Used 2009 Ferrari 430 Scuderia

Despite Ferrari's protestations to the contrary, the 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia is just a stripped-down F430, yet the factory engineers needn't worry about making excuses to justify this car's place in the model range.

It's been built with technology from Ferrari's super-exotic FXX specialty cars, has been tuned by Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher and laps the Ferrari test track at Fiorano as quickly as the $1 million Enzo.

It's one of those cars that will leave every other carmaker in the world wondering how it will ever catch up with the ever-adventurous enthusiasts in Maranello.

What else do you need to know?

Stripped for Action
The 430 Scuderia is meant to be a track-ready car, the closest thing to the F430 Challenge that's built for Ferrari's worldwide marque racing series.

Just as with a racing car, all of the expense has gone into giving you less weight, not more car. The 430 Scuderia weighs 2,975 pounds, some 221 pounds less than a standard F430 and thus even lighter than a Porsche 911 GT2.

The suspension springs and wheel nuts have been carved from lightweight titanium, and even the shock dampers have been slimmed down by 5 ounces at each corner. Meanwhile, the carpets have been stripped out, replaced by carbon-fiber door panels and bare aluminum floors. It looks a bit raw from behind the wheel, as you glance down and see an enormous exposed weld in the floor next to your foot. It's kind of like a Lotus Elise in that way, but with far more room inside.

There are a few more horsepower on call, as the DOHC 4.3-liter V8 now produces 503 hp at 8,500 rpm, an increase of 20 hp. Meanwhile, torque output has increased to 347 pound-feet at 5,250 rpm, a mere 4 lb-ft more than before. All this has a lot to do with a revised intake system made from carbon fiber, new pistons that increase the compression ratio to 11.75: 1 from 11.3:1, and a lightweight exhaust system.

The V8's electronic package also has been tweaked with a new ion-sensing knock-detection system that's integrated with the spark plug in every cylinder. These sensors can detect the very early onset of detonation, so the engine can run with the maximum amount of ignition advance to take advantage of its taller compression ratio.

The Moment of Truth
The motor crackles to life with a microprocessor-perfect stab of the drive-by-wire throttle and sends a tantalizing, abrupt praapp past the trick exhaust valves and out through the free-flowing exhaust system. Acoustical graphs shown to us by the Ferrari engineers indicate that the Scuderia is actually louder than the F430 Challenge, although the character of the sound isn't as objectionable.

A big storm has blown in from the West and it's been raining, and the idea of cutting loose with a 503-hp Ferrari among the little Fiat Pandas that clog the roads on the streets of Maranello as we head for the countryside sends shivers up our spine.

Somehow we live through the fear and frustration. We feel out the car as much as we dare, and we are surprised that we don't care for the steering as much as we thought we would. It's not as direct as that of the Porsche 911, and you can feel some play on-center (perhaps because of the track-ready alignment). The ratio is quick enough, though, and there's not much shuffling of the wheel required to negotiate hairpins in the hills.

The suspension proves surprisingly compliant in its street setting, certainly far more friendly than that of a Porsche 911 GT3. The chassis is ultra-stiff, yet even a bumpy country road doesn't give you a shock through the lightweight carbon-fiber seat, the sort of thing that curses any extended drive in the GT3. If anything, it's the transmission that shakes you up, as it slams from gear to gear with a deliberate thud if you're deeper into the throttle than about 25 percent.

Moment of Truth II
Fortunately the pavement dries up by the time we get to the 1.8-mile Ferrari test track at Fiorano in the afternoon, and no one seems more relieved than Marc Gene, a longtime F1 test-driver now under contract to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. It's his job to mind us on the track.

The 430 Scuderia is a showcase for Formula 1 technology. Normally we blanch when we hear such statements, as tangible technology transfer between F1 and the normal world doesn't exist. Or rather it didn't until now. When we see the throttle traces from Marc Gene's demonstration laps at Fiorano, it's clear where the car's electronic differential and stability control systems allow him to use full throttle very early in the corner and then wait for the computers to maximize traction as the car hooks up at the exit.

The Scuderia marries the F430's E-Diff and the 599 Fiorano GTB's F1-Trac traction control system, and then melds them into a single system called E-Diff2. They have been revised and taught to communicate with each other, and this, the engineers insist, has been the most difficult aspect of the car's entire development process. F1 champion Michael Schumacher apparently was instrumental in this.

Just as during our drive on the street, the action of the six-speed automated sequential manual transmission dominates your sense of the car. Here again you'll find F1 technology, as the gearbox swaps cogs in 60 milliseconds compared to the 150-millisecond interval you find in the standard F430. Say "bang-bang" as fast as you can and you'll get the idea. Gene told us that the gearbox is about as quick as a Ferrari F1 car from two years ago, and even the latest F1 car does it only in 30-40 milliseconds.

Clipping Curbs
Thanks to the clever ignition tech for the 4.3-liter V8, the torque curve is fatter between 3,000 and 4,000 rpm, and the improved tractability and lighter chassis weight make the car surprisingly easy to drive, far more relaxing than the road-going F430. When you're at wide-open throttle and the transmission is done changing gears, you feel a fairly constant push from the engine until redline is reached. Ferrari claims 100 kph (62 mph) comes up in 3.6 seconds and 200 kph (124 mph) will arrive in 11.6 seconds on the way to a top speed of 198 mph.

There's some understeer to be found in slow corners (this has a lot to do with the setting you can dial into the E-diff), but it didn't seem to bother test-driver Gene during the laps we rode with him, as he wasn't wrestling with the wheel at all. For us, the setup felt better on the track than the road, and there's good steering feel as soon as you dial in about a quarter turn, as though there's some toe-out in the front alignment, and you're able to make minute corrections that don't seem possible on the street.

Using all the electronics to help the car carve the neatest, fastest lines through the corners, you feel magically talented as the electronics help you drive faster rather than simply avert disaster when you make a mistake. And yes, it is possible to hold a slide, as the ECU holds your hand.

Braking potential is limited only by the adhesion of the fat Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, 235/35ZR19s in front and 285/35ZR19s in the rear, because the ceramic-composite brake rotors are up to the task, as you can see by the 15.7-inch front rotors with six-piston calipers. The brakes begin to grumble after about three laps and become difficult to modulate, which is something we've never noticed in Porsche's ceramic brakes.

Available in Stores Near You
Some 250 examples of the 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. next spring, and no pricing has been announced. Ferrari says it expects buyers of the 430 Scuderia to spend about 15 percent of their time in the car driving in track events, and it also believes most buyers will probably already own one or two Ferraris.

When you look at all the improvements made to the 2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, it's all legit stuff, although whether most buyers will make much use of it might be debatable.

We actually talked to a Ferrari engineer about this. We told him that most American buyers will probably opt for the Scuderia just to get the loud exhaust, plus the unique racing stripes down the middle of the bodywork. He laughed and said that customers in Europe tend to be more serious and often come to the factory looking for more performance, which is one reason the car has been built.

Here's the bottom line: If you see a guy driving a 430 Scuderia into valet parking, he's probably a poseur; but if a guy shows up at a track day in the pit stall next to you with one, then you'd better have something really, really fast or he's going to blow by you without breaking a sweat.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.