Brilliant car!

I'm interested to see whether Ferrari really can remove 100kg from the F430, but that is obviously not an easy thing to do. I think they would have to go to even further lengths than they did with the 360 Challenge Stradale

Ferrari claimed the 360CS was 110kg lighter than the 360 Modena, in the end it was actually 77kg. Not bad at all..

This car is just so damn beautiful!

Ferrari will offer this car without doors!? No!! I don't really know, where they want to remove 100kg!

Lol, a doorless Ferrari? It might be an idea

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Here are latest photos of the upcoming Ferrari F 430 Challenge Stradale. They were taken in the south of Europe during off-road testing on a remote gravel road in the countryside. The two super sports cars were taken to the extreme in this long-term test in the dust.
The sports car is Ferrari's answer to Porsche's RS-models, and both of them use almost the same recipe. While Porsche makes the RS models lighter but keep the same horsepower as the base GT3, Ferrari gives the CS not just a lighter body but also some more power.
The standart F430 delivers 490 bhp and the Stradale is believed to have at least 520 bhp and to weigh about 220 pounds less. The biggest visible changes are the exhaust pipes that are moved up a bit. Due to safety regulations around the world, the door windows are not made of plastic anymore like on the 360 CS and the wheels have 5 normal bolts instead of one center bolt like on the Challenge cars.
The inside of the doors is completely made of carbon to keep the weight down. Another lightweight trick is magnesium sport wheels and the carbon grille in the back that also helps to better cool the engine. It looks like the brakes are upgraded with bigger discs, the soft Pirelli PZero give the car enormous grip, and the interior is completed with deep sport seats.
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Ferrari F430 CS: the lowdown

Ferrari is about to take the fight to homegrown rival Lamborghini's front door. This autumn it will unveil a hardcore F430 derivative as a riposte to the upstart Gallardo Superleggera. Seems like recent eco concept the Mille Chili wasn't a sign that Maranello had gone all soft after all...

The range-topping F430 - dubbed Challenge Stradale after its predecessor - is Ferrari back to business as usual. It'll be the hardest, fastest bottom-rung sports car it's ever made.

So what's new on the F430 Challenge Stradale?

Details are scarce at this stage, as Ferrari is keen to keep its powder dry for the planned unveil at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. But it looks certain that the fastest F430 will be sent on a weight-saving and body-building exercise.

Expect to see the regular V8 fettled to hike power from 483bhp to nearer the magical 500bhp mark, according to our sources. Maranello V8s have always been rev happy and this newcomer will be no different, with a raucous-sounding 9000rpm redline. Sounds like aural heaven or hell, depending on where you're sitting.

The Mille Chili was all about light weight. Will the top F430 follow suit?

Oh yes. Word is that lightweight materials will feature extensively; along with a weight-saving programme to trim away unnecessary equipment, Ferrari aims to shave around 100kg off the standard car's 1450kg kerb weight.

The F430 Challenge race car is a blueprint for the Challenge Stradale. It runs the same 483bhp 4.3-litre V8, but is 225kg lighter thanks to a lighter windscreen, carbonfibre intake plenum cover and a new exhaust.

Will there be other technical highlights?

Expect the new road car to share other race-spec details with the Challenge track special: carbon ceramic brakes, mechanical differential, track-honed suspension and revised electronics for more exciting handling.

Our spy photos reveal bigger air intakes on the car's nose and enlarged scoops on the car's flanks feeding the mid-mounted V8.

What do the suits say about the top F430?

Earlier this year, Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo told CAR Online: 'Before the end of the year, we will have a new car. It will have F1 technology. It will embrace the know-how of weight reduction and high performance learnt from our F1 experience.'

One of the few question marks about the hardcore F430 is its name. Will it be called Challenge Stradale like its 360 predecessor? At this stage, nobody is committing and Ferrari has a history of introducing new names with new models. But the CS monicker is known to be one option on the table.

Expect the top F430 to go on sale in early 2008 for around £150,000.


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M

Also from AutoCar:

Ferrari will take on old rival Lamborghini head on later this year, with a lightweight F430 Challenge Stradale model scooped here in unprecedented detail.

Our pictures betray the Prancing Horse’s unquestionable intent to build a direct rival for the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Not only that, but the F430 ‘CS’ will also be a successor for the Ferrari 360 ‘CS’, a car that won Autocar’s Performance Car of the Year award in 2003, and which we described as “the best Ferrari since the F40.”

Thanks to the detailed pictures in our gallery, you can see that Ferrari has new, larger, and more aggressive-looking front air intakes planned for the F430 CS, as well as swollen air dams just ahead of the rear wheels, and higher-mounted, straight-through exhaust pipes at the rear.

Faster, lighter and more dramatic

In order for it to compete on an even footing with Sant’Agata’s stripped-out Gallardo, Ferrari will have to target a power-to-weight ratio of 390bhp per tonne. The standard car has 333bhp per tonne, and it’s likely that Ferrari will use a combination of extra power and weight saving measures to make the difference.

The F430 CS will get a new, more free-flowing exhaust system that, one Ferrari source told Autocar, makes the engine “sound fantastic”. It’s also expected to get a revised engine management system which will allow the engine to rev even faster, boosting power from the standard car’s 483bhp at 8500rpm to 500bhp at around 9000rpm.

Weight is expected to drop from the standard car’s 1450kg to around 1300kg, in line with Ferrari’s recently announced philosophy to make all of its cars lighter, and reducing their carbon emissions. Carbon fibre panels, lighter alloy wheels and a stripped-out cabin will all feature.

The finished F430 Challenge Stradale is due to make its debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Expect it to come to the UK in early 2008, with a price tag of around £150,000.

And on the next CS: advanced aerodynamics

Ferrari has also revealed that it is working with Imperial College in London on a radical new system of active aerodynamics that will help markedly reduce drag.

Dubbed ‘synthetic jets’, it consists of a series of small holes in the trailing edge of the car’s rear wings. Buried inside are small rubber diaphragms that vibrate at high speeds, pumping air out into the airflow running over the car’s body.

The result, says Ferrari, is a “drastic reduction” in drag. Ferrari engineers say the synthetic jets can also be used to create drag to help slow the car down. An underbody pump working on similar principles is also on the drawing board.

The project started in 2005 and Ferrari expects to build road-going prototypes in 2009. The system could first appear in the Enzo replacement, which is expected in late 2010.

Autocar - Spied: Ferrari’s hardcore F430 CS

M

500 BHp @ 9000 rpm all from 4.3 litres of V8... Unbelievable.

The best NA V8 in the world?

You bet!