At the Paris Motor Show in 2004, Ferrari unveiled the successor to the 360 Modena: the Ferrari F430. The F430 would become one of the most highly respected automotive creations for the next five years until 2009 when it would be replaced with the Ferrari 458 Italia. The F430 came in three commonly known variants: the F430 Berlinetta (coupe), F430 Spider, and the F430 Scuderia. Additional variants exist that are not as common: The F430 Challenge, F430 GT2, F430 GT3, and the F430 Scuderia Spider 16M.
The F430 was redesigned from the 360 by enhancing the curves and aerodynamics of the vehicle. The drag coefficient did not change but downforce was greatly improved between the two cars. The car looks like the 360 but has a much more aggressive stance and more leaned out lines, in the sense that the 360 looked slightly more bulky. The 360 wasn't the only design influence on the F430, the Enzo taillights can be found in the rear and the front end bumper openings are reminiscent of Ferrari racing models from the 1960's, such as the 156 Formula One car and the 250 TR61 Le Mans car.
The F430 features a 4.3 liter V8 gasoline engine that produces 483 horsepower at 8500 rpm and 343 lb-ft of torque at 5250 rpm vs. the outgoing 360's 400 horsepower and 275 ft-lb of torque at 8500 rpm and 4250 rpm respectively. That means the F430 has a 21% and 25% horsepower and torque increase respectively over the 360. Despite the low torque figures 80% of that power is available below 3500 rpm. Engine displacement is 4,300cc for the F430 up 20% over the outgoing 360 model's 3586cc but weight has only grown by 4kg. This is mainly due to the fact that the outgoing 360 featured the last of Ferrari's Dino-derived architecture, while the F430 featured an entirely new design. With the new design, greater displacement and light weight, the Ferrari F430 is capable of hitting a top speed of 200 mph and going from 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds flat, 0.5 seconds faster than the 360. The Formula One (F1) transmission was also vastly improved from the 360, allowing the F430 to make shifts as fast as 150 milliseconds, 4 times faster than a human can blink.
Amongst a number of very small performance tweaks made on the F430 there are two more notable changes: brakes and manettino wheel. The brakes were designed in collaboration with Brembo. The resulting brake options on the F430 are a new cast-iron alloy or carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide, which, as confusing as the name is, essentially provides longer brake life, higher heat resistance and less brake fade. The manettino wheel is Ferrari's first application of the F1-style steering wheel-mounted control knob that allows the driver to select from five different settings that modify the F430's suspension, traction control, transmission behavior, throttle response, and differential torque control.
Approximately 9,000 F430s were built between 2004 and 2009 although the number has not been officially confirmed and over 3,000 of the variants exist. The F430's original MSRP ranged between $186,925 and $217,310 depending on the options and a used F430 can still fetch a sales price anywhere from $130,000 to $210,000.
The F430 was redesigned from the 360 by enhancing the curves and aerodynamics of the vehicle. The drag coefficient did not change but downforce was greatly improved between the two cars. The car looks like the 360 but has a much more aggressive stance and more leaned out lines, in the sense that the 360 looked slightly more bulky. The 360 wasn't the only design influence on the F430, the Enzo taillights can be found in the rear and the front end bumper openings are reminiscent of Ferrari racing models from the 1960's, such as the 156 Formula One car and the 250 TR61 Le Mans car.
The F430 features a 4.3 liter V8 gasoline engine that produces 483 horsepower at 8500 rpm and 343 lb-ft of torque at 5250 rpm vs. the outgoing 360's 400 horsepower and 275 ft-lb of torque at 8500 rpm and 4250 rpm respectively. That means the F430 has a 21% and 25% horsepower and torque increase respectively over the 360. Despite the low torque figures 80% of that power is available below 3500 rpm. Engine displacement is 4,300cc for the F430 up 20% over the outgoing 360 model's 3586cc but weight has only grown by 4kg. This is mainly due to the fact that the outgoing 360 featured the last of Ferrari's Dino-derived architecture, while the F430 featured an entirely new design. With the new design, greater displacement and light weight, the Ferrari F430 is capable of hitting a top speed of 200 mph and going from 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds flat, 0.5 seconds faster than the 360. The Formula One (F1) transmission was also vastly improved from the 360, allowing the F430 to make shifts as fast as 150 milliseconds, 4 times faster than a human can blink.
Amongst a number of very small performance tweaks made on the F430 there are two more notable changes: brakes and manettino wheel. The brakes were designed in collaboration with Brembo. The resulting brake options on the F430 are a new cast-iron alloy or carbon fibre reinforced silicon carbide, which, as confusing as the name is, essentially provides longer brake life, higher heat resistance and less brake fade. The manettino wheel is Ferrari's first application of the F1-style steering wheel-mounted control knob that allows the driver to select from five different settings that modify the F430's suspension, traction control, transmission behavior, throttle response, and differential torque control.
Approximately 9,000 F430s were built between 2004 and 2009 although the number has not been officially confirmed and over 3,000 of the variants exist. The F430's original MSRP ranged between $186,925 and $217,310 depending on the options and a used F430 can still fetch a sales price anywhere from $130,000 to $210,000.
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