599 manual conversion or not?

[Marwood79]

Hi,

I'm a proud new owner of a 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB. Totally stock. F1 box. Bought for just under 85k with decent (not perfect) history and 22k miles. Love it.

Am planning a manual conversion and exhaust upgrade.

The exhaust options are either get remote valves and cat delete pipes for about 3k, or get a new '6-into-1' header set-up that would radically alter the exhaust pitch from deep and manly, into a screamer more similar to the GTO or even the later F12 and 812 cars. Total cost anout 16k

Re the manual conversion, it's about 40k, so not far off half the value of the car... I am just interested in any thoughts on that full stop.

I'd be invested about £150k at that point, (still considerably less than the Manuale option on the 12 Cylindre)... but I'd have a lovely sounding, manual V12 car. All things considered, what would you do?

Thanks!

Marwood

[mwstewart]

Tough one. Is that the fitted price? I'd start with the exhaust and give myself a bit more time to think it over.

[Marwood79]

Thanks mwstewart, considering putting the experience up on here as a log of sorts... yes that price is fitted. Gopd call re start with exhaust.

[ManicMunky]

Never driven one, will likely never be able to afford one... but all reports seem like it's a good idea!

Go for it

[200Plus Club]

Marwood79 said:

Hi,

I'm a proud new owner of a 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB. Totally stock. F1 box. Bought for just under 85k with decent (not perfect) history and 22k miles. Love it.

Am planning a manual conversion and exhaust upgrade.

The exhaust options are either get remote valves and cat delete pipes for about 3k, or get a new '6-into-1' header set-up that would radically alter the exhaust pitch from deep and manly, into a screamer more similar to the GTO or even the later F12 and 812 cars. Total cost anout 16k

Re the manual conversion, it's about 40k, so not far off half the value of the car... I am just interested in any thoughts on that full stop.

I'd be invested about £150k at that point, (still considerably less than the Manuale option on the 12 Cylindre)... but I'd have a lovely sounding, manual V12 car. All things considered, what would you do?

Thanks!

Marwood

Try Matt at Nicromobeum for a quote, 16k sounds excessive tbh

[rdodger]

How bad is the F1 box?

How does the conversion affect the value?

As previous. I would do a few thousand miles and see how I feel then

If it's a keeper and you can afford it, then manual screamer it is!

[EdWhite]

Gtt a Trev360 ECU tune as a first step, that is what pretty much everyone seems to do

[DaveyBoyWonder]

40 grand seems a lot of money just to manually change gears. Will 40 grand enhance your driving experience of a big GT car that much?

[gobshite]

Have you seen the Hoovies garage conversion?

If I had the money the gearbox would definitely happen 😁

[Sofa]

If it were me I'd live with it for a year or so, drive the car plenty with the current box and then see how you feel. Not only do you get some more time to think it over (and save up if that's a consideration!) but you get to properly experience and enjoy the car with the F1 'box. Two ownership experiences in one (well, arguably one-and-a-half) then too.

Also, pics please.

[K5tealth]

Nice problem to have!

Any chance of some pics while you are deciding?

[Slippydiff]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

40 grand seems a lot of money just to manually change gears. Will 40 grand enhance your driving experience of a big GT car that much?

Still cheaper than a 12 Cilindri "manual" though ...
And you'd end up with a real manual 'box, rather than the nonsense Ferrari will be charging £190K for the dubious privilege of owning over a "standard" DCT 12 Cilindri.

[mikiec]

I’ll echo the others and suggest keep the f1 box for a while. I swapped from a manual R8 to their SMG box, r-tronic, and I prefer the R-tronic. There is a bit of a trick to get smooth up shifts which adds some engagement and the downshifts are downshifts.

If I was regularly driving through towns/cites I’d want the manual however.

[Marwood79]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the solid suggestions! Havi g had a few more weeks mulling this, very first step will be a remote valve controller. Then 2nd step likely to be cat deleteand a Trev360 retune. I am still very tempted with the conversion sooner rather than later... if onlymbecause you have to make every mile count in these cars if you are not a multi-millionaire (as I am definitely not)... so I kinda don't want to expend too many miles pre-manual.

Anyway, here are a few pics of collection (only 3 weeks ago), meeting the room-mate Spyder... and out for a blast on a nice local road.

I'll post updates as often as they happen 👍

[EdWhite]

Your photo's are not uploading

[Abc321]

£40k seems a lot but as mentioned if you can afford it, go for it!

Alternatively and a left friend choice - I appreciate its not the same but a V12VS could be had for a lot less than £150k and you'd have a manual V12 screamer then?

[Magic919]

Quick hack for the missing pics

[Marwood79]

Thanks!

[Mr Tidy]

Stunning pair of cars there.

It's probably worth seeing how you get on with it, but if you want a manual conversion don't wait too long. I've lost count of how many times I've improved cars just for the benefit of the next owner.

[fflump]

It seems a lot of money to spend when a manual 456 is not a whole lot more than the conversion cost.
That said, I imagine that a good conversion will add resale value rather than detract.