Five years ago, when we first drove the Infiniti FX45, its twenty-inch wheels looked so huge and otherworldly that people stopped, stared, and pointed at them. Now, Nissan's new second-generation Murano is available with footwear just as large. It's a measure of how commonplace such plus-size rubber has become that I drove the Murano for 600 miles over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend and didn't notice just how big its wheels were until afterward, when I did a walkaround. Even before the turkey went into the oven, though, I had noticed the Infiniti trickle-down effect in the Murano's cabin, where the handsome center stack looks as if it's straight out of an Infiniti M45. The plastics, the fabrics, and the primary gauges are all a step above the old Murano's as well, even if you'll want to throw the poorly designed cargo cover into a dumpster the first time you try to use it.
In general, the new Murano is not a radical departure from the old one, which was a phenomenal success for Nissan. As before, the Murano is based on the Altima platform, which itself was reworked just last year. There's still no third-row seat, which is fine, because the Murano is for people who really want a five-passenger luxury crossover - not a minivan substitute - but who don't want to spend Infiniti or Lexus money. With spiffy new options like heated, power-folding rear seats; a power liftgate; an extra-large glass moonroof; and a 9.3-gig music hard drive, it's not like Murano buyers will feel deprived.
Unless, that is, they are hoping for a measure of sportiness - that's what the Infiniti FX and new EX35 are for. The Murano has decent body control, but it can feel a bit floaty. As for the light steering, the main message it communicates is that it would prefer you drive in a straight line. The brakes are strong, though, ride quality is fine, and the familiar VQ-series V-6 and Nissan's second-generation Xtronic continuously variable transmission ought to get Murano owners to the Nordstrom clearance sale in plenty of time. Yes, that slightly odd CVT thrum reverberates through the vehicle as you mash the accelerator, but the power delivery is smooth, consistent, and very strong. Maybe too strong: we averaged only 19 mpg in mostly freeway driving in our all-wheel-drive test car.
Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura admits that the new Murano is an evolutionary design; given the popularity of the original, its replacement had to be instantly recognizable. Nakamura-san, describing the new Murano's front end as having "a high-technology feeling," points out the projector-beam headlights - four beams on each side - and the "angle strap" center grille that's similar to the Rogue's. He neglects to mention the crooked chrome teeth surrounding the grille, the truncated greenhouse, the loss of the first-generation vehicle's clean lines, the bulbous bumpers, and the ridiculously oversize badging: the overall effect is not pretty. Dubs aside, it seems the Infiniti trickle-down didn't quite reach the Murano design studio
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
2008 porche 911 gt2
In the case of the latest Porsche 911, the GT suffix stands for anything but Gran Turismo. Guaranteed Trauma is more like it, at least when the beast is not treated with due competence and caution. The new 911 GT2 combines elements of the GT3 (lightweight components, rear-wheel drive) and the Turbo (turbocharged engine, stability control), resulting in the fastest roadgoing Porsche ever.
The GT2 looks about as subtle as a smiling Count Dracula. The front end combines 911 Turbo overtones such as the bright LED turn signals with new extralarge air intakes that are required to cool the brakes and the heat exchangers. The side view features beefed-up sills, ground-hugging aprons, and a set of prominent intake and brake-cooling inlets. But the most butch view is, without a doubt, the rear, which boasts more vertical slats, a pair of large-diameter exhausts, and a fixed biplane wing. The latter increases the downforce at high speeds and incorporates two circular ram-air induction scoops.
On the autobahn, the GT2 sports as much overtaking prestige as police, fire department, and paramedic vehicles combined--with lights flashing and sirens wailing. When lesser cars step aside, the GT2 can reach 204 mph. But you want the tarmac to be dry, reasonably smooth, and--ideally--arrow-straight. And you'd better get used to the car's high-speed potential in installments. In this Porsche, even 150 mph feels mind-bogglingly fast. The noise level is intense, the chassis copies every detail of the road surface, the steering is a live wire covered with gray Alcantara, and directional stability is a challenge even when the wind speed is zero.
But like every 911, this car knows what it's doing, and it requires surprisingly little assistance to maintain the chosen flight path. Trouble is, it takes the driver days, if not weeks, to build up the confidence this car requires. There is so much information available to the eyes, ears, palms, fingers, legs, feet, and seat of the pants that the senses are soon overloaded. Velocity is a drug, and like every drug, it clouds and clarifies at the same time. In the GT2, one needs to learn a fresh set of responses, because, unlike the Turbo, this 200-mph 911 has only two driven wheels. The lighter GT2 turns in with more vigor, decelerates with enhanced determination, and corners with added sharpness. Most important, rear-wheel drive will never pull you out of trouble. And we all know that pushing out of trouble seldom works.
Further narrowing the increasingly slim line between drama and trauma are the semislick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires. On dry blacktop, this footwear might make sense for rich amateur racers who don't mind buying a new set of rear tires every two months. Even in the rain, the 325/30YR-19 rear rubber is OK--until there are wall-to-wall puddles on the road. Then the GT2 suddenly starts water skiing, even at speeds as low as 60 mph. Would it not be a good idea to offer at least the option of less extreme tires?
So we didn't see 200 mph. But we out-accelerated just about every mechanical device that crossed our route. Over the first fifty yards or so, the 530-hp, 3175-pound GT2 is actually not quite as quick as the 480-hp, 3572-pound 911 Turbo Tiptronic. From 0 to 62 mph, it's a dead heat at 3.7 seconds each. From 0 to 124 mph, however, the rear-wheel-drive GT2 will beat the four-wheel-drive Turbo, clocking 11.2 seconds against 12.2 seconds. And by the time these autobahn guerrillas pass the 185-mph mark, the GT2 will have carved out an impressive advantage. On damp ground, the GT2 will spin its wheels in first and second gear, especially between 2200 and 4500 rpm, when maximum torque of 502 lb-ft comes in. The closely related 3.6-liter 911 Turbo engine can deliver just as much torque, but it's available only for about ten seconds in over-boost mode.
The GT2 looks about as subtle as a smiling Count Dracula. The front end combines 911 Turbo overtones such as the bright LED turn signals with new extralarge air intakes that are required to cool the brakes and the heat exchangers. The side view features beefed-up sills, ground-hugging aprons, and a set of prominent intake and brake-cooling inlets. But the most butch view is, without a doubt, the rear, which boasts more vertical slats, a pair of large-diameter exhausts, and a fixed biplane wing. The latter increases the downforce at high speeds and incorporates two circular ram-air induction scoops.
On the autobahn, the GT2 sports as much overtaking prestige as police, fire department, and paramedic vehicles combined--with lights flashing and sirens wailing. When lesser cars step aside, the GT2 can reach 204 mph. But you want the tarmac to be dry, reasonably smooth, and--ideally--arrow-straight. And you'd better get used to the car's high-speed potential in installments. In this Porsche, even 150 mph feels mind-bogglingly fast. The noise level is intense, the chassis copies every detail of the road surface, the steering is a live wire covered with gray Alcantara, and directional stability is a challenge even when the wind speed is zero.
But like every 911, this car knows what it's doing, and it requires surprisingly little assistance to maintain the chosen flight path. Trouble is, it takes the driver days, if not weeks, to build up the confidence this car requires. There is so much information available to the eyes, ears, palms, fingers, legs, feet, and seat of the pants that the senses are soon overloaded. Velocity is a drug, and like every drug, it clouds and clarifies at the same time. In the GT2, one needs to learn a fresh set of responses, because, unlike the Turbo, this 200-mph 911 has only two driven wheels. The lighter GT2 turns in with more vigor, decelerates with enhanced determination, and corners with added sharpness. Most important, rear-wheel drive will never pull you out of trouble. And we all know that pushing out of trouble seldom works.
Further narrowing the increasingly slim line between drama and trauma are the semislick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires. On dry blacktop, this footwear might make sense for rich amateur racers who don't mind buying a new set of rear tires every two months. Even in the rain, the 325/30YR-19 rear rubber is OK--until there are wall-to-wall puddles on the road. Then the GT2 suddenly starts water skiing, even at speeds as low as 60 mph. Would it not be a good idea to offer at least the option of less extreme tires?
So we didn't see 200 mph. But we out-accelerated just about every mechanical device that crossed our route. Over the first fifty yards or so, the 530-hp, 3175-pound GT2 is actually not quite as quick as the 480-hp, 3572-pound 911 Turbo Tiptronic. From 0 to 62 mph, it's a dead heat at 3.7 seconds each. From 0 to 124 mph, however, the rear-wheel-drive GT2 will beat the four-wheel-drive Turbo, clocking 11.2 seconds against 12.2 seconds. And by the time these autobahn guerrillas pass the 185-mph mark, the GT2 will have carved out an impressive advantage. On damp ground, the GT2 will spin its wheels in first and second gear, especially between 2200 and 4500 rpm, when maximum torque of 502 lb-ft comes in. The closely related 3.6-liter 911 Turbo engine can deliver just as much torque, but it's available only for about ten seconds in over-boost mode.
2008 nissan GT-r
What do the Acura NSX, Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4, Toyota Supra Turbo, third-generation Mazda RX-7, and the Nissan 300ZX Twin-Turbo all have in common? Each car offers staggering performance, each has a cult following, and none of them have a modern successor since they left the marketplace. With the exception of the NSX (the mid-engine car stuck around a bit longer than the others), it wasn't until early 2001 that Japan showed America it still cared about high performance with the arrival of the Subaru WRX. Shortly after that, Mitsubishi surprised the land of SUVs with its own rally car for the street, the EVO. We then carried on for a while, enjoying Japan's EVO vs. WRX version of the pony car wars - but there was still a certain model that American enthusiasts pined for: the Skyline. This force-fed, all-wheel-drive beast was a car we all wanted to see in places like LA and on Woodward Avenue. Now, after many years of waiting, Nissan fulfills our dream with the launch of the GT-R, due at U.S. dealers this summer.
We've already driven a prototype GT-R on in Germany on the Autobahn and on the modern Nurburgring circuit. But, earlier this week, we had the opportunity to sample a production, right-hand-drive GT-R in Japan. While we aren't able to tell you how the car will feel on U.S. roads, we were able to drive the super Nissan on some excellent twisty, challenging public roads around Sendai Hi-Land Raceway as well as on the circuit itself. But before we get to that, let's look at the impressive attention to detail put into the most important and promising Japanese sportscar since the Acura NSX.
When you see the Nissan coupe in the flesh, you are quickly aware that it isn't just a hopped up version of a pedestrian model like an EVO or WRX. The twenty-inch, seven-spoke wheels look spectacular and fit over fifteen-inch floating brake rotors clamped by large six-piston Brembo calipers. The Aston Martin-style recessed door handles are also a nice touch. While you wouldn't call the overall design beautiful, it carries a perfectly befitting, aggressive Japanese design.
Nissan has gone to great lengths in regards to the build process of each GT-R. Every 480-hp, VR38 twin-turbo V-6 engine is hand assembled in a clean, dust-free room by one of twenty highly skilled technicians at Nissan's engine plant in Yokohama. The facility turns out twenty-seven GT-R engines per day, each taking three hours and twenty minutes to build. This production number will double once a second shift starts before the end of the year. Once completed, the engines are run through both a zero and full load dyno test before shipment to the Tochigi assembly plant for installation. At that plant, the GT-R rolls down the same line as the Infiniti G35 and G37 but, once finished, it is put through a unique, eight-lap shakedown by one of ten trained drivers on a test track situated next to the factory.
According to Nissan, the goal of this procedure is to "ensure circuit driving high performance upon delivery to the customer." Brake pads and rotors are bedded in and the dual-clutch transmission is put through a process to refine the clutch plate surfaces to ensure shift times of 0.2 seconds. Finally, once completed, the chassis alignment of each GT-R is rechecked to assure a perfect setup.
We've already driven a prototype GT-R on in Germany on the Autobahn and on the modern Nurburgring circuit. But, earlier this week, we had the opportunity to sample a production, right-hand-drive GT-R in Japan. While we aren't able to tell you how the car will feel on U.S. roads, we were able to drive the super Nissan on some excellent twisty, challenging public roads around Sendai Hi-Land Raceway as well as on the circuit itself. But before we get to that, let's look at the impressive attention to detail put into the most important and promising Japanese sportscar since the Acura NSX.
When you see the Nissan coupe in the flesh, you are quickly aware that it isn't just a hopped up version of a pedestrian model like an EVO or WRX. The twenty-inch, seven-spoke wheels look spectacular and fit over fifteen-inch floating brake rotors clamped by large six-piston Brembo calipers. The Aston Martin-style recessed door handles are also a nice touch. While you wouldn't call the overall design beautiful, it carries a perfectly befitting, aggressive Japanese design.
Nissan has gone to great lengths in regards to the build process of each GT-R. Every 480-hp, VR38 twin-turbo V-6 engine is hand assembled in a clean, dust-free room by one of twenty highly skilled technicians at Nissan's engine plant in Yokohama. The facility turns out twenty-seven GT-R engines per day, each taking three hours and twenty minutes to build. This production number will double once a second shift starts before the end of the year. Once completed, the engines are run through both a zero and full load dyno test before shipment to the Tochigi assembly plant for installation. At that plant, the GT-R rolls down the same line as the Infiniti G35 and G37 but, once finished, it is put through a unique, eight-lap shakedown by one of ten trained drivers on a test track situated next to the factory.
According to Nissan, the goal of this procedure is to "ensure circuit driving high performance upon delivery to the customer." Brake pads and rotors are bedded in and the dual-clutch transmission is put through a process to refine the clutch plate surfaces to ensure shift times of 0.2 seconds. Finally, once completed, the chassis alignment of each GT-R is rechecked to assure a perfect setup.
2008 Toyota land cruiser
About as often as federal bureaucrats are stricken by conscience or the map of Europe is redrawn, Toyota subjects the Land Cruiser to vigorous gym workouts and charm-school sessions and again sends it forth into the world. And a world vehicle it is, sold in 130 countries, among which, as far as we can tell, Vanuatu is included, if not Kyrgyzstan.
The U.S. market gets only the top-of-the-line version, now equipped with Toyota's wonderful 5.7-liter V-8 that utilizes variable valve timing to emit 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque. An imperturbable six-speed automatic manages this output. With an independent front suspension and variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering, highway performance is superb.
The new rig--Toyota has offered the Land Cruiser since the company launched stateside in 1958--is an expensive, heavy, comfortable, highly capable vehicle that many people will acquire as a status symbol and let go after a couple of years, surrendering theirs to savvy enthusiasts who would never pay full ticket for something to punish on the rocks.
Those enthusiasts will likely feel ambivalent, though, recognizing 2008 as the year when the Land Cruiser thumbed its nose, not only at them but at all humanoid drivers. We refer to the Crawl Control system that essentially is cruise control in cahoots with traction control for low-range off-road conditions. Crawl's rotary selector offers the choice of three speed settings, from a very slow walk to a modest canter. Once you,'ve dialed in, the system takes over operation of the Cruiser, requiring only that you steer: it indefatigably sets off, as though proving a point to the Mars Rover. Rarely does a wheel spin or an occupant,'s noggin bob as Crawl Control guides this Highlander look-alike over daunting obstacles. Individual brakes are applied as necessary and clatter away self-importantly, interchanging with judicious commands from the engine control module. Only the very best driver could emulate such fine inputs and the smoothness that results, and this is at once cause for wonder and dismay.
The rest of the Land Cruiser is equally overdone. Chief engineer Toshihiko Kanai really ought to be flagged for piling on. A four-zone climate system with twenty-eight air vents? Couldn't we Americans have done with just twenty-six? A 605-watt, fourteen-speaker JBL audio system when all we Yanks listen to is fife-and-drum music? Ten air bags? Where will this ever end? In fact, it won't end, and much trickle-down will occur throughout the Toyota lineup, even to the RAV4.
Don't like it? Kyrgyzstan beckons.
The U.S. market gets only the top-of-the-line version, now equipped with Toyota's wonderful 5.7-liter V-8 that utilizes variable valve timing to emit 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque. An imperturbable six-speed automatic manages this output. With an independent front suspension and variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering, highway performance is superb.
The new rig--Toyota has offered the Land Cruiser since the company launched stateside in 1958--is an expensive, heavy, comfortable, highly capable vehicle that many people will acquire as a status symbol and let go after a couple of years, surrendering theirs to savvy enthusiasts who would never pay full ticket for something to punish on the rocks.
Those enthusiasts will likely feel ambivalent, though, recognizing 2008 as the year when the Land Cruiser thumbed its nose, not only at them but at all humanoid drivers. We refer to the Crawl Control system that essentially is cruise control in cahoots with traction control for low-range off-road conditions. Crawl's rotary selector offers the choice of three speed settings, from a very slow walk to a modest canter. Once you,'ve dialed in, the system takes over operation of the Cruiser, requiring only that you steer: it indefatigably sets off, as though proving a point to the Mars Rover. Rarely does a wheel spin or an occupant,'s noggin bob as Crawl Control guides this Highlander look-alike over daunting obstacles. Individual brakes are applied as necessary and clatter away self-importantly, interchanging with judicious commands from the engine control module. Only the very best driver could emulate such fine inputs and the smoothness that results, and this is at once cause for wonder and dismay.
The rest of the Land Cruiser is equally overdone. Chief engineer Toshihiko Kanai really ought to be flagged for piling on. A four-zone climate system with twenty-eight air vents? Couldn't we Americans have done with just twenty-six? A 605-watt, fourteen-speaker JBL audio system when all we Yanks listen to is fife-and-drum music? Ten air bags? Where will this ever end? In fact, it won't end, and much trickle-down will occur throughout the Toyota lineup, even to the RAV4.
Don't like it? Kyrgyzstan beckons.
2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
The last time I drove a Ferrari F430, I came to the conclusion that there wasn't much wrong with it. Little did I know, that seemingly near-perfect car was a tad heavy, a bit underpowered, and--most surprising of all--lacking in electronic driver aids. So while the world at large seemed quite happy with the F430, Ferrari was coldly dismantling the car on a part-by-part basis and examining it, literally down to each lug nut, to figure out how it might get the machine to go just a little bit faster. Ferrari, it seems, has been hard at work addressing all the concerns you didn't know you had.
The result is the 430 Scuderia, a car that looks like an F430 and goes like an Enzo. You may recall that the Enzo was Ferrari's masterwork just a few years back, a V-12-powered showcase of everything Ferrari knew about building road cars. The Enzo would get around the company's Fiorano test track in 1 minute and 25 seconds, currently the record for a street-legal machine. The F430, for all its considerable wiles, does the Fiorano deed in 1 minute and27 seconds--respectfully behind the big dog. But the 430 Scuderia reclaims those two seconds for the V-8 berlinetta camp, going wheel-to-wheel with Ferrari's all-time hero car. That's insane. That's also why I'm at Fiorano, to find out for myself how Ferrari wrings V-12 supercar performance out of its V-8 coupe.
I know what you're saying: if the differences between the F430 and the 430 Scuderia exist in those margins where professional drivers earn their paychecks, where tenths of a second here and there add up to the difference between an F430 and an Enzo, then how am I, Thumbs McGee, going to exploit that performance? Well, Ferrari has that problem covered, too, because one of the most practical Scuderia improvements is the addition of Ferrari's F1-Trac traction control system, which is integrated with the E-Diff electronically controlled differential.
F1-Trac allows the nonprofessional driver to explore the limits of the 430's performance by automating one of the trickiest aspects of ten-tenths driving in a high-powered car: throttle modulation on corner exit. With F1-Trac engaged, you merely point the nose toward the track-out point, floor the throttle, and let the electronics dole out as much power as conditions allow. "That's how you drive an F1 car," says Ferrari Formula 1 test driver Marc Gen. "If I'm driving at my best, I can lap a half-second quicker with the electronics off, but this system allows a regular driver to get very close to my lap time."
I'm eager to find out if that's the case, but before my turn can come, brooding thunderheads roll in and promptly douse the track. I bide my time hoping for sunshine by milling about the paddock and contemplating the various 430 Scuderias parked hither and thither. Ferrari-spotters will immediately recognize this model by its revised bodywork, but few of the performance changes are visible to the naked eye. If you peer down through the new Lexan engine cover, you'll see that the intake-plenum chambers and air-filter housings are rendered in carbon fiber, part of a diet that cuts 220 pounds from the F430's bulk and drops curb weight to 2975 pounds. (Ferrari lists "dry weight" as 2775 pounds, but quoting a car's weight minus all the essential fluids seems a bit like me saying "I weigh 150 pounds, not including my head.") Other weight-saving measures include titanium springs for the suspension, standard carbon-ceramic brakes, titanium lug nuts, and that time-honored favorite of speed-seekers everywhere, good ol' content deletion. You want a stereo, go to Best Buy, because you're not getting one in the 430 Scuderia. (Unless, of course, you ask. Ferrari so hates to say no to its clienti.)
The weight loss is accompanied by more power, as improved breathing and ignition strategies net 24 additional horsepower, bringing the total to 503 hp. Part of that gain comes from a very high 11.9:1 compression ratio (up from the F430's 11.3), made possible by an ignition system that controls detonation by using a dedicated CPU to monitor each spark event in each cylinder. Zero-to-60-mph acceleration drops from the F430's 4.1 seconds down to what Ferrari claims is "less than 3.6 seconds." I enjoy that vagueness. It's as if Ferrari is saying that the 430 Scuderia is so fast, they can't even get a clock on it.
More power is always nice, but you're not catching an Enzo at Fiorano without paying attention to the corners as well. So the suspension is about half an inch lower, the springs more than 30 percent stiffer, and the brake rotors 0.7 inch bigger up front. The Pirelli PZero Corsa tires are so sticky that they've got a mere 60 tread-wear rating, which is similar to that of hot fudge. Revised aerodynamics generate more downforce with no increase in drag, partly through something called the "base bleed effect," which sounds like a medieval interrogation method but actually involves venting the rear fenderwells out the back bumper. And the F1-Superfast sequential manual gearbox, with its 150-millisecond shift times, is kicked to the curb in favor of the new F1-Superfast2, which rips through the gears with a mere 60 milliseconds between shifts.
The result is the 430 Scuderia, a car that looks like an F430 and goes like an Enzo. You may recall that the Enzo was Ferrari's masterwork just a few years back, a V-12-powered showcase of everything Ferrari knew about building road cars. The Enzo would get around the company's Fiorano test track in 1 minute and 25 seconds, currently the record for a street-legal machine. The F430, for all its considerable wiles, does the Fiorano deed in 1 minute and27 seconds--respectfully behind the big dog. But the 430 Scuderia reclaims those two seconds for the V-8 berlinetta camp, going wheel-to-wheel with Ferrari's all-time hero car. That's insane. That's also why I'm at Fiorano, to find out for myself how Ferrari wrings V-12 supercar performance out of its V-8 coupe.
I know what you're saying: if the differences between the F430 and the 430 Scuderia exist in those margins where professional drivers earn their paychecks, where tenths of a second here and there add up to the difference between an F430 and an Enzo, then how am I, Thumbs McGee, going to exploit that performance? Well, Ferrari has that problem covered, too, because one of the most practical Scuderia improvements is the addition of Ferrari's F1-Trac traction control system, which is integrated with the E-Diff electronically controlled differential.
F1-Trac allows the nonprofessional driver to explore the limits of the 430's performance by automating one of the trickiest aspects of ten-tenths driving in a high-powered car: throttle modulation on corner exit. With F1-Trac engaged, you merely point the nose toward the track-out point, floor the throttle, and let the electronics dole out as much power as conditions allow. "That's how you drive an F1 car," says Ferrari Formula 1 test driver Marc Gen. "If I'm driving at my best, I can lap a half-second quicker with the electronics off, but this system allows a regular driver to get very close to my lap time."
I'm eager to find out if that's the case, but before my turn can come, brooding thunderheads roll in and promptly douse the track. I bide my time hoping for sunshine by milling about the paddock and contemplating the various 430 Scuderias parked hither and thither. Ferrari-spotters will immediately recognize this model by its revised bodywork, but few of the performance changes are visible to the naked eye. If you peer down through the new Lexan engine cover, you'll see that the intake-plenum chambers and air-filter housings are rendered in carbon fiber, part of a diet that cuts 220 pounds from the F430's bulk and drops curb weight to 2975 pounds. (Ferrari lists "dry weight" as 2775 pounds, but quoting a car's weight minus all the essential fluids seems a bit like me saying "I weigh 150 pounds, not including my head.") Other weight-saving measures include titanium springs for the suspension, standard carbon-ceramic brakes, titanium lug nuts, and that time-honored favorite of speed-seekers everywhere, good ol' content deletion. You want a stereo, go to Best Buy, because you're not getting one in the 430 Scuderia. (Unless, of course, you ask. Ferrari so hates to say no to its clienti.)
The weight loss is accompanied by more power, as improved breathing and ignition strategies net 24 additional horsepower, bringing the total to 503 hp. Part of that gain comes from a very high 11.9:1 compression ratio (up from the F430's 11.3), made possible by an ignition system that controls detonation by using a dedicated CPU to monitor each spark event in each cylinder. Zero-to-60-mph acceleration drops from the F430's 4.1 seconds down to what Ferrari claims is "less than 3.6 seconds." I enjoy that vagueness. It's as if Ferrari is saying that the 430 Scuderia is so fast, they can't even get a clock on it.
More power is always nice, but you're not catching an Enzo at Fiorano without paying attention to the corners as well. So the suspension is about half an inch lower, the springs more than 30 percent stiffer, and the brake rotors 0.7 inch bigger up front. The Pirelli PZero Corsa tires are so sticky that they've got a mere 60 tread-wear rating, which is similar to that of hot fudge. Revised aerodynamics generate more downforce with no increase in drag, partly through something called the "base bleed effect," which sounds like a medieval interrogation method but actually involves venting the rear fenderwells out the back bumper. And the F1-Superfast sequential manual gearbox, with its 150-millisecond shift times, is kicked to the curb in favor of the new F1-Superfast2, which rips through the gears with a mere 60 milliseconds between shifts.
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