Ferrari 430 Scuderia Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Ferrari 430 Scuderia
Prices: £172,500 - on the road
Insurance Group: 20
Emissions: 360g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 3.6s / Max Speed 198mph
Fuel Consumption: (Combined) 18mpg
Safety: Twin front airbags/ ABS/ ASR
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4512/1923/1199

MARANELLO HATCHES A MONSTER

Our Rating: 6.6 / 10

Believe it or not, there exist those who feel that Ferrari’s F430 is a little soft. The Scuderia version offers a deafening, battering, teeth shattering riposte. Jonathan Crouch reports

Ferrari’s 430 Scuderia is a lightened, toughened, lower and faster version of the F430 for which Ferrari will expect an additional £43,000 or so. Lightweight, simple and striking with a distinctive engine and exhaust sound: every last detail of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia exudes uncompromising sportiness.

Ferrari have released data showing that the average Ferrari driver spends ten per cent of their time on race tracks. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that ten per cent of their car’s mileage is devoted to track use. Either way, no other manufacturer’s products can claim anything close to this in terms of client usage. All of which points to a healthy demand in Ferrari terms for a car like the 430 Scuderia.

Weighing in at 1250kg (100kg lighter than the standard model) and offering up 510bhp from a naturally aspirated 4308cc V8 engine, the 430 Scuderia boasts an extraordinarily low weight-power ratio of just 2.45 kg/bhp, which allows it to sprint from rest to sixty in just 3.6 seconds. It can also complete a lap at Fiorano in a time comparable to that of the Enzo, the Ferrari that has come to epitomise Maranello’s philosophy of transferring F1 content to its road cars.

The engine noise is an all-pervasive accompaniment. Twist the key and you get the usual furtive whine of the starter motor before the engine explodes into life with the sort of riotous, fruity bark that you thought European bureaucrats had legislated out of existence years ago. Ferrari say they’ve worked hard to create this. Cutting-edge calculation tools were employed to optimise the 430 Scuderia’s intake and exhaust systems and sound damping, with the result that the exhaust and engine sound inside the cabin is clear, powerful and particularly thrilling in full acceleration.

The 430 Scuderia’s engine is an evolution of the F430’s 90° V8 which features a number of modifications to boost its specific power output from 114bhp/litre to 118bhp/litre. The transmission is a paddle shift system that takes you as close as you can get to the experience of driving a real F1 car. It’s called ‘F1-SuperFast2’ and it’s an evolution of the F1 gearbox used on all of Ferrari’s models that reduces gear-shifting times to just 60 miliseconds, the fastest time of any of the models in the Prancing Horse range and

Ride comfort isn’t quite as harsh as you might expect for a track-focused car but even so, unless you’re planning to take to the circuits regularly, you’d be better off opting for a standard F430. The brakes are far better on the Scuderia though, with front discs that are 18 mm larger and more hard-wearing. Another novelty with this model, supposedly developed by Michael Schumacher, is a button on the centre console which allows the suspension to be controlled separately from the standard predefined set-up. This allows the driver to maintain maximum performance even on irregular road surfaces.

The 430 Scuderia’s external styling has been honed to improve its aerodynamic efficiency by increasing overall downforce whilst still retaining the same drag values as the standard F430. The aerodynamic efficiency of the re-styled rear diffuser has been improved by the addition of a revised profile for the spoiler at the rear of the engine cover and by the large venturis that run from the front wheel houses to the rear bumpers, achieving the patented "Base Bleed" effect. This has the double advantage of reducing the pressure in the rear wheel arch, thereby increasing downforce and lowering drag by blowing the car’s wake.

The 430 Scuderia is the first high performance road car after the F430 to sport an electronic differential (E-Diff2), a technology borrowed directly from Formula One. Torque is continuously distributed between the wheels via two sets of friction discs (one for each driveshaft) controlled by a hydraulic actuator. More evidence of careful designwork comes with the F1-Trac traction control system, which ensures that even more drivers will be able to extract the maximum performance from the car, thanks to the improved cornering, safety and stability it offers.

Build quality is leagues better than Ferraris of yesteryear but still not quite up to Porsche standards. For many though, the difference will be more than compensated for by styling that you’ll never tir