From the front end, the headlamp clusters are more vertical in shape, while the ducts integrated into the front fascia, a design element thatwas
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| The F430 takes much of its design language from the outrageous Enzo supercar. (Photo: Ray Watson, American Auto Press) |
so controversial in the previous car, are more elegantly shaped in the F430. Its side profile is similar, but new, much more pronounced upper and lower engine/brake cooling ducts change the overall shape dramatically. And the rear end design is entirely unique, at least when compared to the F360. It takes much of its design language with the outrageous Enzo supercar; and to me pulls off the integration of the protruding taillights in a much cleaner fashion than its rarified sibling. The car's slate-gray diffuser looks absolutely stunning, and the glass engine cover shows off the glorious crinkle painted "testa rossa" engine - no homogenized plastic engine shroud here.
That engine might be the first Ferrari V8 ever produced that could win
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| The V8 engine sounds sensational whether hearing it from inside the cockpit or from behind the car as it speeds past on the open straight. (Photo: Ray Watson, American Auto Press) |
over V12 purists, as it not only rivals the classic Scuderia configuration forout-and-out power, but also sounds sensational whether hearing it from inside the cockpit or from behind the car as it speeds past on the open straight.
And in case you've never heard a Ferrari in full song, it's a sound you can't mistake for anything else. Compared to Porsche's throaty boxer six or Lamborghini's guttural V12, the Ferrari delivers a higher pitched aria, more Mariah Carey than Tom Waits. Of course, the engine's pitch has been lowered slightly with each upgrade due to greater overalldisplacement, but the F430 still sounds more mechanically refined than the majority of its competitors.
