After approximately a month with the car, the smile has not left my face. The critical side of me has managed to find 2-3 bothersome things. At the top of my list, are the interior door handle pulls. My problems are: 1. The material looks and feels cheap. (Surprising, since this is an object that the driver must see and feel each and every time he/she exits the car. Unless you roll Dukes of Hazard style.) 2. The fit is not perfect. The leather rides high against some of the edges and low on other edges. The corners don't perfectly create a seal with the leather. IMO, my handles look just like any other owner's out there. This isn't a problem with just my car. Does anyone know if we can order the carbon fiber handles from our dealer? (I know the MACarbon sells a pair...I prefer not to utilize non-Ferrari parts and I definitely don't want to do the install myself.)
When speccing my spider I specifically asked about carbon door pulls. A thread on F-chat mentioned their availability from Ferrari as option. I was told by FNA that they are N/A. They were not available as extracampanario. Nor was I told that I could get them thru Tailor Made. Not what you want to hear. I plan on doing the MACarbon route as I got the full carbon racing package with mandatory carbon race seats and the door handles stand out even more as sub par. Even though non-factory, I think they will look better than the factory part! Best. Randy
Yes, @ $1k. But, there is $450 core charge. So, until car reaches stage 90 I am not going to order. My dealer has seen MACarbon parts before and no problem with pattern/color being issue. That being said, I don't have door panels in carbon so handles don't have to exactly match. Meaning no Ferrari carbon will be in close proximity to handles. Lighting changes the color/appearance even of factory stuff. I find that unless areas equally lit, a lot of variation in color/appearance/darkness of CF exists with factory stuff anyway. But I can't wait to let you know how well it works. Best
I have the carbon fiber door panels and when you get the carbon fiber racing package it makes the door pulls standout like a sore thumb. I went ahead and got the MACarbon door pulls and low and behold they match the Ferrari carbon fiber door panels exactly. There was no issue with shading or colorization. I talked to MACarbon before ordering and they assured me that the carbon door handle pulls would match and they did. Installation is pretty simple, actually there is only one point that takes a little dexterity to get the pull ball in to the new carbon pull clip. I think if you search the 458 thread you can read a write-up of the MACarbon door handles. It talks about the only issues to watch out for in that thread. Again it is not hard just a little tricky, meaning that you need two pair of hands to do it. Don't try and do it alone, you will drop a clip inside the door and cause more work to get it right. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have made a number of alterations to my car and do not hesitate to continue, but to be honest, I had never thought about the door handles until seeing your thread. I immediately ran to my car thinking ("oh ****") what have I missed and realized I have no problem with the existing (stock) door handles. It seems to me, as good as Mcarbon is and how much I like CF (I have the sports package and really like it), I see nothing to be gained for me. Maybe I am alone in this, but feel that a CF door handle will look odd . Maybe someone can show me a black car with just the CF handle (nothing else on the door) to get an idea. Picture of mine attached. We all have different priorities and sensibilities, so no judgment intended. Best Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yeah, I can see that with the stock door sills the stock door handle pulls look just fine. But just imagine the factory carbon sills along with all the other factory carbon I had on my car. The stock door pulls, just don't look right. I talked to the factory about it when I first ordered it back in 2010. They said they would be offering it soon but not before my car was built. So I got the MACarbon and the match could not have been better, and that was the original OPs question.
Makes perfect sense to me. I was just wondering about those without CF on doors. I do have the facia/top of console/steering wheel, etc., CF package, and truly enjoy it, but given (plain) sills, and lack of CF on doors, seems ok to me. Enjoy. Best
The handles are aluminum, not plastic, so I'm surprised the OP thought they felt cheap. Its the same handle Ferrari used for the 599 since 2006 - just a different shaped holder. They match the 'base' metal dash and console but do look out of place if you have the CF interior. These are one of our laminate products so you'd still be using the factory part - just modified. As for the CF match, we use the same weave pattern. Our finish will be a bit smoother and a little darker. The factory stuff is sometimes a just a little bit milky. We always tell the customer to send the part back if they are unhappy with the match. We've never had anyone take us up on it! Ours might address a little of the 'fit' issues the OP is complaining about. They are about 1mm larger in each direction so they may cover a bit more of the leather? I had not heard anyone complaining about the fit of stock handles so had never given this aspect much thought. Our parts have been installed by many Ferrari dealers over the years. A dealer in Florida just installed a full 458 interior last month and another one should to have been finished up this week in Hawaii. A well known dealer in the North Carolina has installed several sets of the handles. So most dealers should be alright with the work. Here is a link to the door handles. This will have the current pricing. The number quoted above is incorrect as the deposit is actually a bit higher. http://www.macarbon.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=692&category_id=200&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=59 If you do the door handles, you really need to consider the inside passenger grab handle - its the same material and color. Here is a link to the 'door page' on our site. The door seems to have the most candidates for carboning. http://www.macarbon.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=59
how much difficulty is involved in installing these door pulls? what does the dealer typically charge? how much time is involved? is it a "diy" project?
It took me and my brother about ten minutes doing the first handle and less than that doing the second handle. And as John pointed out, I also replaced the door grab handle. That took maybe two minutes. Like I said, earlier in a previous thread on this subject. It is a do it yourself install if you have two people. There is a point where it really does require two sets of hands. Other than that it is pretty easy and straight forward.
We have the install guide on our website. http://www.macarbon.com/install_guides/ferrari/MAcarbon_458_Interior_Door_Handle_Installation.pdf
I just tested it and it seems fine. Its probably your browser security settings. However, you can also go to the product page itself and click on the 'View the Installation Instructions' and that will open it. http://www.macarbon.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=692&category_id=200&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=59
Good to know that the carbon adds a couple mm to the handle. This may make the finish more flush. Also good to know that some dealers are willing to install. For MACarbon, is a "laminate" another word for decal? What is the process to create a carbon laminate? Thanks.
A laminate is carbon over the original part. You are thinking of 'water printing' which is a different and much easier process. We do both laminate and molded CF. It depends on the part which method we choose. For a molded part, you have a high upfront tooling and development costs but less work on each individual part (hopefully!). For laminate, the upfront tooling cost is not there but you have a lot more labor on each piece. Laminate also requires purchasing a sufficient number of parts from Ferrari - which is a major investment. For door handles, we almost always go with a laminate. Once installed, you can't tell the difference and we don't have to reenginer a fairly complex system. Here is our page where we show the steps for lamiantion. It's not a simple process. http://www.macarbon.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4
Thank you John for explaining that. I look forward to seeing the handles in person. I will let you know what I think.
The only people who ask about the cost of a Ferrari part don't own one. Eventually you get numb, after all this ain't no Yara. If you have not been bitten by the Ferrari "bug" run (Forrest) run, and go by a "sensible" car and never even look at the door handles (lol). Could not resist. Best
After seeing the pictures above, I realize a key difference. With a dark interior, the grey handle blends with the surrounding leather. I have a Cuoio interior. The Cuoio and grey handle have a significant amount of contrast. Here is a close up of the area that bothers me most. The photo shows that the leather does not fit around the handle. I believe that a dark leather conceals the poor fit. After hearing about MACarbon's product, I don't think this is the answer. From the description, I gather the handle is the same shape (just a little wider to allow for the carbon laminate). There are 1000 things I LOVE on the car. Not bad that I can only find one small thing that could be better. Image Unavailable, Please Login
There is a little bit of 'slop' in the way the handles sit in the door. So anyone who has this complaint might be able to loosen the main bolt and try moving the handle a millimeter or two. See if that at least centers the thing. This does demonstrate one reason why hand built cars use lots of leather - its usually great for 'filling' manufacturing tolerances.
This does demonstrate one reason why hand built cars use lots of leather - its usually great for 'filling' manufacturing tolerances.[/QUOTE] +1... got that right!
Thank you John I will try that. It is a matter of time before I spring for your carbon door handles. They look great.
