Page 129 - Wayne Carini's Guide to Affordable Classics

ABOVE (BOTH): The F360 “Modena” coupe was named for the Italian city of Modena, where Enzo Ferrari was born and where he founded his eponymous company. Ferrari also refers to the 360 coupe as a “Berlinetta,” which is a term Italians use to describe a small enclosed car.
Ferrari 360/F430
The original F360 coupe was launched in 1999 for the 2000 model year, and the convertible 360 Spider debuted in 2000. In the five-year production run of the F360, Ferrari produced and sold 8,800 coupes, 7,565 Spider convertibles, and 1,288 Challenge Stradale dual purpose street/track cars. The numbers for the coupe include several hundred purpose-built racing cars for Ferrari’s in-house Ferrari Challenge racing series as well as professional FIA racing cars.
Better and Better – The F430
After five years of experience with the F360, Ferrari had more in mind for the F430. The 3.6-liter V8 in the F360 had its design roots all the way back in the early 1960s, and the company had developed it as far as it could go. The new 4.3-liter engine was jointly designed as a partnership with Maserati and also made an appearance in the Alfa Romeo 8C sports car. One key difference is that all Ferrari applications use a flat-plane crankshaft, while Maserati and Alfa applications use a more traditional and smooth- running cross-plane design.
The first design of the new engine displaced 4308 cc, and in keeping with tradition Ferrari named the F430 after the displacement. The new engine design yielded a dramatic increase in power, up to 483 horsepower and 343 lb ft of torque. The F430 delivered a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 196 mph. That was more than a half-second quicker than the 360. Like the 360, the 430 could be equipped with the buyer’s choice of a six-speed manual or six- speed F1 paddle-shifted automatic gearbox.
Additional technical innovations on the F430 included an electronically activated limited slip differential, which vectored torque between the rear wheels based on a variety of sensor- monitored factors such as wheel slip, steering input angle, and yaw rate. The F430 also included an adjustable traction and stability control system with a steering wheel-mounted control. The system is designed to let the driver select handling parameters based
Although based on the 360 Modena, the F430 boasted an all-new 4.3-liter engine that allowed the car to reach a top speed of 196 mph.
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