Ferrari F430

The Ferrari F430 was 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.

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".

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.

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Recent Changes

 * May 2009 saw Ferrari auction off a special one-off F430 at RM Auction's Leggenda e Passione event. The proceeds of the auction were donated to the relief effort of the 2009 Abruzzo earthquake in Italy, which claimed 300 lives. The car is painted in a special two-tone silver and gold livery - the colors of the city of Aquila, which bore the most casualties. It is also significant as it will be the very last F430 to roll of the line. Next year, there will be a brand new model. As such, the one-off will be outfitted with extra equipment from Ferrari's Carrozzeria Scaglietti customization catalog and accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the company's president Luca di Montezemolo.

Styles and Major Options
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Pricing
Based on "Edmunds.com", the MSRP for an F1 style Ferrari F430 is $178,906. The F430 costs £118,000 in the United Kingdom.

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Gas Mileage
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As seen on the FuelEconomy.gov website, the City/Highway MPG averages are as follows:

Engine and Transmission
Specifications, details, graphs, pictures and other information regarding the powertrain is placed in this section.

Performance
Car and Driver magazine found the car's performance worthy of the Ferrari heritage, and recorded a 4.0 sec acceleration run in the F430. This makes it the third-quickest Ferrari road car ever made, after the Enzo and 599. 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.

Reliability

 * RECALL ALERT:On February 13, 2009, Ferrari issued a recall alert affecting 1950 MY 2005-2007 F430 Spiders due to a problem with the hydraulic hoses for the convertible top that are located inside of the engine compartment. According to the NHSTA, the engine heat could cause cracks to the hoses leading in fluid leakage. In the event this happens, the fluids may leak into the engine compartment causing smoke and, possibly, fire. US dealers will insulate the hoses with protective heat shields free of charge.

Safety
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.

Spider
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Colors
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Main Competitors

 * Lamborghini Gallardo
 * Porsche 911 Turbo
 * Chevrolet Corvette Z06
 * Nissan GT-R
 * Dodge Viper
 * Audi R8
 * Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG
 * Aston Martin DB9
 * Spyker C8
 * Ford GT

Unique Attributes
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.

Interior
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Resale Values
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Criticisms
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.

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/430 Scuderia
Serving as the successor onto the Challenge Stradale, the 430 Scuderia was unveiled by Michael Schumacher at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. Aimed to compete with cars like the Porsche RS-models and the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, meaning super light weight, it is lighter (by 100 kg/220 lb) and more powerful (at 375.4 kW/503 bhp at 8500 rpm.) than the standard F430. Thus the weight-to-power ratio is reduced from 2.96 kg/hp to 2.5 kg/hp. In addition to the weight saving measures, the Scuderia semi-automatic transmission gains improved 'Superfast', known as 'Superfast2', software for faster 60 millisecond shift-times. A new traction control system combines the F1-Trac traction and stability control with the E-Diff electronic differential. The Ferrari 430 Scuderia does 0-60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in 3.4 s, with a top speed of 199 miles per hour (320 km/h).

The cosmetic differences between the 430 Scuderia and the F430 upon which it is based include a re-styled front fascia, modified side-skirts, twin exhaust tips, a revised rear diffuser design, 19" wheels designed specifically for the 430 Scuderia, carbon-fibre wing mirrors, carbon-fibre challenge grille, two racing stripes along the middle and the 430 Scuderia badge.

F430 Spider Bio Fuel
The Ferrari F430 Spider Bio Fuel was presented at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. It is able to use E85 (an 85% biofuel / 15% gasoline mix). In order for the Ferrari F430 Spider Bio Fuel to use E85 certain modifications had to be made to the fuel feed system and to the engine CPU. Ferrari has brought two models – the 430 Scuderia and the 599 GTB Fiorano - to the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Also on the stand this year, however, is a biofuel-powered technological demonstration prototype which uses the F430 Spider as a base.

Worldwide
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Design quirks and oddities

 * 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.


 * 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.


 * The F430 and 430 Scuderia is a feautured in Project Gotham Racing 4 and Forza Motorsport 3.

Awards
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