 Luxury Cars: Spies have caught prototypes, rumors have flitted about the usual places and enthusiasts have dreamed what might be coming to replace the current Ferrari F430, but so far it's still a mystery. The latest reports stitch together some of the information to form a more coherent whole, but much remains to be discovered.
A complete redesign is planned, or so the reports indicate. The current car is an evolutionary design, tracing its lineage back through the Modena all the way to 1999, but the new F430 - or whatever it's called - will be an original, reports CAR.
Ecological concerns are going to be at the fore, though Ferrari values of aesthetics, performance and passions will undoubtedly outweigh any countervailing considerations. This is a member of the Prancing Horse stables, after all. Expect a lighter, more agile car closer to the 2,400lb (1,100kg) mark than the current car, but don't expect it to go much below. With similar power to the current model, the F430 replacement should be able to exceed its performance while also posting greener fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions figures.
Powertrain speculation is rampant, but a V8 is likely despite talk of a possible V10. Whether it will be smaller displacement and turbocharged is up for debate, but a moderately-sized naturally-aspirated engine seems at least as likely, from an engineering standpoint - so much power requires so much fuel, and there's no escaping that fact. How it's delivered is another question, and each format has its advantages.
Body styling is also set to change, with the expected elimination of the soft-top spyder version. In its stead, a new folding hardtop mechanism a la the California is expected. A fixed-roof variant will still be necessary, especially if a Scuderia edition is planned. Talk of semi-active aerodynamics - spoilers that lift and retract at certain speeds - is also swirling about, but not yet evidenced in any way.
Finally, pricing is expected to rise. As the car gets lighter and yet more technically competent, and technologically complex, the pricing is bound to rise. Similarly, costs for raw materials, labor and more are all on the upswing, so the base F430 replacement should stand somewhat above the California's current price of about £143,000 in the UK, or an estimated $190,000 in the U.S. (American pricing for the California has not yet been announced).
By Motor Authority |
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