First Test: 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia

That's right. The 430 Scuderia, a V-8-powered, aluminum "volume-sales" model we all kind of assumed was just another lightened, mid-cycle riff on the F430 turns out to be one serious supercar. It may be Ferrari's best-performing GT car ever, despite its fire-sale $272,306 price. It is unquestionably the Ferrari that mere owners -- not factory test drivers or F1 world champions -- will be able to drive the fastest on demanding roads or race circuits without winding up on wreckedexotics.com.

Granted, the 503-hp 430 carries 18-percent-more weight per filly than does the 651-hp Enzo and it lacks the Enzo's exotic pushrod-actuated suspension, active aero-gear, and a few other racy touches. And yet with Michael Schumacher at the helm, the 430 Scuderia circulated the fast track at Fiorano in 1:25.0, equaling Dario Benuzzi's best run in the Enzo, circa 2003. And indeed our own test equipment recorded a quicker launch in the 430 (1.2 seconds to 30 mph versus 1.4 in our last Enzo) and a blistering 0-to-60 time of just 3.1 seconds to the Enzo's comparatively pedestrian 3.4. Granted, by the quarter mile the Enzo's power advantage vaults it ahead by 0.2 second and almost 7 mph, but on shorter circuits like the 1.8-mile Pista di Fiorano there's precious little time spent at those speeds. In fact, as development engineer Michele Giaramita explained the many advantages the 430 enjoys at different spots on the track, we had to wonder if Michael might have been sandbagging just a skosh in the name of saving Enzo's face until the next limited-run V-12 super-cavallino arrives. Follow along and see if you agree.
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GTR35 - 6/19/2008 2:35:22 PM

+3 Boost

WOW, Impressing!! "a blistering 0-to-60 time of just 3.1 ", and that's just the beginning.

Hantra - 6/19/2008 2:46:39 PM

+3 Boost

"best performing GT car" . . .

I would not put this car in the GT class AT ALL. It lacks nearly all features of a typical GT except for being a 2-door. But hey, I don't get paid to write reviews for Motor Trend either.

HSCenterconsole - 6/19/2008 3:06:16 PM

+1 Boost

Beautiful car that makes amazing sounds when driven hard.

Porschinator - 6/19/2008 3:24:56 PM

+1 Boost

Only thing the F430 has in common with the Mustang are the numerous version of the same car. Still....its a F430...nice!!!

NARunner - 6/19/2008 8:49:50 PM

+1 Boost

Yeah, except the different 430s have a purpose. Most of the mustangs just have different badging and paint schemes.

sizquik - 6/19/2008 3:26:15 PM

+1 Boost

This car cannot be matched by the performance and beauty offered by it's chief rival the Lexus IS-F. >sarcasm<

Agent63 - 6/20/2008 1:54:08 AM

+5 Boost

LOL. The Japs only wish their Honda's, Nissan's and Toyota's are Ferrari's.

ThierryHenry14 - 6/19/2008 3:47:41 PM

+1 Boost

Wow!!! This is very impressive... Ferrari's got a winner on its hand!

ThierryHenry14 - 6/19/2008 4:41:21 PM

+1 Boost

I bet its worth every penny of it!!!

And theres no other color (that one should choose to sport the Cavallino) than Red...(and maybe black)

CLK63BlackSeries - 6/19/2008 5:26:24 PM

-1 Boost

lmao... that was hilarious!

answer - 6/19/2008 7:11:55 PM

-2 Boost

Ferraris look great in yellow too.

Htay7500 - 6/19/2008 8:34:24 PM

+1 Boost

theres black, and some sky blue or something like that. black rules.

Agent63 - 6/23/2008 10:43:39 PM

+1 Boost

Ferrari and yellow = bad taste.

Star - 6/19/2008 4:56:11 PM

-1 Boost

Oh, baby...not that's what I call a car.

golfer38 - 6/19/2008 6:33:39 PM

0 Boost

Very impressive in deed and the exhaust note is one of the best. Anyone know what it turns at the 'ring?

As a side note, the new ZR1 had a 1/4 mile trap speed of 131 mph, unofficially. Sort of puts into perspective of how fast that car's gonna' be.

golfer38 - 6/19/2008 7:14:09 PM

0 Boost

...Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that the ZR1 gets much better fuel economy as well...

ThierryHenry14 - 6/19/2008 9:35:37 PM

0 Boost

but this is about a mid-range ferrari, which the last time I checked, is not a Chevy, so lets just leave the first few sentence, and throw all your talks of the ZR1 out (at least of this posting)

wedouglas - 6/19/2008 11:30:08 PM

0 Boost

It's also the last generation of the F430. This car, albeit slightly detuned, has been out for the last 4 years.

Also, you miss the real feat here. The beauty of the F430 Scuderia is that the car is so good, that even a novice is said to be able to lap the Ferrari test track only 1 second behind Schumacher.

You can talk about ring times all day, but in the end, they are irrelevant if you can't get anywhere near them.

wedouglas - 6/19/2008 11:32:47 PM

0 Boost

I could lap the ring faster in my R8 than in a CGT. Why? Because I couldn't keep the CGT on the track.

lenkun - 6/19/2008 6:56:39 PM

-2 Boost

Nice indeed, but can this run with the 997 GT2/GT3-RS?

This is like Ferrari's version of the Mercedes AMG Black Series where they push performance to the extreme.

pushrod27 - 6/19/2008 11:40:13 PM

+3 Boost

What are you, retarded?

EL34 - 6/19/2008 8:00:34 PM

-2 Boost

This Ferrari would indeed look great in yellow.

sector - 6/20/2008 12:58:14 AM

-2 Boost

0-60 3.1 seconds? congrats, now you're .1 seconds faster than a car costing almost 4x less -> GT-R.

Car that sounds loud enough to shatter glass and wake people up in the middle of the night ain't cool in my book :)

07mcs - 6/20/2008 1:08:14 AM

+2 Boost

funny comment about the loud noise. I kind of Agree, but only if its a cheap a$$ car. When it's a Ferrari, I don't mind.

Agent63 - 6/20/2008 11:11:17 AM

+3 Boost

I don't think the GT-R is 3.2 seconds my friend. Realistically it's like 3.4 at best and average 3.8 or .9 depending on the driver. Despite Inside Line's claim of doing 3.3 0-60mph who really knows if it was accurate.

In the real world marketers pay large sums of money for magazines to hype upcoming cars. In this case I wouldn't be surprised Godzilla can do 3.5-3.9 on the average but to even say Ferrari and a Nissan in the same sentence is wrong on its own.

Numbers can only mean so much. Price, curb appeal, sound, exoticness are all a combination of what a real super car is. Cars like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Porsche 911(TT, GT2, GT3, Carrera GT), Aston Martin DBS, so on and so forth. Some of you may disagree and think the Aston is a GT car but it's front engined and has two doors just like the GT-R.

Anyways, deboost me if you don't agree. It's the usual drill around here anyways ain't it?

Star - 6/20/2008 11:47:41 AM

+2 Boost

" to even say Ferrari and a Nissan in the same sentence is wrong on its own."

AMEN!

sector - 6/20/2008 11:07:13 AM

0 Boost

good analogy with the stripper. Getting into a Ferrari would indeed be much more exciting and "living on the edge", just don't take it too far though, you might catch something and it may shorten your life span :)

Ferrari is a racing car company making street legal cars, I respect that.

Agent63 - 6/20/2008 1:57:02 AM

+3 Boost

Ferrari for the exciting.
Porsche for those who KNOW how to drive.
GT-R for those who must be sheltered by computers and who are generally boring nerds.

Watch the deboosting start.

Vantage - 6/20/2008 10:12:08 AM

0 Boost

I thought we were going to make it through with no GTR comments....I need to hit the Lotto. Then I can get mine in 'Black Matte' finish