What defines your car? Is it its performance, the handling, even possibly the practicality? Ferrari's F430 is a car that is utterly dominated by what lies under the bonnet. Although several rivals have even more powerful engines, none has the charisma and sheer omnipresence of that warbling, howling and shrieking 4.3-litre V8 fitted to the F430. In soft top Spider form, it's presented in glorious surround sound.

The hood itself is a neat piece of engineering. Ferrari were keen to preserve the glazed-in engine bay that has been a trademark of the 360 and now the 430 models and as such, only had a limited amount of space into which a folding roof could tuck. This precluded the use of a complex and bulky folding hard top and Ferrari have instead used a canvas roof, albeit without a glass rear window. The plastic window isn't the most chi-chi solution but you'll forgive it when you operate the hood for the first time.

There's no hooks or clips to unlatch. Just press a button and the hard tonneau cover pivots up from the rear, the top concertinas into a small aperture and twenty seconds later you're good to go. What's more, the Spider version of the F430 only weighs 70kg more than the hard top car as a result. Rumours of a Lamborghini Gallardo drop top have been in the pipeline for a long time but Ferrari have stolen a big march on their rivals with the F430 and Lamborghini may well have to produce a more powerful, focused version of the Gallardo to get on level terms with the car from Maranello.

"The soundtrack is so rich, so varied and operatic that you'll go seeking tunnels and underpasses"

The styling isn't quite as clean as its 360 Spider predecessor, majoring instead on visual drama. Peer into the mirrors and you get an eyeful of the big hip-mounted air intakes, while the front end apes classic Ferrari F1 cars of the past. The rear end features Enzo-style tail lamps that jut through the line of the rear deck. Look closely and there is some very tasty detailing, including the monogrammed rear view mirrors and the fantastic alloy wheels.

That engine note has to be heard to be believed. In a bid to conform with European drive-by noise regulations, not a lot happens below 4,000rpm apart from a fairly cantankerous burble. Accelerate hard and by 6,000rpm, there's a furious thrashing, the exhaust adding a bass note that could have come straight from an American muscle car. Keep the throttle depressed right to the redline and you'll be treated to that classic Ferrari V8 yowl. Only the Aston Martin Vanquish and the Honda NSX possess engine notes comparable in the ability to raise the hairs on the nape of the neck.

The F430 Spider - as the name suggests - features a 4308cc engine derived from that which powers the Maserati Coupe and Spyder models. Like its predecessor, it employs a flat-plane crankshaft which means that the peak power of 483bhp will come at a heady 8,500rpm, in turn guaranteeing one of the greatest automotive soundtracks in the world. Lessons learned in the development of the 360 Challenge Stradale have also pared weight from the F430 body with the result being a power to weight ratio of 331bhp per tonne. This even puts top line coupes like the Gallardo (324bhp per tonne) and the Porsche 911 Turbo (246bhp per tonne) firmly in their places.

Unlike both of these rivals, the F430 doesn't utilise all-wheel drive to deploy its power, instead relying on the same rear-wheel drive mid-engined layout as one of the company's all-conquering Formula One cars. Ferrari may have eschewed four-wheel drive as a principle but they're not averse to learning a few tricks developed in all-wheel drive cars. An active limited slip differential - E-Diff - monitors driver inputs, wheel slip, yaw and much more to direct power to whichever of the rear wheels is best equipped to deploy it. In many respects, it's not dissimilar to the system Mitsubishi use to great effect in their Lancer Evo all-wheel drive rally replica and greatly assists traction without 'dumbing down' the feel in the way that an electronic traction control device is occasionally wont to do.

When the 360 Modena was launched, a suspiciously quick set of performance figures was obtained by one of the leading UK magazines, leading to all sorts of speculation as to whether the car was in standard trim. Certainly a sprint to 100mph of 8.8 seconds was savagely quick, eclipsing anything the 911 Turbo and Gallardo were capable of. Quite how the vastly more accelerative F430 will measure up to those figures remains to be seen, but Ferrari claim a maximum speed in excess of 196mph and a sprint to 60mph in comfortably less than four seconds which is enough for most. Rather reassuringly, Ferrari haven't pointlessly chased maximum horsepower.

One area where the 360 Modena disappointed slightly was in the rather uninspring design of its interior. The F430 makes great strides in this regard, Ferrari's American design chief Frank Stephenson concentrating on quality and detailing. In a Formula One design cue, the steering wheel features a knob that controls the dynamic settings. Unlike an F1 car, this includes a 'winter' setting alongside those of 'sport' and 'race'. There's also an 'engine start' button on the wheel which seems a little gratuitous. The fascia is trimmed in leather and the alloy pedals are beautifully finished.

In an attempt to balance demand with supply, Ferrari have upped the price of the F430 Spider by over £13,000 compared to its predecessor. Few potential buyers will care about this. The important thing is that the Prancing Horse may well have regained the lead in this sector, albeit by a nose.