Quote:
trip said:
I can believe the folding top can be made lighter than the standard hard top however the issue of torsional rigidity is still present. The 430 was not designed from the ground up as an open top car like the CGT, it would therefore require additional bracing to ensure adequate stiffness. This would inevitably add weight. Since the Scuderia is already fairly stripped out it is hard to see where Ferrari will cut the wieght. Not to mention increasing safety and emissions requirements.



Well, Ferrari doesn't care that much about safety and emissions requirements, do they?

Concerning rigidity: IMO the F430 Spider is rigid enough for a convertible. It weighs about 70kg more than the berlinetta. Question now is, if they substract weight of the electrically operated soft top and replace it by a light weight barchetta style roof, how much of these 70kg they could reduce. But I think with this solution they could create a Spider version with a weight coming close to that of the Scuderia.