2009 Ferrari 430 Scuderia review

For a lot of these reviews I make it my first priority to remain nonpartisan. But that goes out the window for this one. I am reviewing my childhood hero, the 2009 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, the example loaned to me in a fabulous Rosso Corsa with two silver stripes running down it’s slippery body. It might be over a decade old but it still appears as though it rolled off the production floor in Maranello, Italy. From the intakes right behind your ears to the high mounted exhausts that give an impression that they’re in the cabin, there is nothing in the Scuderia that fails to stir the mind and soul. And that’s before it’s beast of a heart is awoken.

The 503 horsepower, 4.3 liter V8 that sits behind your head doesn’t so much as sing as it does wail. It’s a freak of nature. Down low it’s grumbly like a 70s muscle car, then once you hit about 4000 rpm, it opens up like an Ariel Atom V8’s V8. Then once you pin the aluminum throttle to the firewall, it screams to 9000 rpm. Then (after a very long waited gearchange) it starts all over. This is a motor that you have to wind the life out of in order to get the most of it. Now I say that a lot, but with a lot of these mid 2000s free-breathers, a lot of the time they didn’t make peak power until redline and peak torque until way past what you would need typically. The 430 Scuderia’s V8 is no exception.

So while you have an engine straight off of the racetrack behind your head, there’s something else that is very racecar-ey. The grip. Before I carry on I would like to point out that the test car had Pirelli P Zero Corsas which are some of the stickiest tires around. On something more conventional like Michelin Pilot Super Sports, it would’ve been more realistic but it since it didn’t have Michelin Pilot Super Sports, it was able to do the unthinkable through the corners. I clocked an astonishing 1.07g of lateral acceleration around the skidpad.

It isn’t just fast in the bends either. I clocked a 0-60 of 3.5 seconds, a quarter mile just under 12, and a top speed of 203. The power delivery is a main contributor to these numbers as it’s so linear across the rev range it feels like it has a supercharger on it.

There were a few things I didn’t like though. The single clutch “F1” transmission is lurchy at low speeds and take a few seconds to change gears at high speeds. If I owned one (which I will here soon) I would try and get it manual swapped like these folks did. Also the ride is nigh on unbearable and while it is nice to listen to, it does start to droan on at highway speeds. Another thing is the fuel consumption is really bad. I know it’s a supercar but it made the 911 GT3RS look like a Prius.

What do I think of it? It’s amazing. It is my favorite V8 Ferrari ever built and will remain that way for sometime. Would I recommend buying one? If you have nowhere to go and all day to get there, 110% yes.