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Go past all those hyper velocities and hit a nice twisty section - this car will just beguile you. The steering feels just as responsive as on a stock car and the slightly twitchy nature of the car isn't lost on you. There is still a sense of fluidity in the way the F430 responds to driver inputs that I can't seem to find from more modern, dual-clutch equipped supercars with their electro-namby-pamby steerings and what not. It still feels alive in a way that reminds you what Ferraris of yore truly were. With the wider Michelin P-Zeros at the front and rear, there is enough grip on offer to keep you grinning all day, of course there is always the CST option on the manettino to kill all the electronic nannying and kick up the bass level. The ride quality is typically Ferrari, slightly stiff for our kind of roads and the nose is always too low for anything higher than an Indian serpent.
When you are done impressing your girlfriends and mates and you are done playing manettino conductor for the day, switch back to normal and it will behave like a Porsche - practical and docile. It goes back to sounding like a regular Ferrari and not the one that would give Bianca Castafiore a complex. Samir even didn't opt for the Novitec body kit, choosing only to upgrade his wheels to 20-inch single bolt numbers and the usual 235 section tyres at the front and 325s at the rear while painting the rear diffuser red. No West Asia-spec interior treatment, no huge rear wing and no Scuderia style full length body stripes - it's just a plain ol' F430 at heart.
Few cars will excite you. Even fewer cars will leave you craving for more. And then there's the one that will leave you addicted. It's a fix that you can't get rid of and no amount of rehab will ever make you want to change your ways. The supercharged Novitec Rosso F430 is just such a stimulant - an intoxicant for some but an elixir of life for many. It doesn't matter if you've driven it once, twice, 282 times or whatever, the feeling going through your blood vessels every single time is the same.
They say familiarity breeds contempt. If this is contempt, then I'm loving it!
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