Ferrari 430 Scuderia

Imagine the sheer luck and good fortune of being in this exact place at this exact moment.

It’s not enough that the light blue road warrior is a Ferrari F430. No, it’s actually the racier Scuderia version (an Italian word that, loosely translated, means “team”) dressed in black hood stripes with a bit more horsepower and lighter weight than the standard F430, which is also Ferrari’s “base” model.

But wait, there’s more. The place is Italy. Better still, Barcola, the home of parent Fiat’s twisty test track located about an hour outside of Turin.

Best of all, we’re here to drive . . . this car.

Fate has indeed yielded its reward in a moment that few, if anyone, outside of the Scuderia (Skoo-der-ee-ah) will ever have. So, let’s not squander it.

A light drizzle and standing water on the track doesn’t seem to faze the Ferrari team that’s dressed in bright red and Fiat blue. Why would it? This is their home turf. They know it like the back of their hand, which is good, because, quite frankly, the guests here to be with the car don’t. This is not a public place, after all.

The Ferrari brand is to the Italians as the Corvette is to Americans. They’re proud to the point of fanaticism of the company’s history, engineering ability and how far the cars have come in a relatively short period of time. Surprisingly, they’re not all that smug about building the finest machinery — and rolling art — that money can by: the 360 Modena; the F50; the Enzo; and this beast.

Look how far it has all come. Remember the Ferrari from the Magnum P.I. TV show? Then, it was cool, although not particularly fast and it certainly was frail. Today’s “base” Ferrari F430 has double the horsepower (483) and is one of the best all-around street machines available at any price, capable of nearly 200 mph and sprints to 60 mph from a standing start in less than four seconds. But looking at the numbers is a ridiculously one-dimensional way of evaluating and enjoying the 430 Scuderia. You have to walk around it, study it, smile a bit, and shake your head. Then you’re allowed inside. Then there’s the sound.

Some things don’t change all that much over time. The F430 doesn’t have the high-pitched exhaust note of some of the earlier cars, such as the F355, likely due to ever-increasing engine displacement that tends to add a lower bark to the voice, but it is still completely and distinctly Ferrari.

The 430 Scuderia, with 510 horsepower from a paltry 4.3 liters or displacement (half that of Dodge Viper) screams past 8,500 revs per minute with the poor little tachometer needle whipping back and forth like a compass without a fixed heading.

Gone is the “gated” Ferrari manual shifter that clinked and clanked with every movement of the stick. It’s replaced by steering-wheel-mounted paddles that when tugged tell the transmission to engage the clutches and change gears all in a split second . . . six one-hundredths, actually. Your feet stay planted, which means the rest of you stays planted under the stress of high-load corners. And both hands stay on the wheel where they belong.

Since the 430 Scuderia is designed for adrenaline junkies and not just rich folks with dark sunglasses who want to look good and turn heads, the Scuderia sheds its designer interior — and more than 200 pounds from various other places — for lightweight carbon parts, such as door panels. Supportive carbon seats wrapped in high-friction suede don’t do much for the eye, but it works like Velcro at keeping you in the chair.

Compared to the F430, the 430 Scuderia interior is a bit crude — OK, call it functional — and rude and loud and hollow. And, honestly, that’s fine, given what this car is all about: going fast; getting there quickly and turning hard. Hey, if it’s not needed for driving the car, it’s not inside the Scuderia.

It would take pages of text to adequately describe the sensation of 510 horsepower in such a nimble chassis. Unlike the 505-Corvette ZO6 whose 7.0-liter V8 is famous for brute torque, the smallish 4.3-liter V8 in the Ferrari is all about engine speed, and lots of it. The Scuderia therefore pulls exponentially harder until the shifter paddles are bumped to take six-speed up a gear. The shifts are very firm, but they don’t beat you up, and downshifting actually automatically “blips” the throttle to rev match the engine to the relative road speed in a given gear, which is important so as not to pitch the car out of control when slowing down.

Speaking of which, the 430 Scuderia uses 15.7-inch front brake rotors and 13.8-inchers out back. They’re made from expensive carbon-ceramic that’s significantly lighter and better at taking the heat than iron. Plus, they last pretty much forever, which is about how long anyone would want to stay in the car.

Unfortunately, the day had to come to an end, but you can view a video of one lap of the Fiat test track in the 430 Scuderia at www.wheelbase.ws/430. That way, at least, the moment can last a little longer.

Jeff Melnychuk is Wheelbase Communications’ managing editor. He can be reached on the Web at www.wheelbase.ws/mailbag.html. Wheelbase is a North America supplier of automobile news, reviews and features.