La Passione and the Lambo: Ferrari F430 vs. Lamborghini Gallardo

Motor Trend

14-05-2025

[Editor's Note: This article first appeared in the January 2005 issue of MotorTrend] This is about lust. Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini understood lust—automotive and, allegedly, otherwise. They couldn't have cared less about cupholders, EPA ratings, DVD players, recyclability percentages, or customer clinic results. They just built the cars they wanted to build, cars full of passion and power and seduction. Today, the companies they founded are multimillion-dollar businesses with beancounters, HR departments, and marketing mavens.
They're still trading in lust. But is it the real thing, or some cleverly synthesized substitute? Although Ferrari and Lamborghini have both come to define the Italian supercar, they haven't always met head-on in the marketplace: Not since the Jalpa of the 1980s has Sant'Agata had a car to compete with Maranello's entry-level model. That all changed when Lamborghini launched the Gallardo last year. With its fresh and edgy look, all-wheel drive, and V-10 engine with a 100-plus-horsepower advantage, the Gallardo was aimed squarely at Ferrari's curvaceous and successful 360 Modena.
Ferrari's new F430 should in no way be viewed as a response to the Gallardo; in fact, its specs and design were frozen well prior to the Lambo's appearance in the marketplace. Its basic architecture and central greenhouse are recognizable as those of the 360 Modena. Otherwise, it's a new machine, incorporating five years' worth of customer feedback, technological advances, and design evolution. The engine is an all-new, 4.3-liter, 90-degree V-8 that eschews the Modena's five-valve DOHC layout for more conventional four-valves- (say quattrovalvole) per-cylinder heads and wails out 23 percent more horsepower and 24 percent more torque.
Ferrari would like to have you believe its success in Formula 1 is what drives the F430's makeup, and that's not all bunk. The F1 paddle-shifter transmission is an obvious cue. The F430's optional composite brake rotors (as fitted to our tester), innovative E-Diff electrohydraulically managed rear differential, and steering-wheel-mounted one-touch vehicle setup controller—called the manettino by Ferrari's F1 pilots—are examples of legitimate ideological technology transfer from racetrack to street. Revised over- and underbody aerodynamics result in higher downforce, lower drag, and reduced wind noise. New 19-inch wheels are standard, as are glinting Bi-Xenon headlights and a host of detail upgrades.
The Gallardo was born of a clean sheet of paper and a blank computer screen. In brief, it's the most well-mannered and highest-quality Lamborghini to date. It's found a willing, check-writing audience in our marketplace and carries over into its third year essentially unchanged. Lamborghini offers a conventional six-speed manual transmission on the Gallardo, and Ferrari will, in the near future, do the same for the F430. The pair we brought to the Paso Raticosa, deep in the heart of Mille Miglia territory, were equipped with paddle-shifted auto-clutch manuals.
The F430's larger-displacement V-8 is heard even before its increased power and torque are felt. Thumb the red starter button on the left side of the steering-wheel boss, and the F Quattro Trenta gurgles alive with a deeper, richer bark than that of the outgoing Modena. There's much less mechanical noise from the engine's reciprocating bits, and a bassy howl has replaced the 360's higher-pitched blare; we liked the old noise, but love the new one. Buzz through the gears one time, and you'll see how much bigger and wider the torque curve is. There's just more of it everywhere, although the top end remains as bright as ever, still revving to 8500 rpm. Such is the magic of variable valve timing for the intake and exhaust tracts, plus a variable-length intake plenum. There's no reason to doubt the company's 3.9-second-to-60 claim.
It's taken a while, and several generations of work, to get the F1 gearbox to behave as well as the rest of the car, but Ferrari has finally done it with this iteration. Cruise gently, and it practically melts from gear to gear. Trigger the right-side paddle at 8000 rpm, and the upshifts are riflebolt solid; downshifts have always been good, and they remain so. This is also the quickest-shifting F1 box to date, and most of the previous clicking and clacking from the robotic shift mechanism has been quelled, too.
The Gallardo's powerplant is one of the sweetest V-10s extant. It starts with a turbinelike whir, sounds like nothing else, revs well for its size and configuration, and as you'd expect, serves up ample horsepower and torque. It trumpets its presence in a way that's different, but no less intoxicating, than the Ferrari's. The Lambo's eGear auto-clutch manual is also well mannered and quick to react; its main foible is that, like the Ferrari, it occasionally can be caught in the wrong gear while in automatic mode or fooled into a jerky shift by awkward throttle movement.
Cutting and thrusting through the undulating Tuscan passes, the real difference between these two becomes clear. Both are superlative handlers, but the Ferrari feels about 1,000 pounds lighter. It's the sports car of the pair, while the Lamborghini is, dare we say it, more GT-like. The F430 reacts quicker to steering commands, with a light yet direct connection to the front wheels. The new car handles more neutrally than the Modena did, at least up to the limits, where mild understeer checks in. Even with the manettino in the midlevel Sport mode, the robo-diff and traction control allow a smile-provoking dose of oversteer before they reel things in. Switch to Race mode, and you get another helping, along with more aggressive damping. Select to CST Off, and lurid slides and smoking tires are as close as your right foot. The engine's beefier torque curve helps, too. Body roll? Forget it. Dive or squat? None of that, either.
Many previous Lambos have been unpredictable, even devious handlers, but the Gallardo is Miss Manners by comparison. This thing is so pinned down, you almost wish it would show more cleavage. It, too, corners neutrally—thanks to its competent suspension tuning and full-time all-wheel drive—but you have to punish it beyond reason to provoke any oversteer. The steering also is communicative, but heavier than the Ferrari's. The chassis is predictable, but doesn't react as quickly as the F430's and feels like it rolls and squats more.
As befitting its GT demeanor, the Lamborghini was quieter and rode better than the Modena. But that deficiency has been eliminated by the F430, which feels more tightly screwed together than its predecessor, yet is somehow more supple, in spite of the move to 19-inch rolling stock. The F430 doesn't turn in as sharply or as quickly as the race-face 360 Challenge Stradale, but the steering response and feel have been improved over the standard Modena's. They might crack 190 mph, but the Ferrari and the Lambo would serve well as everyday transport, if you could stand the stresses of rush hour, snowstorms, or tossing the keys to a drooling valet.
Braking tests will have to wait until we get this pair back on home turf, but on the road both are strong, sure, and fade-free stoppers, with the F430 earning a slight advantage in modulation response. Conventional discs are standard on each car, with Ferrari offering composite/ceramic brake rotors as a near-$15,000 (yeow) option. The view from the cockpit offers some insight to the Ferrari's more immediate feel. Its front glass sweeps widely around the driver and gives a big view, like that from a fighter jet. The Lamborghini's steeply raked windshield is farther away, and the A-pillars are more intrusive. Otherwise, both interiors are highly detailed and well finished.
The Gallardo's ultramodern take on rocker switches is cool, and the leather/Alcantara/aluminum trim on this tester lent a designer air. You'll recognize the Lambo's Audi-sourced audio and HVAC controls. Imagine that: dual-zone A/C in an exotic car—that actually works. Ferrari gives you a choice of a red or yellow background for the oversized tach, and you can select carbon-fiber or aluminum trim for the rest of the cabin. The carbon-fiber-shelled sport seats in our tester were comfortable and held us firmly in place. Only the oversized F430 badge atop the center stack spoils the look. The same can be said of the Ferrari's functional but clunky looking rear undertray. While it does a lot for the F430's aero, it could've been more neatly integrated.
These are both damned desirable cars, no question. But their personas are different. The Lamborghini looks scintillatingly exotic: fresh, angular, edgy. Only the lack of scissor-type doors keeps it from resembling a modern, 7/8ths-scale Countach. The Gallardo also demonstrates that Lamborghini no longer has to apologize for build quality that wouldn't have passed muster in a 1960s dune buggy. Yet the Gallardo's character reflects a more conservative tack: as noted above, more high-speed grand tourer than hard-edged sports car. It goes, stops, and turns and makes the driver feel secure in doing so. But it feels heavier, less athletic, and ultimately lacks the Ferrari's radiance and eagerness to run.
The F430 takes the goodness that was the Modena and builds on it. It's faster and handles better, yet offers a more polished ride and quieter interior than the car it replaces. And yet, if you want to play Schumacher, the manettino lets you indulge the ultimate driver's fantasy, allowing one-touch, dial-'n'-play programming of the car's high-tech engine, transmission, and chassis management systems. You can feel the deep, visceral connection to the screaming red Grand Prix cars that now dominate Formula 1, to the passion for racing and winning that still drives Ferrari today. Lust without passion is cold and calculating. In the Ferrari F430 it burns like a fever.
A Word with Jean Todt - Managing Director, Ferrari
Jean Todt has become an ever-busier man. The former WRC co-driver joined Ferrari a decade ago to sort out its ailing F1 team. Six consecutive Formula 1 Manufacturer's titles later, he found himself in charge of Ferrari's production-car efforts when president Luca di Montezemolo assumed the chairmanship of Fiat earlier this year. Here's what's on his mind as he assumes this expanded role:
North America remains the number-one market for Ferrari.
We sell more than 1,400 Ferraris a year here, a bit less than one third of our total worldwide production. We wish the dollar were stronger against the Euro, which doesn't make our life easy. Still, this remains our most important marketplace.
The main aspect of my job is building teams.
The situation with the Formula 1 team isn't completely different from what I've experienced with the production cars so far. We have a very good group of people. Coming in with new eyes allows me to see things some of my colleagues might not see. Then we try to improve every day. We're working hard to continue the transfer of technology from racing to road cars. I try to push things a little because, even though I feel we make the best GT cars in the world, we have to have higher ambitions and try to do even better."
Ferrari = F1
[As a team entrant] Ferrari will remain focused only and exclusively on F1. On the customer side, we're selling the 575/GTC and the 360/GTC, which have been very successful. Next year, we'll develop evolutions of these cars to meet upcoming rules changes. We'll have the same kind of approach with the F430 and the next Ferrari Challenge series. Concerning official participation in racing like Le Mans, we'll leave that to Maserati with the MC12, which has already won its first race in only its second outing this year.
We used to have the biggest budget in F1. Not any more.
Ferrari competes with much larger companies: BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Renault. We can't do it alone. About 80 percent of the funding comes from our business and technology partners, plus income from F1's TV rights, [the latter of] which are not as good as they used to be. The other 20 percent comes from sales of road cars. It's better to have good people rather than unlimited budget.
Cars like the Enzo are important for Ferrari ...
But they're even more important for our customers. It's amazing to see there's marketplace speculation on this car. Supercars are a tradition for us now; there was the 288 GTO, then the F40 and F50 before the Enzo. We definitely intend to move forward with this limited-edition kind of car. It's also a good exercise for our engineers, as it allows them to make strong engineering developments, and we get advantages from those specifications, which then [make their way] to other production models.
Michael Schumacher won't retire any time soon.
He's under contract to Ferrari until the end of 2006. Michael loves racing. His family and his team are his life. He's focused and still very motivated. I don't know when he'll retire, because he doesn't yet know.
Think of It As Your Schumacher Switch
Ferrari's innovative manettino integrates and allows driver control of several key functions, including stability- and traction-control systems, damping, E-Diff operation, and gear-change speed on F1-equipped F430s. Using a variety of inputs (from steering angle and throttle position to feedback from accelerometers), these various systems are tied together via five different modes.
Race: Recommended for aggressive street or track use; most aggressive F1 shift mode and damping; traction and stability controls dialed back
Sport: All-around performance driving; medium damper, F1 shift, traction, and stability- control settings, still allowing modest oversteer.
Low Grip: For wet or low-grip situations; F1 paddles still active, maximum stability and traction control.
CST Off: Stability and traction controls are deactivated. Special E-Diff setting. F1 shift and damping settings same as Race.