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Great Machines: Automobiles: Round, Round Get Around

Gregory Anderson

June 1, 2006

It was a sunny day in Malibu, perfect weather for driving around with the windows down. The Beach Boys were playing on the radio, and a stoplight had just brought the glaring red Novitec Rosso Ferrari F430 I was piloting to a temporary halt.

“Are you rich?” an attractive young blonde called out from the driver’s seat of her silver Mercedes-Benz coupe.

I laughed and said, “No.”

“Well, I’m single,” she continued, undaunted.

If the reason for making the flashy Ferrari F430 even flashier was not quite clear before, the rationale became perfectly obvious to me during that brief encounter. From the giant adjustable rear wing spoiler to the lowered front valance, the $350,000 Novitec Rosso commands attention. Women are drawn to it. Men respect it. Children point, wave, and cheer. (Click image to enlarge)

Bernoulli’s principle never looked quite so menacing, and the Novitec body kit is more than noisy aesthetic flair; most of its components also make the F430 a better drive. The adjustable pitch of the giant rear wing obliterates the view out the back window but also provides adjustable down-force for better high-speed stability. The lower front bumper reduces drag.

Carbon fiber accents in the interior (Left photo) complement the airbox that feeds the engine (Center photo), and Novitec Rosso’s modified central console (Right photo) creates a handy storage bin. Above: The front spoiler literally hugs the ground. (Click images to enlarge)

Drive it for any distance on the open road, however, and the plow blade of a front spoiler nearly spoils the mood. It is not easy to enjoy a car’s finer points when the sandpapery crunch of the front fascia scraping pavement forces your teeth to grind every time you crest a bump. We literally painted the town red with the F430’s front chin on innumerable driveway entrances and troughs of four-way intersections. For durable use and abuse on public streets, opt for Kevlar-reinforced plastic in lieu of a carbon fiber front bumper. The cost of the front bumper, body-colored rear diffuser, rear wing, and side skirts is around $11,400. 

Ferrari already builds the best-handling car on the planet, and thanks to Novitec it is even faster. The Rosso performance package ($18,799) includes a carbon fiber airbox, larger catalytic converters and a free-flowing stainless steel exhaust system. Revs are limited to 8,850 rpm, or 350 rpm higher than usual, so even without forced induction, the intake- and exhaust-derived enhancements boost the already prodigious 4.3-liter V-8’s 490 hp to a healthy 520 hp. Zero-to-60 comes in under four seconds, and there’s enough power to nudge the top speed up to 199 mph. A twin compressor conversion ($55,000)—not yet available at the time of writing—will add even more; Novitec estimates that the supercharged, water-intercooler system will develop 636 hp and 465 ft lbs of torque. Top speed with this specification should easily exceed 200 mph. (We don’t recommend testing the Novitec’s limits on Pacific Coast Highway, as the owner of a now-destroyed Ferrari Enzo did in February.)

The front spoiler literally hugs the ground. (Click image to enlarge)

To compensate for the added thrust, a Brembo brake system ($14,999)—nestled inside 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels with central locking pins—provides surefooted stopping, with eight-piston front and four-piston rear brake calipers clamping 15-inch rotors. An upgrade to ultralightweight ceramic discs (at an additional $15,900) is available for serious track use.

The rear body-colored undertray melds seamlessly with the F430’s central venturi tunnel. (Click image to enlarge)

One drive down Latigo Canyon Road, and the low-flying front bumper and blinded rear view was forgiven. There is no need to check the mirrors, after all, when nothing else on the road is faster. Toggling through the paddle-shifted gearbox, the stainless steel adjustable coil-over-spring suspension carries the car around corners with confident comportment, and although the suspension is no longer adjustable through the manettino, the transmission settings are still quicker in race mode, and slower in snow mode.

The surest way to announce an arrival at any destination is to pull the paddles to put the transmission in neutral, rev the engine to redline, and listen to the stainless exhaust pipes sound their four-cannon salute. There is nothing subtle about a Novitec Rosso’s looks or performance—and that is exactly what makes it so irresistible.

Novitec Rosso, www.novitecrosso.com
CEC Wheels, www.cecwheels.com

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