0-60 in 3.5, 11.7@123 mph, 70-0 147ft WOW!

0-60 in 3.5??? are you serious?

 

If those times are true, and they weren't recorded on Fiorano's slight downhill front straight (which assists in falsely lowering the times) then the F430 is extremely strong.

No wonder Lambo is bringing the 600HP Gallardo to market sooner than expected. Very nice.

 

wow, I didn't expect it to be that fast, those are better than CS figures are they not

 

If you guys believe that an F430 could pull out these numbers you're on crack. However, if it is true, which it is not, it is one of the best performance bargains out there.

 

Very hard to believe a 490 hp/434 lb torque NA 8 cylinder F430 can outrun a 605 hp/435 lb torque NA 10 CGT with a ultra low mass clutch and about the same weight.

 

Very true, nice reference. I looked for one and forgot about the CGT.

I suspect the test is true, in that phong is not lying.

I also suspect that it was recorded on the short front straight of Fiorano, which I mentioned has a slight downhill decline throughout. This affects the numbers in that it makes the car appear faster than it truely is.

Also, the straight is not long enough for a true 1/4 mile run. So Car and Driver simply extrapolates the results using PC software, as they did in their Fiorano test of the Enzo last year.

 

That 70-0 can't be right. A 93 Toyota MR2 Turbo will do 60-0 in just 116ft!

That car has to that stop shorter than that!....?

 

These are very resonable performance figures for this car. Look at the mph in the quarter. A normal 11.70 run mph should be around 113-115mph. Car has awesome top end.

 

Wrong.

147ft is actually incredibly short for a roadcar, but the test is very surface/tire dependant. If Fiorano had a new surface laid down anytime in the past few years, it likely affects this test.

For reference, at 80MPH, strong roadcars take over 200ft to come to a stop. Better remember that the next time you're zipping around on a public road, because you don't seem aware of it from your shock over how stopping distances increase exponentially as speed increases. Not a linear climb.

 

You're half right. They're reasonable times for the MPH quoted at the 1/4 mile point. They are not reasonable times for a car with just 483HP that weighs over 3,150lbs.

Therein lies the mystery.

 

NO other car has E-Diff. that's adding its performance in a BIG way.

 

E-Diff has no affect on straightline numbers.

Just read the article myself (scans) and it turns out I was correct as the testing was done at Fiorano, on the downhill front straight.

The article was very complimentary, the author loved the car.

 

This weeks Auto week reports another weird thing as I agree that these #'S seem strange unless the 430 is lighter and has more hp. than reported.

The development "G" testing is the AUDI LEMANS mule which will have 525hp., 20 INCH Wheels, be priced to compete with a 911, and go on sale in 06. (It will look like the LEMANS Proto shot).

Can there possibly be room for all of these cars? If the LEMANS is 525HP the next G would have to be 600hp or more to command an extra 90K of msrp. IMO. While I personally didn't respond to the look of the LEMANS proto, I like the G much better, for 100K it would put a lot of pressure on the 911.

Auto week also mentions that the Koningsberg is still not ready for independent testing.

For those that are interested Ferrari is auctioning off one of last years race winning MC 12's. The 05 MC12 will be allowed to race with modifications and the 06 MC 12 will be modified further.

If DAMS/Lambo stays in the FIA series Le Mans 05 could have Ferrari, P, Lambo, and Aston in the GT class. The P class will see the return of the greatest sports racing car of the last several years the Audi RS8

 

Don't know the answer to that question. How all of these cars can compete for the same dollars, in a very unpractical segment of the business (no storage space, 2-seaters, etc) amazes me. I guess we'll see soon. I also am not one of those that believe the Le Mans will be greenlighted. I just get the feeling from the tone of Audi's brass that the car is on a wait-and-see schedule at the moment.

Perhaps that could change if the Gallardo goes upstream with 600HP, thereby leaving a gap that the Le Mans could fit into nicely without cannibalizing L-car sales. We'll see. Agree on rebirth of P-class.

 

MaN uP JiM ! GeT the Mc12 !!

 

Never, I never read that...it puts power to the ground by switching power back and forth between left and reight tires depending on which has more traction.

 

Right, which is intended for better power on acceleration out of turns. The CPU-controlled load balancing of the e-diff in the 430 is a nice evolutionary step forward for the existing mechanical differentials that are commonplace. It's a nice feature, particularly with the manual control of its aggressiveness.

 

With 285 rear tires I'll bet my Stradale "tongue in cheek of course" that it does the same job straight ahead, down hill or not.

 

You can actually test it yourself Jim, just find a slight downhill grade around you and floor it. I'd be surprised if even by dull seat-of-the-pants feel you can't percieve that it's faster, particularly in your CS.

If you have a G-Tech, or some other reliable timing, so much the better. Remember, we're talking very slight differances here, meaning instead of an 11.7 it's probably closer to a flat 12.0. Instead of a 123MPH, it's probably closer to a 120 - 121MPH. Still incredibly fast, faster than a Gallardo for sure. But not faster than an F40, or a Murcie for that matter, as C&D would have you believe.

In fact, the hyperbole in the article is so extreme that at one point the author laughs about how the 430 "now blows away the F40 and F50." Even Jeremy Clarkson isn't so naive, or so grandstanding to say such an inaccurate statement.

 

I don't know except when traveling in the upper gears well over 80mph my Stradale feels as quick as my Murcie did so I would imagine that since the Gallardo was as fast as my Murcie this puts the 430 in the hyper performance league to say the least. I have one of the first coming to the states but maybe our over seas friends could fill us in just how fast it is SOOOOOOON.

 

ferrari officially states the 0-60 time of the 430 as 3.94 , done with there test drivers...3.5 is out of line with the cars power to weight ratio

 

MHO'S of course.

 

Ha, that is great, good for you. You'll have to keep the board posted of your experiences with it, and how it compares or contrasts between the CS and the Murcie. I particularly would be curious to hear your opinion on the three.

As to the 360CS "feeling" as strong as the Murcie above 80MPH, I'd say that's more a case of the aural and visceral intensity of the CS experience playing games with your mind, particularly compared to the relatively "docile" feel of a stock Murcie at those speeds.

I don't own a Murcie, but I've driven one twice in anger, and it was worlds faster than any 360 I've driven previously. Night and day. Particularly above 100MPH, where the M seemed to just pull like a relentless freight train.

What's your expected ETA on the 430 Jim, what are they telling you?