Ferrari F430
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| Ferrari F430 | |
|---|---|
| Ferrari | |
| aka | F131 Evo ("F430 Scuderia") |
| Production | 2004 - Present |
| Class | Sports Car |
| Body Style | 2-seat berlinetta 2-seat spider |
| Length | 177.6 in |
| Width | 75.7 in |
| Height | 47.8 in |
| Wheelbase | |
| Weight | 3197 lb |
| Transmission | 6-speed manual |
| Engine | 4.3 litre Dino V8 |
| Power | 483 hp @ 8500 rpm 343 lb-ft @ 5250 rpm |
| Similar | Aston Martin DB9 Ford GT Lamborghini Gallardo Panoz Esperante Porsche 997 Turbo Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Dodge Viper Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Audi R8 |
| Designer | Frank Stephenson |
The Ferrari F430 is a high-performance sports car produced by the Italian automaker Ferrari to succeed the Ferrari 360 Modena. It debuted at the 2004 Paris Motor Show. European left-hand drive sales began in November, 2004, but right-hand drive sales did not start until Spring 2005, and the United States did not get the F430 until Summer 2005.
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Overview
The F430's chassis is heavily based on its predecessor, the 360. Internally, both cars are referred to with the same number (131), though the F430 has the Evoluzione tag attached to show that it features some major changes. Internally, the car is simply known as the "Evo".
Based on "Edmunds.com", the MSRP for an F1 style Ferrari F430 is $178,906. The F430 costs £118,000 in the United Kingdom.
Design
The body has been redesigned to be more curvaceous and aerodynamic. Although the drag coefficient remains the same, downforce has been greatly enhanced. A great deal of Ferrari heritage is found in the car: at the rear, the Enzo's tail lights have been added, and that car's interior vents have been added to the F430 as well. The car's name has been etched into the outside of the Testarossa-styled driver's side mirror as was previously done with the F40. The large oval openings in the front bumper are reminiscent of Ferrari racing models from the 1960s, specifically the 156 "sharknose" Formula One car and 250 TR61 Le Mans cars of Phil Hill.
Engine
Along with a restyled body, the F430 features a 4.3 L V8 gasoline engine derived from a shared Ferrari/Maserati design. This new powerplant is a significant departure for the F430's line: The engines of all previous V8 Ferraris were descendants of the "Dino" racing program of the 1950s. This fifty year development cycle comes to an end with the entirely new 4.3 L, the architecture of which will later replace the Dino-derived V12 in most other Ferrari cars. Power is 360.4 kW (483 hp) at 8500 rpm and torque 465 N·m (343 ft·lbf) at 5250 rpm.
Brakes
The brakes on the F430 were made in close collaboration with Brembo. The result has been a new cast-iron alloy for the discs. The new alloy includes molybdenum which has better heat dissipation performance. Another option Ferrari is providing are carbon-ceramic discs. Ceramics have much higher heat-resistivity than metals, thus giving the F430's brakes not only good performance but also a longer lifespan. Ferrari claims the brakes will not fade even after 300-350 laps at their test track.
Features
The F430 includes the E-Diff, a computer-controlled limited slip differential which can vary the distribution of torque based on inputs such as steering angle and lateral acceleration.
Other notable features include the first application of Ferrari's manettino steering wheel-mounted control knob. Drivers can select from five different settings which modify the vehicle's ESP system, "Skyhook" electronic suspension, transmission behavior, throttle response, and E-Diff. The feature is similar to Land Rover's "Terrain Response" system.
Performance
Car and Driver magazine found the car's performance worthy of the Ferrari heritage, and recorded a 3.5 sec 0-60 mph acceleration run in the F430. This makes it the second-quickest Ferrari road car ever made, after the Enzo. That being said, the 3.5 second 0-60 run was made on a European spec car, which has launch control, a feature designed to help launch the car from a standing start at high RPM's. Much like the E-Diff and the manettino, the launch control is a technology borrowed from Ferrari's Formula 1 racing program. The launch control is unavailable in U.S.-spec F430's, presumably due to liability issues.
When Car and Driver tested a U.S.-spec F430, they recorded a 0-60 time of 4.0 seconds.
On the BBC Top Gear TV show, shown on the 17 July 2005, the Stig achieved a Power Lap time of 1.22.9. While the laptime was 0.9 seconds less than a Lamborghini Murciélago, the F430 was slower than the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale at 1.22.3. The slower lap was blamed on the F430's Bridgestone tyres supposedly having less grip than the F360CS' Pirellis.
Critics
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has commented the F430s handling as being absolutely brilliant, a marked improvement over the 360; He explained that "even the most butter-fingered, incapable driver could drive the F430 around a track only one second slower than the most skilled test driver".
"Wheels" magazine of Australia described the F430 as the "Greatest Ferrari ever"
F430 GT's placed third place in the GT2 class at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Special versions
F430 Pista
The F430 Pista is the racing version of the F430 for the Ferrari Challenge series. Power is up to 490 hp (365 kW), and the car can reach a top speed of 196 mph (315 km/h). The production model was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January, 2006.
F430 Scuderia
Originally thought to be called the F430 Challenge Stradale, Ferrari has introduced a reduced weight version of the F430 on July 18, 2007. Aimed to compete with cars like Porsche RS-models, it will be 100 kg lighter (to 1,250kg) and provide output of 510hp @ 8500 rpm. Thus the weight-to-power ratio has been reduced from 2.96 kg/hp for the standard model to 2.45kg/hp.
The car features extensive modification to the front and rear fascia as well as a new exhaust system, a new traction control system combining E-Diff and the F1-Trac traction and stability control in a single integrated system plus an upgrade to the Superfast F1 gearbox software, reducing shift times to an ultra-quick 60 milliseconds, new wheels and unique standard racing stripes to help differentiate it further from its stock siblings. The Scuderia is set to be unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. [1]
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The F430 in popular culture
- The F430 is the cover car for the Project Gotham Racing 3 racing game. The F430 also appears in Sega's Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast as one of the hidden vehicles. A further appearance for both Berlinetta and Spider models is found in Test Drive: Unlimited. It is also going to appear in the upcoming racing game Forza Motorsport 2.
- The F430 Spider is featured in the Michael Mann directed Miami Vice in Summer 2006.[2]
- The Pixar Animation Studios film Cars featured a Ferrari F430 named for Michael Schumacher, who provided the voice for the car.
- A heavily modified F430 made a cameo appearance in the anime film Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society.
- A F430 appears in the beginning of Jay-Z's music video for his song, Show Me What You Got with Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving and Jay-Z in the passenger seat racing Danica Patrick in a Pagani Zonda
- UFC fighter Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell owns a silver F430
- Lego produces a 1:17 scale F430 with or without racing logos
- Hot Wheels makes an F430 in the 1:18 scale in the coupe and spider versions.
- The F430 hard-top and a Spider model was test driven on the show Top Gear
- The F430 Scuderia was reviewed on the first episode of season 11 of the UK motoring show Top Gear.
Safety issues
While the F430 meets or exceed all NHSTA guidelines, the car reportedly lacks sufficient protection for a small number of female passengers as well as children. The company has requested a waiver on the airbag requirements (which, if not given would mean that cars made after September 1, 2006 could not be legally driven in the United States). The waiver was eventually granted allowing the car to continue to be sold in the US. [3]
Gallery
Coupe
 A red F430 |
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Spider
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See Also
References
- ↑ SPY PHOTOS: More Ferrari F430 Challenge Stradale
- ↑ Ferrari F430 in Miami Vice Movie
- ↑ Leftlane News - Ferrari 430 Get's Airbag Exemption
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Ferrari F430 Videos
- www.ferrariworld.com
- 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider
- Car and Driver's test of the Euro-spec F430
- Aston Martin DB9 vs. Ferrari F430 vs. Ford GT vs. Lamborghini Gallardo vs. Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG vs. Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet - Comparison Tests
- Ferrari Performance Parts
- Ferrari F430 Scuderia Promo Video
| <-earlier | Ferrari road car timeline, 1960-present Edit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 246 GTS | 308 GTS | 208 | F355 | F430 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2+2 | Dino GT4 | Mondial 8 | Mondial QV | 3.2 Mondial | Mondial t | California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Halo model | 250 GTO | 250 LM | 288 GTO | F40 | F50 | Enzo | FXX | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| F50 GT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This page uses content from Wikipedia; see Ferrari F430, which includes these contributors.
