Uh, the Vette and Viper will beat an F430.



F430 is a freakin sweet car, but in terms of performance, the Vette and Viper win...

 

Uh, no they won't. I recall a few months ago their was a heads up with the Ford GT, Vette, Viper, F430, Gallardo, and 911 Turbo, and the F430 pulled the best times, by a pretty sound margin. Tracks can be configured to suite a particular car, thereby giving it an advantage, but on any all out track my money is on the Ferrari.

When have you EVER read an article or comparo where the Ferrari didn't beat the Vette, even if was marginal? I ask because when the Z06 came out, I would go to Barnes and Noble just for this specific reason, and there was no trouncing of the F430 by the Vette in any of the mainstream mags.

 

I agree that it depends on the track. But I probably disagree on the definition of an "all out" track. If it has long straights and less technical I don't think you would have the same result as a lower speed more technical course.

 

I believe it was Road and Track that run those cars I mentioned, but I don't remember the track. There were multiple straights and long esses if memory serves, and the Ferrari still one. It really doesn't have much of an hp deficit on the Vette, and although the Vette is lighter, the Ferrari benefits from awesome gearing.

 

Must depend on the track then.

Besides, he and I said "performance," not just racetrack times. In acceleration tests, most times I've seen for the Z06 are better than most times I've seen for the F430 (or 911 Turbo, or 911 GT3). With the new 600 hp Viper now just edging the Z06 (including on at least one road course, in the new Car and Driver), I'd say that means the Viper can also beat the F430.

I've never seen an 11.5-11.7 @ 125+ mph for the F430. All three of them are capable of pulling skidpad #s in the .99-1.01 range, IIRC. All three of them have stupendous braking.



So I don't think the F430 is "ridiculously priced for marginal performance gains over the Vette and Viper." Perhaps it would be better to say that the F430 is ridiculously priced for slightly inferior or basically equal performance, depending on the driver and conditions, compared to the Vette and Viper.



Clearly the Ferrari is more exotic, with wild styling, a nicer interior, F1-oriented themes and features, 8000+ rpm capability, and so forth. But just in terms of performance, your money isn't buying you any more (and in fact may be buying less).

 

The Ferrari is a bit faster in some tracks. That's why I mentioned the marginal "performance" gains. The performance measure being the fastest around the racetrack. I don't know how the new Viper would fare, but I'm sure it could definitely equal the F430 F1's times...