Ferrari 458 Italia

Ferrari 458 Italia
Manufacturer	Ferrari
Parent company	Fiat Group
Production	2009-present
Model years	2010-present
Assembly	Maranello, Italy
Predecessor	Ferrari F430
Body style	2-seat Berlinetta
Layout	Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Power	570 PS @ 9000rpm
Torque	540 Nm @ 6000rpm
Engine	V8]]
Transmission	7-speed dual-clutch
Wheelbase	2650 mm
Length	4527 mm
Width	1937 mm
Height	1213 mm
Weight	1380 kg
Designer	Pininfarina

The Ferrari 458 Italia is a mid-engined sports car produced by the Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari. The 458 Italia replaces the Ferrari F430.

The 458 Italia was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September 2009, and costs around £170,000 (Base MSRP of $230,675 for US market).

Specifications

In Ferrari's first official announcement of the car, the 458 Italia was described as the successor to the F430 but arising from an entirely new design, incorporating technologies developed from the company's experience in Formula 1.

Engine

The 458 Italia is powered by a 4499 cc V8 engine derived from a shared Ferrari/Maserati design, producing 570 PS at 9,000 rpm (redline) and 540 Nm at 6,000 rpm with 80% torque available at 3,250 rpm. The engine features direct fuel injection, which is a first for Ferrari mid-rear engine setups in its road cars.

Transmission

The standard transmission is a Getrag dual-clutch 7-speed transmission, similar to the Ferrari California. There is no traditional manual option, making this the second road-car after the Enzo not to be offered with Ferrari's classic gated manual.

Handling

The car's suspension features double wishbones at the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear, coupled with E-Diff and F1-Trac traction control systems, designed to improve the car's cornering and longitudinal acceleration by 32% when compared with its predecessors.

The brakes include a prefill function whereby the pistons in the calipers move the pads into contact with the discs on lift off to minimise delay in the brakes being applied. This combined with the ABS has reduced 100–0 km/h (62-0 mph) braking distance to 32.5 m.

The adaptive magnetorheological dampers were co-developed with Delphi. The 458 Italia will use Bridgestone Potenza S001 tires.

Performance

Ferrari's official 0-100 km/h acceleration is 3.35 seconds, while top speed is over 325 km/h, with a fuel consumption in combined cycle (ECE+EUDC) 13.7 L/100 km while producing 320g/km of CO₂.

Design

The black winglet deforms at high speeds to reduce aerodynamic drag.

The body was designed by Pininfarina, as with all recent Ferrari models. The car’s exterior styling and features were designed for aerodynamic efficiency, producing a downforce of 140 kg at 124 mph. In particular, the front grille features deformable winglets that lower at high speeds, in order to offer reduced drag. The car's interior was designed using input from former Ferrari Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher, including a new steering wheel design which incorporates many features and controls as opposed to their being on the dashboard, similar to racing car designs.

According to British car magazine Autocar, the 458 Italia's design has drawn inspiration from the Enzo Ferrari and its Millechili concept car. It has been designed to be Ferrari's sportiest V8-engined car, to distinguish itself from the recently launched Ferrari California.

The 458 was also reviewed on 15th season of Top Gear, where it received critical acclaim for its styling and performance. In a drag race against a Ferrari F430, it won by a considerable margin. The car also lapped the Top Gear test track in 1:19.1, just 0.1 seconds slower than the Ferrari Enzo.

458 Challenge

The 458 Challenge was presented at the Ferrari Annual Dealer Meeting on 14 July 2010. Ferrari say their newest Challenge racer can lap the Fiorano test track in 1:16.5, which is two seconds faster than its F430 Challenge predecessor and only .2 second slower than the Ferrari FXX.

458 GT2

Ferrari unveiled their new GT2 racer for the 2011 races sanctioned by the ACO. The 458 GT2 drops the "flex splitter" found in the road cars and replaced with a more conventional inlet, with the air exit out through louvers in the bonnet. Under new restrictor regulations, the 4.5L engine produces 470 bhp, which is less than the road car, the F430 GTE and the 458 Challenge. The double-clutch gearbox is also replaced with a conventional 6-speed sequential system.

Recall: wheel-arch adhesive fires

On the 24th August 2010, BBC News reported that ten 458s had either crashed or caught fire in just three months. Ferrari responded later that it was aware of the fire-related cases, and was in the process of investigating them.

On September 1st, 2010 Ferrari officially recalled all 1,248 of the 458s sold to date. A spokesman commented that the problem had been traced to adhesive used in the wheel-arch assemblies, and that in certain circumstances, the glue could begin to overheat, smoke and even catch fire. In extreme cases, the melting adhesive could lead to the heat shield deforming, and hence moving closer to the exhaust, causing the wheel-arch lining to catch fire. Owners who had reported fires that were later confirmed by independent engineers to be due to this problem, will now receive a new car. All other cars will be modified, replacing the adhesive with mechanical fasteners.

External links

• Official Ferrari 458 Italia page