Car Review : Ferrari 458 Italia

The Ferrari 458 Italia was officially revealed to the public during the Frankfurt Motor Show this year. The Italia will set you back at least £149,246 excluding VAT in the UK, €162,900 in the europe & $240,000 in the US. Prices may vary at according to trim & equipments.The following is the spec list together with views from the experts.

Ferrari 458 Italia Technical specifications

Dimensions and weight

Overall length 4527 mm/178.2 in

Overall width 1937 mm/76.3 in

Height 1213 mm/47.8 in

Wheelbase 2650 mm/104.3 in

Front track 1672 mm/65.8 in

Rear track 1606 mm/63.2 in

Kerb weight* 1485 kg/3274 lb

Dry weight* 1380 kg/3042 lb

Weight distribution 42% front - 58% rear

Boot capacity 230 l/8.1cu ft

Fuel tank capacity 86 l/22.7 US gall./18.9 Imp. gall.

Tyres

Front 235/35 20" x 8.5"

Rear 295/35 20" x 10.5"

Brakes

Front 398x223x36 mm/15.7x8.8x1.4 in

Rear 360x233x32 mm/14.2x9.2x1.3 in

Engine

Type V8 - 90°

Total displacement 4499 cc/274.5 cu in

Bore/stroke 94x81 mm/ 3.7x3.2 in

Maximum power 425kW** (570CV**) @ 9000 rpm

Maximum torque 540Nm (398lbs/ft) @ 6000 rpm

Specific output 127 CV/litre/1.55 kW/cu in

Maximum revs per minute 9000 rpm

Compression ratio 12.5:1

Performance

Maximum speed >325 km/h/>202 mph

0-100km/h (0-62mph) <3.4s>

0-200km/h (0-124mph) 10.4s

0-400m (0-437 yards) 11.3s

0-1000m (0-1093 yards) 20.3s

100-0 km/h (62-0 mph) 32.5 m/106.6ft

Dry weight/power ratio 2.42 kg/CV/7.16lb/kW

Fiorano lap time 1'25"

Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions

Fuel consumption***(European market version) 13.3 l/100km

CO2 Emission*** (European market version) 307g CO2/km

Transmission and gearbox

F1 dual-clutch transmission, 7 gears

Electronics

E-Diff3, F1-Trac, High-Performance ABS

*with forged rims and Racing Seats

**Including 3.7 kW by ram effect

*** ECE+EUDC combined cycle

EVO Magazine:



Car & Driver :

The Feel

Turns out, driving the 458 quickly is practically effortless, like strapping on parabolic skis or doing square roots with a calculator. With an 11.5:1 ratio, the steering is unbelievably quick and surprisingly light, as though the front axle were barely touching the ground. Still, the grip is tenacious, the turn-in to a corner so fierce and direct that you’ll swear it has a rudder tilling the asphalt.

The Experience

Inside, the cabin is slightly larger than the F430’s, and there’s more space behind the seats for golf clubs or small bags. Ferrari has moved more controls onto the electrically tilting and telescoping steering wheel, pruning all column stalks and putting wiper and headlight controls at your thumb tips. Because the column stalks are gone, the shift paddles are longer and easier to hit, and the hyperquick steering means you’re only spinning the wheel 90 degrees off-center in U-turns.

The five-position manettino rotary switch on the wheel governs traction control and stability control and throttle, suspension, and shift settings. It has a new option called “CT off,” or “a driver’s parachute,” according to De Simone. This is a new, high-threshold setting for the stability control that allows so much oversteer that you can be looking out the side window before the computer will intervene to prevent a full spin. We used it to great effect on a mountain switchback to do some no-fear fishtailing silliness for the camera. As we said, easy. Another steering-wheel button allows you to reset the magnetic shocks to a softer setting even if you’re still in the hard-core “race” or “CT off” mode. That’s great for Italy, where lumpy pavement in the mountain passes can toss your cookies around.Read More

Automobile Magazine :

Maranello, Italy -- Ferrari does it again. The 458 Italia raises the bar for mid-engine exotic sports cars to new heights.

I’ve just driven the 458 Italia, the latest in Ferrari’s lineup of mid-engine V-8 sports cars. These are the cars that, in the modern era, have cemented Ferrari’s status as maker of the most desirable sports cars in the world. The 458 succeeds the F430 Scuderia, which followed the 360 Modena, which came after the F355. Before that we had the 308/328/348 series, but it’s really the 360 Modena that, a decade ago, really put Ferrari back on the map.

Some Ferrari fans didn’t care much for the styling of either the 360 Modena or the F430 Scuderia. Even as they conceded that the cars drove brilliantly, they pined for the classically clean lines of the F355. For them, the 458 Italia’s debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show in September must have been a red-letter day, because this Pininfarina design is drop-dead gorgeous. Did you think it looked good on the show stand, or in the published photographs you have seen in print or on the Web? Wait until you see the car on the street. It will not just turn your head, it will make your head spin around like a top.

The 458 is wide, low, lean, lithe, and luscious. The rear view is the most compelling, with the car’s triple exhaust pipes, the visible diffusers and venturi ducts, the silver prancing horse above the license plate, and the simple but evocative round taillights at the far upper corners. Unlike the F430, with its excessively slashed body sides, the 458 has clean body sides and relatively modest ducting. The pinpoint bi-xenon headlights and the LED eyebrows that spring back from them are delicate in appearance yet delightful to the eye. It’s all quite yummy, and that’s even before you take a gander through the rear glass and behold the redheaded Ferrari V-8 on display.Read More

CAR :

Baby Enzo, anyone? The Ferrari 458 Italia’s a dead ringer!

Funny you should say that, because not only does the 458 bear a striking resemblance to the legendary supercar flagship, it can actually lap the Fiorano circuit in the same 1min 25sec. That’s the same as the stripped-out Scuderia by the way, and 2sec quicker than the F430 it replaces.

Impressive, but with the eco-conscious Mille Chili concept from 2007 fresh in my mind, I’m guessing that this thing weighs 1000kg and has a hybrid motor stuffed behind the seats?

Not exactly, but the 458 does employ some of the Mille Chili’s ideas, including active aerodynamics. Two fins located at either side of the front grille are designed to deform at speed, partially blocking off the grille needed to cool the front-mounted radiators at low speeds and directing the air around the car, reducing the drag co-efficient. Read more