be more usable day to day, even though the 360 has a surprisingly capacious trunk as you know. I would also say that, as with the chassis, the engines feel more different than one would expect just looking at the specs. Given your stated intent (something more grown up for weekend jaunts) I think you would be very happy with the 575. As a bonus, my mechanic tells me that there are fewer things likely to go wrong in the 575 -- everything about it just seems less highly stressed and less extreme than the 360. But I will miss the carving down a country road in the 360 with the top down!
     
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  16. F612

    F612 Formula Junior

    Feb 5, 2018
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    David D. Hood
    I have a 575 and a 612 OTO HGT2
    The 575 is good but the 612 is great!
    You might do yourself a favor and look at the 612.
    It is a serious improvement in every way.
     
  17. Ferrari55whoa

    Ferrari55whoa F1 Rookie
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    If it’s not the general body lines of the Maranello (that’s the lust factor for me personally).....then I think with the FF they went away from belts and switched to timing chains and those prices have seemed like amazing values for V12 gentleman cruising?
     
  18. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Jul 19, 2008
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    Eric- The 599 was the first late production model with chains, its F140C engine adapted from the Enzo's F140B engine. The FF engine is an evolution of the 599 engine, Type F140 EB, which evolved into the F12 Type F140 FC engine.
     
  19. niftyfivefifty

    niftyfivefifty Formula Junior
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    It also seems like the 599 is an amazing value right now, and looks to be going up in value again. One of those with Fabio's headers would be a lot of fun. And, if desired and when the time is right, go for a manual conversion. That one is on my bucket list.
     
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  20. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Several FChatters have Fabio's 6-1 headers on their 599s.
     
  21. hwyman

    hwyman Formula Junior

    Jun 25, 2015
    329
    Canada / Los Angeles
    The big V12's have a very different feeling to the V8 models. They are definitely more GT and a lot less "jumpy". The flexibility of the big 12 is spectacular it can cruise at slower speeds at lower RPM comfortably and yet pull nicely to the redline. Its not an all out racer like the V8s. The suspension in my 550 is more compliant than it was in my 360 and 430. I honestly prefer the V12 for the point I am at in my life and the way traffic is these days. I got fed up with F1 and Egear issues as well, some people never have issues but every issue I had with my Murci, 360 and 430 were mostly F1 related. I can only imagine a system as old as the one in the 575. Personally the manual gearbox in the 550 is what makes it special to me. I agree on a twisty mountain road when you can run the engine through the gears F1 and Egear were spectacular but in city driving I much prefer the manual.

    550 are getting old so they will need some care, and its a manual throttle as opposed to the 575 DBW (hence different methods of TC). 575 has the better return-less fuel system which reduces issues with the fuel cooling issues in the 550. Lots of heat in that engine bay. They are quite different cars, I prefer the front end of the 550. 575 has the skyhook suspension I believe so you dont have the little red suspension motors to get wound up... very tough call and you cant go wrong with either. a 575 manual would be king but those are in a very different price bracket. Personally I prefer the 550 with a stick but thats me.
     
  22. white out

    white out Formula 3

    Mar 3, 2010
    1,228
    575 if you want the most performance out of the chassis.

    The styling differences (inside & out) between the 550 & 575 are so minimal, and they each look good, so there really isn't a wrong decision based on looks. With the ease of swapping F1 to manual, I wouldn't consider that to be an issue given the price differences between a 575 F1 & 550. Mechanically the 550 has a few items that were addressed on the 575, but nothing major.
     
  23. drbruno

    drbruno Formula Junior
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    Mar 23, 2014
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    Is it not cost prohibitive to change an F1 shifter to a manual in the 575?
     
  24. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Usually runs about $30K and they are getting much better at it.
     

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