Autoblog

UPDATE: Much better quality high-res pics added to gallery

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Unfortunately for Noah or Frank, Ferrari has gone and revealed the new F430 Scuderia when neither are around, so it's up to me to convey how fantabulous this new Prancing Horse is to you. We've been following for some time what we thought would be called the new F430 Challenge Stradale, but Ferrari has instead decided to name it the F430 Scuderia. Regardless of what it's called, this new F430 joins the coupe and spyder, yet takes a decidedly harder, more track-oriented edge than its siblings. The car weighs around 100kg (220 lbs.) less than the standard F430 coupe, and its version of Ferrari's 4.3L V8 produces 510 horsepower instead of 483. That gives the Scuderia a frighteningly low power-to-weight ratio of 1 horsepower for every 5.4 lbs.

The new F430 Scuderia also promises to carry a lot of trickle-down F1 technology as well, including lightning-quick 60 millisecond shifts and an integrated traction and stability control system. In order to accentuate the car's F1 connection, none other than famed F1 driver Michael Schumacher will officially unveil the car in Frankfurt this September. Until then, we have a gallery of high-res shots for you to flip through below and Ferrari's press release after the jump.

[Source: Ferrari via Ultimatecarpage.com]



PRESS RELEASE:

The Ferrari 430 Scuderia. Michael Schumacher will officially unveil the car at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The new Ferrari 430 Scuderia will join the road-going V8 line-up alongside the F430 coupé and the F430 Spider. The 430 Scuderia is a truly high-performance 2-seater berlinetta which demonstrates how Ferrari's Formula 1 know-how is carried across to its production cars.

The new model is a special series based on the F430 and is aimed specifically at Ferrari's most passionate and sports-driving oriented clients. Development focused on light weight, minimum trimmings and innovative technology. All this to exalt the car's extremely high-performance and ability to thrill the driver.

The new car can count on an extremely low weight-to-power ratio of just 2.45 kg per hp thanks to a low dry weight of just 1250 kg - 100 kg less than the standard F430 – and to the naturally-aspirated 4308cc V8's 510 hp at 8500 rpm.

Superb performance both on and off the track is assured by a series of cutting-edge solutions. There is the latest F1 software - Superfast – which reduces gearchange times to just 60 milliseconds, and new traction control which, for the first time, combines the E-Diff electronic differential and the F1-Trac traction and stability control in a single integrated system.

Vehicle dynamics, control and performance thus represent the zenith of Ferrari's achievements in terms of developing road-certified sports cars.

The 430 Scuderia will be officially unveiled by Michael Schumacher on September 11 2007 at the IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt.