One for the road

WE MUST, he said, go out for a spin in his car. And now we have – in his Ferrari F430 no less – and on the last day of that glorious Indian summer that is now just a fading memory.

The generous anonymous owner – a Guernseyman of my generation – even let me have a brief stint at the wheel.

What's it like?

Awesome. Yes, I know that there is now an even more powerful Scuderia version which must be completely mindblowing.

But the car that, at its launch in 2005 put Ferrari back at the top of the supercar heap, is well capable of overloading the senses and exceeding the talents of we non-Schumachers.

The power comes from the first of a new generation of Ferrari V8s.

Its two banks of four cylinders form the traditional right angle but while it is a V8 Jim, it is not one as we know it.

Forget the rumble of the lazy Yank – that type of motor has crankpins at 90-degree angles and it is the firing order that that produces which generates the familiar burble.

The flat plane crank in the Ferrari has its pins 180 degrees apart, makes for a freer-revving engine that produces an F1-type sound and develops a whopping 483 proper English bhp at a heady 8,500rpm, not bad from a naturally-aspirated 4.3 litres.

Compared with the 360 Modena that it succeeds, it offers 25% more power from 20% more displacement and only 4kg extra weight.

The engine's high cooling demands are met by generous radiators that are fed air by the two front intakes that pay homage to the sharknose Ferrari 156F1 in which Phil Hill won the 1961 world championship.

Air is also fed into the engine bay by large rear vents and by the mirrors – their twin mounting arms are designed to channel air towards the rear intakes.

The F430 was launched in 2005 after Ferrari had won six straight F1 constructors' championships and taken Michael Schumacher to five consecutive world driver titles.

And the F430 bristles with F1 technology.

Like the Grand Prix driver, the F430 owner can alter the setup of the car by a steering-wheel mounted 'manettino'.

Twist the little commutator arm to fettle the suspension settings and gearchange speeds. Dial up ice and it selects the auto gearchange mode and puts the stability and traction control on standby for maximum intervention.

Low grip keeps the stability and traction control as on the ice setting but permits use of the F1 paddle shifts.

Sport is used for general driving and is fine for the open road and, in this mode, the stability and traction control allows the driver a little more freedom.

The race setting is for track use only, turning the damping up a notch, gear shifts are made more quickly and the stability control intervention is minimal, cutting in only when absolutely necessary.

And an even more extreme setting puts virtually everything in the driver's hands, overriding everything except ABS and electronic brakeforce distribution.

Transferring all that power to the tarmac is the job of the E-Diff, the electronic differential first used on Ferrari's Grand Prix cars.

How good is it? Good enough for 60mph to come up in under four seconds – use the launch control, another F1 feature, and it can be close to three-and-a-half.

We did not try that – using the launch control is hard on the clutch, so much so that it is not available on US models, no doubt to avoid litigation after clutches fry.

My host had specced up his F430 with an F1 steering wheel, electric seats, wing 'prancing horse' badges, ceramic brakes, parking sensor, painted callipers, satnav and F1 paddle shifts.

Well, he argued, if you are buying a six-figure car, you might as well go for the full Monty.

This being Guernsey, we stayed well shy of the 'over 196mph' top speed, just occasionally slowing to let other traffic pull ahead so we could take the odd corner a bit quicker before rejoining the tail of the crocodile.

Still, it did give me a chance to appreciate the air-conditioned cabin.

The seats are surprisingly supportive and the cockpit is not the claustrophobe's nightmare that some high-powered two-seaters can be.

The mid-engined layout helps greatly, removing as it does the need for a gearbox hump and transmission tunnel. And so does the fact that the cockpit is noticeably bigger than the 360's.

The boot is not bad for a two-seater either, well-shaped and just under nine cubic feet.

And so to a spell behind the wheel.

There was no need to adjust the seat – well, I did say the owner was a Guernseyman – so it was pretty easy to settle in behind the wheel after the embarrassment of hitting the gas pedal accidentally as I got in.

It does sound spectacular at high revs, doesn't it?

But there was no excuse. The footwell is also surprisingly roomy for a supercar – down to both the mid-engine layout and the fact that there are only two pedals.

Yes, you can leave the paddles alone and drive it as an auto if you're feeling lazy.

And I was, although I did take up the invitation to change using the paddles. It's safe, you can't break anything because the car's electronic brain will override any stupid change instructions up or down.

For a near-200mph supercar it can be driven incredibly slowly and smoothly. What is it like on local roads? Keeping down to normal traffic speeds is no problem.

And positioning on the road is not that difficult, thanks to pretty decent visibility for a car of the type, although at almost 6ft 4in. wide and not exactly designed to mount kerbs – Living Streets will like this Ferrari – you do need to keep your wits about you.

So what prompted my host to choose an F430?

'I'd always wanted one, and I thought "why not?".

'And I could afford it, which is probably more than some people who have them, particularly after the credit crunch.

As I said, he is a Guernseyman of my generation.

While the car was on the Fort Grey causeway for our photoshoot a couple of visitors came out of the maritime museum.

Could they get past okay or did they want the car moved? we asked.

They were fine, they said.

Then, as they squeezed past, the husband cut straight to the 64,000-dollar question.

'Why would anyone over here buy a car like that?' he asked.

I repaid my host by supplying the answer.

'Because they wouldn't give it to him.'