Ferrari 430 Scuderia (2007) CAR review

So you’ve driven the Ferrari 430 Scuderia. Remind me, what is it?

The Scuderia is essentially a pared back and re-focused Ferrari F430. Scuderia means team in Italian and, for Italian car fans, the name is synonymous with Scuderia Ferrari, the racing division set up by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. In using the Scuderia name, then, Ferrari is stressing just how much F1 know-how it’s putting into this car. Power goes up by 20bhp to 503bhp, the 0-60mph dash dips below 3.6 seconds and there’s 100kg less bulk to haul about thanks to race-bred kit like a Lexan – instead of glass – rear window, a minimalist cabin and lightweight front and rear bumpers. There are also different race seats, an even quicker gear shift and special settings on the Manettino – a small dial on the steering wheel that controls various parameters for the engine, gear shift, electronic differential and traction and stability control. For all this you’ll pay £172,500 – £28,000 more than the regular F430 when equipped with the sequential gearbox and carbon brakes. It had better be good, then...

What’s it like to drive?

Incredible. Sure, the Scuderia is optimised for the track, but there’s really no reason why – if you can fit all you need inside it – you couldn’t use it every day. It inevitably draws comparison with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Lamborghini Superleggera which are both built to a similar ethos, but the Scuderia manages to combine the best of both. So you get visual drama and an engine and transmission set-up to rival the Lamborghini in a package that’s as wieldy and practical as the 911. The GT3 RS beats it for rear visibility (blame the Ferrari’s mid-engine layout) and steering feel, but that’s it.