2006 Ferrari F430 Test Drive

Road Rapture

A recipe for celebrity, without annoying paparazzi.

Performance

The F430 Spider truly comes alive at higher speeds. Cruising on the highway with the top down in sixth gear isn't as raucous as you might expect: the steeply sloped windshield and high rump do a great job of keeping wind from becoming too blustery.

But top up or down, engine noise is in your face — or ears, if you will. Then again, calling the seductive sound waves coming from this engine "noise" is like castigating Da Vinci for not painting the Mona Lisa with a bigger smile. Quickly punch the transmission down a couple of gears and the F430 leaps forward with a banshee wail that's undeniably loud, but equally addictive.

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It is this sound and fury that drivers and passengers alike seem to remember most about a jaunt in the F430 Spider along California's Pacific Coast Highway — the rip of its 4.3 liter V8 reverberating from rock faces rising from the road. The experience was especially rapturous on rare but glorious occasions when traffic cleared enough to invoke all 490 horses, spinning the lusty engine up to its 8,500-rpm redline.

The chassis flexed noticeably on rough roads and through aggressive turns — a common blemish among convertibles of all types, until recently — but the suspension was suppler than the Dodge Viper's in our caravan.

Though a metal-gated six-speed manual transmission in the tradition of classic Ferrari's comes standard on all F430s, our Spider was equipped with the optional $10,740 F1 transmission. This sequential-manual gearbox acts like a manual transmission but doesn't require a clutch pedal and stick shift  to change gears. Quicker gear changes come through race car-like paddles mounted on the steering-wheel column, just behind wheel.

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The right paddle is for upshifts and the left for downshifts. The engine computer automatically blips the throttle to smooth out downshifts. There's also a fully automatic mode that can be engaged at the touch of a button. It was appreciated in heavy traffic.

Some drivers may prefer the tactile and mechanical pleasure of a traditional manual transmission, and there was one comment about the F1 transmission being the latte drinker's choice, even though the F430 doesn't offer a single cup holder. Yet, with the ability to quickly pick your own gears — without electronic chaperones tweaking shift points — and the choice to let the transmission shift itself in automatic mode, the F1 transmission may be the uncompromising way to have your choice and rev it, too.

Other options such as Stradale wheels, red brake calipers, fully leather-lined interior and Ferrari fender logos brought our F430's price to about $217,000.

Like celebrity itself, there are inconvenient aspects to the F430 Spider, but boy is it alluring.