First Drive: 2005 Ferrari F430 - MotorTrend Magazine
Ferrari doesn't care to admit there's a horsepower war going on out there. And to keep it in check, the suspension gets a host of revisions, most significantly an electronically controlled differential that Ferrari developed for its Formula 1 cars, only to find it was so beneficial it was outlawed. Formula 1 remains a talisman at Ferrari. You get an engine designed by engineers who have worked on F1, using titanium rods and five valves per cylinder like the 360's but with all components new. The gear changer is a sequential paddle-operated device, again introduced to the road-car world by Ferrari after its F1 experiences. If the greenhouse, doors, and roof are 360 heritages, the rest of the outer skin is new, not just to satisfy our neophilia but to help suck the car to the road and to bring more cooling air to the nasal radiators and combustion air to the cylinders. That last job is done by the intakes atop the rear fenders, a visual reminder of the mid-1960s 250LM. The car's extruded-aluminum structure is all-new aft of the firewall for the latest rear-crash standards. There's also a new front-crash structure, plus new frame bits to boost overall stiffness. Source: www.motortrend.com
