It wouldn’t be a hyperbole to say that the Ferrari 458 Italia rules its segment as it has brushed off each and every gauntlet its rivals has thrown at it, beating even the ultra-sophisticated, and more powerful, McLaren MP4-12C.

That’s because it ticks all the right boxes: looks, handling, performance, sound, you name it, and the 458 Italia has it in spades. Surely, there’s no one out there who would dare call it dull, right?

Well, the 458 might be pure sex on wheels, but some figure that the F430 Scuderia is an even more pure and exhilarating drive. Six years old it might be, having been unveiled in 2007, but the hardcore variant of the F430 was not only more hardcore, but also a much improved supercar.

Like the 360 Challenge Stradale before it (and the 911 GT3 RS and Gallardo Superleggera), it shed some weight and gained a bit more power compared to the plain vanilla model.

Ferrari didn’t stop there, though; the Scuderia featured an even faster (but still single-clutch) Superfast2 semi-auto gearbox, the sole option, had carbon ceramic brakes as standard and combined the ESP and traction control system with the trick E-Diff electronically controlled differential. As a result, it claimed that it lapped the Fiorano circuit faster than the mighty Enzo.

Autocar magazine editor Matt Saunders took one out on the Castle Comb track to sample what he believes is destined to become a future classic. You can check out his impressions in the video right after the break.

By Andrew Tsaousis

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