With almost all of our project cars….there is a primary set of objectives to be achieved. But, when you start with an awesome looking Ferrari….where do you start, or what needs to be improved?
Well, how about almost everything. We set out w this Ferrari to literally tackle every element, even some upgrades that go beyond what the standard car has, to not only make it a great car, but more usable for daily driving.
So….the objectives –
– exterior styling
– interior styling
– handling
– braking
– performance
– exhaust / sound
So, lets start w the exterior styling. We want tasteful, classy, but unique….so, we used the dark color theme of the car, and decided to extend the look and add some more contrast…..so, smoke the tail lenses, third brake light, side turn markers, all reflectors, all badges, all detail elements.
Next up…..the exterior body pieces. The rear diffuser (let’s make it deeper, more aggressive, and out of carbon fiber…..all these elements are pieces from the Novitec kit for the F430).
Can’t have just some of the car look killer…..so, let’s move on to the eye candy piece of the Ferrari….the most beautiful engine you can see, tuck under the clear glass panel…..just screaming to be run. So, if the rest of the car can get all dressed up, we need to dress up the engine and engine bay. Off with all OEM engine bay panels, off w the stock intake covers, off with the intake runners (and in the following pictures, if you are really sharp, you can see that that whole intake system has been changed…but more on that later).
All of these pieces are absolutely amazing. Light….finger weight light, strong, perfect weave, perfect fitment, and they cover every inch of the engine bay….making this area a complete piece of art…..you can get lost just staring at all the wonderful pieces.
HANDLING –
We wanted to attack two completely different elements. The ride and handling of the car, as we will be feeding this car a lot of new horsepower, and the practicality of being able to drive this car on the roads as a daily driver….this is not a track monster, this is a daily driver, and the long overhang on the front nose means we need to find a way to deal w the ride height and clearance under the car. So, we added different coil-overs, and a “nose lift system”, or NLS. The coil-overs and new springs address the true handling, and make the ride height for normal settings fully adjustable, but the NLS is the key to making this a daily driver.
The NLS provides for a 40mm lift to the nose, w a hydraulic lift on the coil-over suspension system. The system can be initiated or controlled either from a button we installed in the center console, or from a remote control. However, if you leave the car in the “UP” position, and then head out onto the freeway, when you hit 52mph, the nose will automatically lower to the stock position.
BRAKES –
As if the stock brakes weren’t good to begin with, but when you’re trying to make this the best possible, we upgraded the brakes on both the front and rear, with Novitec designed Brembo brake upgrades.
EXHAUST –
One of the joys….true joys, of driving a Ferrari, is listening to the motor sing. So, we wanted to let the motor sing as strong and loud as it could……but, we still needed the car to be used as a daily driver just crawling through town. In most other exhausts, this means you have to make major tradeoffs…..get the great sound, and you’re too loud for town driving….get it right for town and neighborhoods, and you don’t get to hear the motor when you push the loud pedal. Well, the Novitec exhaust solves this problem….it provides a pure open exhaust when you want it….that’s right, a full on scream of the motor at any time you want. Or, you can have the exhaust route thru the wonderful Novitec exhaust muffler….which still sounds great, but works just right for town and neighborhoods or when you need to carry on that phone call. Many of the newer exhaust systems are offering this “valvetronic” control, or bypass system, but Novitec has taken it one step farther by integrating the control into the steering wheel control system. When you turn the magnetino to “race”…..you get just that, a pure open exhaust. When you want the street setting, you just turn the button on the steering wheel to the normal position…..you can change any time you want.
The sound is truly intoxicating…..the sound with the valves open, and the engine pouring its heart right out the pipes is like nothing other….a Ferrari sounds great to begin with, but an uncorked Ferrari is amazing. The ability to switch back and forth between modes is a luxury that almost every exhaust system should have or come with.
But, to make the engine really sound mean, angry, full of energy, means we have to add some more “go fast” parts.
So, what exactly do you add to a Ferrari motor to make amazing amounts of power? You don’t add the little things….the motor is an engineering marvel, so what do you do? Obviously, one of the routes is to add some “forced induction”. Would this be turbos? Would this be superchargers? Turbos are known for the power they can produce, but packaging is always tough, and then there is the heat….and with a rear engine car, that means you have to take unnatural acts to make it all work right (think of all the packaging on the Porsche turbo….they have items tucked everywhere, and they changed the body fitment to make that work. Superchargers could work, but that means items on the front of the motor, and this is a mid-engined car. But, the SC route offers nice linear power……so, supercharging it is.
Novitec does engineering right….not just tacking parts onto the car. And to demonstrate their engineering magic, installing one supercharger would be great, but two? Really? Yep….that’s what they do, they install TWO superchargers on the front of the motor, replacing all the front elements and making the packaging work just right, but also, by doing two, they also improve the packaging as each bank of the V8 can have its own air flow….but matching the 2 banks of the V8 is not an easy task. And its not just adding two superchargers. Its adding new intakes, two superchargers and belts, tensioners, pulleys, intercoolers, and a complete redesign of the cooling system to ensure there is sufficient capacity to handle the extra heat from the added horsepower.
So….how much horsepower? A nice jump would be good….maybe 10% more? 15% more? 20% more? How about an amazing 40% more…….yes, that much power. A jump from the stock 483hp to over 680 on the base F430. Holy cow. You want to talk about having some “go” under the loud pedal? WOW…..shocking….this thing doesn’t just go when you step into it…..it leaps and screams and pulls like 200mph is a normal speed to be obtained.
The result is a truly amazing and complete car…everything has been improved…and not just slightly, to outrageous levels, putting this car into a field that very few play at.
BRracing…..the Novitec dealer for Northern California….let’s us work with you to optimize your car
