Ferrari 430 Scuderia 2008 Review

Ponder the technical advances across just five years that make it possible for the new Ferrari 430 Scuderia to match the Enzo around Fiorano. Here, at the definitive arbiter of any Ferrari's ultimate speed, the 485kW, 6.0-litre V12-powered, carbonfibre constructed supercar set a new production-car record at one minute, 25 seconds to instantly become Maranello's fastest ever road car.

Five years later, the series production 430 Scuderia - its 4.3-litre V8 pumping out 375kW - is capable of matching and, say insiders, beating the Enzo on the Fiorano test track where each Ferrari Formula One and road car is developed.

Ferrari won't talk in tenths of a second for road cars - it prefers to assign the new Scuderia an identical time, though road-car development boss Roberto Corradi admits the new 430 is, "marginally quicker".

How is it possible, when the V8 only makes another 15kW and 5Nm over the F430, from which it is so obviously derived? It takes no more than a couple of Fiorano laps to understand.

Aerodynamic advances to the underbody, carbon ceramic brakes and specific Pirelli tyres deserve some recognition, but credit really belongs to two key areas: incredible traction and reduced weight. Both benefit from the tangible transfer of Formula One technology to the normal world of road cars. Well, the Ferrari world.

Watching the real-time throttle traces as Marc Gene, one of Ferrari's two full time F1 test drivers, demonstrates the Scuderia, you can clearly see where the electronic differential and traction control system allow full throttle early in corners, the computers maximising traction.

The Scuderia marries the F430's E-Diff and the 599's F1-Trac systems, melding them into a single technology called E-Diff2. They have been taught to communicate with each other and were, say the engineers, the most difficult phase in the new car's entire development. Staggeringly, this system is responsible for "about 40 percent better traction out of corners than the F430," according to Corradi. Where in the F430 you had to lift through the Fiorano esses, with the Scuderia, brave pills consumed, it is now possible to run flat.

The other secret is a loss of 100kg, potentially creating the perception that the 430 - no F, because Ferrari wants you to think of this as a different series - Scuderia is no more than a stripped-out/louder/faster street-legal racing variant. That, as we have seen, is to grossly undersell Ferrari's achievement.

In the search to reduce weight, the engineers kicked out the sound system and carpets - exposing the bare alloy floor with surprisingly rough weld points on the sills. Carbonfibre was used for the door panels, bulkhead, seat frames, central tunnel and mirrors. The rear window that also covers the attractively exposed V8 is now plastic. Though under pressure from customers and safety requirements, they retained the air conditioning and airbags.

The previous, low-mounted, quad exhausts have been replaced by a lighter single silencer, with twin - constantly booming - howitzer tailpipes repositioned higher to keep them out of the revised diffuser's airflow. The search for gram saving includes using titanium for the suspension springs and, in a demonstration of exotic technology that surely helps justify the 20 percent price rise over the F430, even titanium wheel nuts, which save a surprising 1.5kg. The result is a kerb mass of 1350kg, or 15kg under the Enzo.

Thumb the red button to ignite the quad-cam V8. It blares in a deep monotone that varies only in degrees of loudness. From a rough and rattly idle, to a scream at 3500rpm (when the by-pass valve suddenly opens) it then goes on to an even more strident, deafening 8500rpm redline that quickly becomes wearisome on the road, if not the track.

Prod the right paddle (still fixed to the steering column) and the gearbox bangs into first, no hesitation, no faltering, as the 430 moves off. Keep the tacho needle below 4000rpm and 60 percent throttle openings and the gearbox shifts quickly, decisively, smoothly. Explore higher thresholds and you get gear changes in 60 milliseconds - the time the hydraulic actuator requires to disengage and re-engage the clutch - or as quick as a 2004 F1 car, and 90 milliseconds quicker than the F430.

No production car shifts faster: bang, bang, bang. You can't blink that fast. This is easily the best F1-style gearbox Ferrari has (so far) produced, every bit as good as the best DSG. No wonder, then, that it's the only gearbox on offer for the 430 Scuderia.

Five kays from Fiorano on the roads leading up into the Apennine mountains it occurs to me that, blaring exhaust aside, the 430 is just as comfortable as the F430 and, somehow, even more capable.

Far from being stiff and nervous, as you might expect, the Scuderia flows so naturally that driving it fast is a logical extension of a range of abilities that initially can be hard to grasp. Ferrari can provide evidence that the car is capable of pulling 1.5g lateral loads through corners and a fabulous, motion-sickness-inducing, 1.6g under braking.

In acceleration, braking and cornering, the Ferrari is constantly subjecting your body to forces that demand familiarisation, simply because it is so easy to drive very, very fast. So extraordinary are the dynamics that returning to a conventional car requires recalibration.

Courtesy of thoroughly revised induction and exhaust systems, more aggressive timing, a raised compression ratio (11.3 to 11.9:1) plus myriad other minor modifications, there is notably more torque between 3000-6000rpm. From there to the 8500rpm power peak and on to the precise 8640rpm cutout, the power is totally manic. Yet, with the electronic safety net in place, and despite the screaming engine, the Scuderia is docile.

Control lies with the manettino on the right-hand side of the leather and carbon steering wheel. The Scuderia offers five positions - wet, sport (the default), race, CT off (which turns off the traction control but leaves ESP active) and CST off, which eliminates all but the ABS function. Each delivers different strategies which allow the driver to change the parameters of the suspension, differential, gear change, and traction and stability controls. The basic algorithm is the same as the Ferrari F1 gearboxes.

The big difference over the F430 (and 599) is that the engineers have followed the recommendations of one Michael Schumacher and allowed the damper setting to be decoupled from the traction and stability controls by a button on the console. Away from super-smooth Fiorano, this ability to select a softer damper mode transforms the car's ability over irregular surfaces.

The body still stays flat, but the noticeably more supple suspension absorbs the bumps and potholes with absolutely no loss of traction. The result is a Ferrari that is probably more impressive on the road than around a track. Even Fiorano.

You need an excess of confidence the first time you ignore all conventional theory and jump hard on the throttle midway through a bend in third, the manettino set in race. There is no sudden increase in understeer or a massive power slide, the magic system simply sends only as much power to the rear wheels as they can cope with, all without any sensation of the torque being interrupted or any sense that something is attempting to slow the car.

Ferrari claims that even their own test drivers struggle to go quicker at Fiorano without the traction control. Michael Schumacher, however, is faster, by just 0.3sec. Turn off the electronics and any clumsy driving is immediately punished.

In sport mode the 430 understeers gently, at least until its Pirelli P Zero Corsas are properly warmed. Then it's as close to neutral as any rival. The steering isn't quite as quick as 2.6 turns indicates - the lock is excessive - especially at speeds below 60km/h. Above that, once there's a little lock on, the steering sharpens up, though it never delivers the same urgent feel as a 911.

No complaints regarding the stopping performance of the brakes, yet they emit a scraping noise on gentle applications and the pedal isn't as instantly linear as the engineers claim.

So far 40 Australians have ordered themselves a 430 Scuderia. They will be buying an utterly thrilling car that redefines existing dynamic standards. No problems there, so long as they realise this is essentially a recreational car that is not well suited to everyday use, if only because of the strident noise levels. Provided this is understood, they will also be buying the most exciting mainstream Ferrari of all time.

In Wheels, December 2004, I called the F430 "the best car I've ever driven". The Scuderia is even better, if more sharply focused, because Maranello knows most examples will spend upwards of 20 percent of their time on a track. What a choice.

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