Ferrari 458

THE FERRARI 458 ITALIA CONTINUES TO GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH AND HAS GARNERED OVER 30 INTERNATIONAL AWARDS IN ITS SHORT CAREER.

It added two further plaudits to that collection at the International Engine of the Year Awards when its V8 was voted “Best Performance Engine” and “Best Engine Above 4 Litres”.

Uncompromising design approach

Every Ferrari is the result of an uncompromising design approach that integrates styling and aerodynamic requirements.


 The “A” in the new Ferrari 458 Speciale A’s name doesn’t stand for “awesome,” but it could. The “A” actually is for Aperta, the Italian word for “open.” Based, of course, on the 458 Italia, this version of the 458 Spider gets the same special upgrades as the transcendent Speciale coupe.

That means 597 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque from the naturally aspirated 4.5-liter V-8—it hasn’t gone turbocharged yet—making it the most powerful spider ever to emerge from Maranello. The power increase comes courtesy of a 14:1 compression ratio, a new manifold and airbox rendered from carbon fiber, higher lift for both the intake and exhaust valves, new pistons, and reworked intake runners and ports. The gearbox is a revised seven-speed dual-clutch automatic with shifts so quick that they could bend both space and time.
 The Speciale A sports an aluminum lid that retracts or raises in just 14 seconds; the price paid for the deployable roof is 110 additional pounds to cart around. Even so, Ferrari estimates that the car will rocket to 62 mph in three seconds flat, but we’d likely be able to break into the twos in a 0-to-60 run with our equipment aboard.

Other carry-overs ported from the fixed-top Speciale include Side Slip Angle Control, the lines of code for which were developed in part for the LaFerrari mega-ultra-hypercar. It aims to measure the car’s slip angle in real time, then adjust the electronic rear differential and stability control based on what it determines to be the optimum slip angle. (Learn more about how it works, as well as myriad suspension, steering, and other chassis upgrades, in our 458 Speciale first drive.)
 The A also gets the 458 Speciale’s advanced aerodynamic features, including a flap ahead of the front fascia’s Ferrari logo that sends air under the car to create more rear downforce at high speeds. Spring-loaded doors up front open above 105 mph to divert air from the radiators and through vanes at the corners of the car. The regular Spider’s three-tip central exhaust becomes a pair of wider-set cannons to accommodate a big rear diffuser and a motor-actuated drag-reduction setup that drop from the underside of the rear end to help achieve Vmax. The coupe can hit 202 mph; no figure has been released yet for the A.

The car makes its debut at the 2014 Paris auto show, and just 499 will be built. We’re guessing a big-ol’ chunk of the run has already been spoken for
 With head-turning styling, neck-snapping acceleration and that indescribable but incredibly potent Ferrari allure, the 458 Italia supercar (along with its open-air 458 Spider counterpart) is one of the most desirable rides on the market. It is the latest in a long line of mid-engined, high-performance machines from Italian automaker that started with the legendary Dino.
Displayed underneath a glass window like the piece of art that it is, the 458 Italia's heart is a direct-injected 4.5-liter V8 cranks out 562 horsepower at 9,000 rpm (125 horsepower per liter, a record for naturally-aspirated piston engines). Torque is rated at 398 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm, 80 percent of which is available from 3,250 rpm.

ENGINE

Type	V8 – 90°
Total displacement	274.4 cu in (4497 cc)
Maximum power	419 kW (570 CV)** @ 9000 rpm
Maximum torque	398 lbs/ft (540 Nm) @ 6000 rpm
Specific power output	127 CV/l
Compression ratio	12.5:1

TYRES

Front	235/35 ZR20 8.5”
Rear	295/35 ZR20 10.5”

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

Overall length	178.2 in (4527 mm)
Overall width	76.3 in (1937 mm)
Height	47.8 in (1213 mm)
Wheelbase	104.3 in (2650 mm)
Dry weight	3042 lbs (1380 kg)*
Weight/power ratio	7.16 lbs/kW (2,42 kg/CV)
Weight distribution fr/r	42%/58%

PERFORMANCE

Maximum speed	>202 mph (>325 km/h)
0-100 km/h	<3.4 s

FUEL CONSUMPTION + EMISSIONS

Fuel consumption***	13.3/100 km
Emissions***	307 g CO2/km

GEARBOX

Gearbox

Dual-clutch, 7-speed F1

ELECTRONICS

Electronics

E-Diff3, F1-Trac, high-performance ABS

NOTE

*	With forged wheels and Racing seats
**	Including 5 CV of ram effect
***	Combined cycle (ECE+EUDC)