Ferrari F430 Spider Quite Similar with the Coupe
The Ferrari F430 Spider is the convertible version based on the coupé. The Ferrari F430 Spider is Ferrari’s 21st road going convertible. The F430 Spider is–just like the coupé–quite similar in looks to the Ferrari 360. The F430 Spider made its world premiere at the Geneva motor show.
The Ferrari F430 Spider was designed by Pininfarina who used aerodynamic simulation programs which the F1 cars used. For America, the wraps come off the F430 Spider for sale in this month, or maybe in July. With Ferrari, the banal details of when and for how much the F430 Spider cost tend to be a little hazy. It will get here when it gets here.
Chances are you’ll never get to try out this Spider launch control, either. As with the Ferrari F430 for sale before, the F430 Spider launch control will be “option non grata” in America for liability reasons. As we discovered growling away from the palazzo in an F1 for a 140-mph blast up the autostrada, the F430 Spider pushes off pretty well without it.
Likewise, the Ferrari F430 Spider price were unknown at press time. When announced, the F430 Spider should be six or seven percent higher than the outgoing 360 Spider’s, Ferrari officials say. Figure on writing a check for about $193,000 for the six-speed manual GT or about $206,000 for the paddle-shifted F1.
The F430 Spider options will include carbon-ceramic brakes, which cost $15,364 on the coupe, and retro Daytona seats, currently $2579 on the coupe. The F430 Spider blows most of our objections clean away in its carefully managed slipstream.
Yes, the F430 Spider is heavier than the F430 Berlinetta, by about 85kg, and yes, with the fabric roof raised there’s a rustle of wind noise from its leading edges at speed, but neither detracts appreciably from the F430 experience. Coupe and Ferrari F430 Spider share all their tech goodies, including the E-Diff electronic differential and self-adjusting Skyhook suspension.
The Ferrari 430 Spyder carries another 150 pounds, mostly in the roof mechanism and steel rollover hoops. The F430 Spider roof panel automatically folds away inside a space above the engine bay. The conversion from a closed top to an open-air convertible is a two-stage folding-action, after a short to and fro the entire top disappears into a closed storage area between the seating and the F430 Spider engine. The F430 Spider interior is identical to that of the coupé.
Ferrari F430 Spider Performances
The F430 Spider performance is on a par with the regular F430 too, with a 0-62mph time of 4.1sec, just a tenth down, and a top speed of ‘over 193mph’ compared with ‘over 196mph’. These figures illustrate how effective the F430 Spider wind tunnel work has been and what an absolute corker of an engine the new 4.3-litre V8 is.
Like the old 3.6, the F430 Spider engine is highly tuned and high-revving, making 112bhp per liter and developing its 483bhp at 8500rpm, with 343lb ft at 5250rpm. The F430 Spider aerodynamics have been tuned to emulate those of the coupe as closely as possible, resulting in greater stabilizing down force at speed, hood up or down.
Compared with the 360 Spider, the F430 Spider claims 10 per cent greater torsional rigidity and 5 per cent greater resistance to bending for a weight penalty of about 70kg, some 45kg of which is accounted for by the difference between 360 and the Ferrari 430 Spyder.
