Category: Exotic Sports 
Price Range: £118,500 to £172,500
Excitingly focused mini-Enzo looks, fabulously energetic engine, ultra-sharp but easy-to-drive handling, an F1 shift which works as it should, huge stopping power with optional carbon-ceramic brakes, every drive is a special occasion. Servicing is cheaper than for 360, too.
Thirsty on fuel, low nose easy to scrape, infuriating switching-off bleep, you can't open the glovebox with the ignition off
All the thrills of a 360 Modena but with tougher looks and the oversteer reined in. The smallest Ferrari is more desirable than ever.
Outside the rarefied world of Enzos, Carrera GTs and McLaren F1s, the F430 is the closest most people will get to the feel of a GT racing car (although there's always the Noble M400 at around half the cost). The blare-turning-to-scream of the engine, the muffled pops and bangs on the overrun, the speed and mechanical accuracy of the steering, the rise and fall of the engine note as you pile on all the power at the exit of a bumpy bend, the speed of the gearshifts, all can transport you right into the middle of an epic Targa Florio if you are so minded. Yet there's nothing difficult about driving an F430, except perhaps when you're trying to manoeuvre it backwards into a tight space because the view aft isn't too good.
The 360 Modena could be tricky on the limit in a fast curve, with the tail apt to snap into oversteer if you were pushing very hard; oddly, the race versions were much more benign, in the same way as a Honda NSX Type-R is much easier to drive at speed than a regular NSX. The F430, however, has its electronic differential which transforms the dynamic picture. Brake hard for a tight bend - let's say the right-hander that looms just after you've howled past the pits at Ferrari's Fiorano test track and eased left - and you'll feel the speed rub off with impressive effect especially if your F430 has the carbon brakes. (These are much quieter than the Enzo's incidentally; you no longer feel as if you're applying very coarse sandpaper to the wheels.) Then you turn, maybe getting back on the power a little late, and you feel the tail begin its outward flick. Then you feel an invisible hand stopping it from edging out further; this is not the brakes, because you're in the 'race' setting with minimal stability-control intervention, but the differential applying extra torque to the inside rear wheel to keep things stable without soaking up valuable energy. It's amazing how easily you can feel the diff's activities, and once you've got used to them you can take the F430 close to its limits with seemingly heroic ease as you flick from bend to bend. It really is very benign, with enough stabilising understeer to give you something to work against.
The steering system is much the same as the 360's, but its initial response is quicker and more 'linear' because of the differential. Away from the track and out on the road, this translates into an easy, agile car which flows with its driver. First impressions are of too little steering weight and slightly slow steering gearing, but you soon realise that the F430 rewards gentle, measured inputs and dislikes clumsiness. It rides well, too, although the suspension's underlying firmness can set up some clonks on a poor road. The nose sometimes scrapes the surface, too.
The 'manettino' - the F1-like steering wheel rotary control to alter various system modes - is logical and easy to use, focusing on the way the car should be more than the mechanics of achieving it. 'Ice' keeps the transmission in automatic and restricts engine revs; this and 'wet' have softer suspension settings and more CST (Ferrari-speak for ESP) intervention, albeit still gentle. 'Sport' is the usual road setting, which firms the suspension, speeds the F1 gearshifts, reduces the CST's input and sharpens the first part of the accelerator travel. 'Race' takes away most of the engine part of the CST, leaving just the last-ditch brake intervention - you can still have the F1 shift in automatic mode for 'race', incidentally - and finally you can kill CST completely, at which point powerslides are yours for the asking. 'Race' is fine even on the track, though, because it allows quite a lot of oversteer amusement without letting things get out of control.
And the F1 shift? Most buyers will opt for this - British buyers are alone in not adopting it near-universally - and this time it really works well. Well enough, maybe, for the manual-loving Luddites, including this writer, to reconsider the F1's merits. The shift is faster than a 360's - 150 milliseconds between starting a shift and full torque restored - yet it's also smoother. The upshifts are particularly impressive, with just a gentle easing of the throttle needed to smooth the action, and the auto mode works well. There's also a launch-control system, activated with a prominent 'LC' button. Reverse, too, is button-activated instead of calling for a tug of a little T-bar, and you can go straight from reverse to first, or vice-versa, without having to select neutral. There's no central gear-shifter, though - it's all done with the two column-mounted paddles. These are more logical for a road car than steering-wheel-mounted paddles, and easier to find.
Not only does the 'baby' Ferrari have more power than an F40, it also comes close on maximum speed: Ferrari claims over 196mph (by which time the differential is solidly locked), suggesting it could crack the double-ton with a favourable following wind and a suitable venue. It also shoots to 60mph in just under four seconds, helped by a rather plumper torque curve than that of the 360.
This torque part is the biggest change in the on-road performance compared with the F430's predecessor. The engine lights up over 5000rpm and revs on to 8600rpm, true, but at lower crankshaft speeds it still pulls firmly and can accelerate meaningfully from under 2000rpm, emitting a throaty gurgle from its eight intake trumpets as if it were running on a quartet of twin-choke Webers. Variable cam timing and a variable-volume intake plenum chamber are the keys here. The throttle response is electric - literally, thanks to two drive-by-wire throttle bodies under the control of a 'master and slave' pair of Bosch ME7 Motronic management systems. And the F430 sounds just fantastic, like two snorty four-cylinders screaming in unison and helped by a valve which bypasses part of the silencer system above 3600rpm. You'll be searching out every tunnel.
