Novitec Rosso installs supercharger on Ferrari California

Have you ever thought about "My 460 horsepower Ferrari is not fast enough. You know what it needs...more than 600 horsepower. That's the ticket." If so, you are lucky. The god of Ferrari tuning, Novitec Rosso, has just developed a supercharger kit for the new Ferrari California. This is not a simple power shock—California’s 4.3-liter front-mounted V8 engine jumped from a steady 460 horsepower — enough for most people — to a whipping 606 horsepower. The torque has also increased from 485 Nm to 603 Nm, which means that if you are not careful, you will burn through some serious rubber.

In addition to the supercharger, Novitec added a water-to-air intercooler, a custom intake manifold, larger injectors, a custom Novitec Rosso stainless steel exhaust system with a tunable exhaust note (a switch on the steering wheel basically serves as a volume control,) and the ECU has been tuned to deal with the extra power. A custom suspension lowers to ride height by 35mm and adds a hydraulic lift system to raise the front-end with the push of a button so you don’t scrape curbs and speed bumps. Concerning appearances, custom Novitec 21- and 22-inch wheels are added, along with a subtle carbon fiber body kit adding some aerodynamic benefit and making it a bit more aggressive.

So, what does an extra 146 horsepower and 118 Nm of torque do for performance? Novitec claims the tuned Ferrari California can reach zero to 62 mph in only 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 202 mph. Not sure if you’d want to do that with the top down, of course. Pricing, as usual, isn’t included in the press release. I say it’s a “if you have to ask you can’t afford it” type of deal.

Here’s the thing about this kit. I drove the Ferrari California not long ago (check out the 2010 Ferrari California Review) and it’s an immensely capable car, but I think the folks who are going to buy a front-engine V8 grand touring car like this aren’t going to be looking for a hard-edged supercar. If they were, they’d go with the similarly-priced F430 – I sure as hell would. Ferrari California buyers want to cruise around the beach with the top down, whereas F430 buyers want to do exactly what this kit changes the California to do. If it were me, I’d take an F430 and slap a supercharger on it long before I’d do it to the California.

Check out more pictures below: