Feature
Ferrari SF90 vs McLaren Senna HEAD TO HEAD at the Top Gear Test Track
Ben Collins pits two of the quickest A to B road cars in the world against each other to find out which comes out on top.
December 30, 2024
If you've watched the video, join us for some Ferrari lightweight window shopping!
Following our Christmas Day celebration of Ferrari's finest lightweight V8s, it's likely many of you have a fresh itch you're desperate to scratch. Well, we love scouring the market as much as the rest of you, and we've picked out an example of each of our three contenders on the market right now.
2004 | 26,229 Miles | £222,995
Ah, the noisy one! Well, they're all noisy, but if the 360 CS is famous for one thing alone, it's that deafening, hard-edged bark that makes you question how this thing ever passed homologation. The 'Strad' added 25bhp and removed 110kg from the 360 Modena, and is hardly comparable to the base car — it's a totally different animal.
Values have been strong over the past decade, and given there are only ever a small handful on the market at any one time, it's hard to see that ever changing. If you want the original and the most unapologetically hardcore, this is the one for you.
2009 | 10,636 Miles | £184,950
The 430 Scuderia is the middle child, the one that, in years gone by, got a little forgotten against its older and younger siblings, but we've endlessly sung its praises and the 'Scud' is rapidly becoming more respected as the sweet spot in this trio. Paul said, "It's the perfect blend of the Stradale’s raw insanity and the Speciale’s refinement". It's still incredibly noisy and you have 20% more power than the CS, but the adaptive suspension was improved, and the Strad's biggest weakness, its gearbox, was rectified with a much-improved single-clutch box that thumps home full-throttle shifts like a sequential Challenge race car down the start-finish straight at Monza.
Despite that, values are yet to catch up and Scuds are still a relative bargain, even for low-mileage cars, so get one now before it's too late. Another quote of Paul's to finish, "Honestly, why would anyone buy a new supercar when you can have this?".
2015 | 8,100 Miles | £339,990
To many, the Speciale is the pinnacle of special Ferraris, utter perfection. This car is Ferrari blending cutting-edge technology with lightweight construction, and most importantly, the last of the naturally-aspirated V8s which revs all the way to 9,000rpm as it kicks out almost 600hp. This brings the lightweight V8 formula up to date without losing the noise to turbocharging, and whilst it's down on power compared to more recent supercars, I don't care, and you shouldn't care. The Speciale is ballistically fast in any scenario, and I feel like more just ends up being a bit boring as you short shift your way down the road.
The video featured an Aperta, but we all know where values of those are, so I wanted to feature a beautifully specced coupe to keep it somewhat within the realms of fairness. That said, Speciales are much stronger in value than the other two despite much less rarity, but it will forever be remembered as the last naturally-aspirated V8 Ferrari, and that has already labelled it a legend.
Even without bringing value for money into it, the Scud is the one that pulls at my heart strings the hardest, especially when it thumps me in the back on upshifts. I'd love to hear which one your money would go on, so get involved in the WhatsApp community!
