Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ferrari California receives 500 HP attitude adjustment at the hands of Edo Competition




Despite its position as the 'approachable' Prancing Horse, Ferrari's new California folding hardtop is
a heck of an impressive drive all the way around. However, that hasn't stopped some quarters from suggesting that it's a bit compromised and a bit too effeminate to be a proper Maranello supercar. While we think that's nonsensical, we admit a little toughening up couldn't hurt to silence the doubters.

Enter German tuner Edo Competition, which has just taken the wraps off of their own fettled California. Looking suitably foreboding in black with larger matching alloys, Edo has tweaked the car's 4.3-liter V8 engine to deliver 500 horsepower (+40). That nice, round number arrives courtesy of a remapped ECU and a pair of high-flow cats that feed into a new cockpit-adjustable exhaust system. The engine's torque level doesn't swell quite as much, peaking at 369 lb-ft (@ 5,200 rpm), but nevertheless, EDO says the car is good for a 0-62 mph run in 3.9 seconds and a top end of 315 km/h (196 mph). Oddly, Ferrari says the box-stock Cali will get to 60 mph in "under 4 seconds," so there's probably not much of a difference between the two on the low end, although Edo's top speed is 5 kmph faster than when it left the factory.