Ferrari 458 Italia

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.^[2] The 458 Italia was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September 2009.

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 4.5 L (270 cu in) V8 engine derived from a shared Ferrari/Maserati design, producing 562 hp (419 kW; 570 PS) at 9,000 rpm (redline) and 398 lb·ft (540 N·m) at 6,000 rpm^[5] with 80% torque available at 3,250 rpm.^[4] Due to the aerodynamics pushing more air into the engine at high speeds, the engine develops 570 hp (425 kW) at top speed.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[4] There is no traditional manual option, making this the fourth road-car after the Enzo, Challenge Stradale and 430 Scuderia not to be offered with Ferrari's classic gated manual. It is the first mainstream model to not be offered with a manual transmission.
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.^[4]
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.^[2] This combined with the ABS has reduced 100–0 km/h (62-0 mph) braking distance to 32.5 metres (107 ft).^[6]
The adaptive magnetorheological dampers were co-developed with Delphi.

Performance

Ferrari's official 0-100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration is under 3.4 seconds,^[7] while top speed is over 325 km/h (202 mph), with a fuel consumption in combined cycle (ECE+EUDC) 13.3 L/100 km (21.2 mpg_-imp; 17.7 mpg_-US) while producing 307g/km of CO₂.^[8] Note* Road & Track recently recorded a 0-60 mph time in 3.0 seconds flat.
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 miles per hour (200 km/h).^[4] In particular, the front grille features deformable winglets that lower at high speeds, in order to offer reduced drag.^[9] 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.^[4]
According to British car magazine Autocar, the 458 Italia's design has drawn inspiration from the Enzo Ferrari and its Millechili concept car.^[10] It has been designed to be Ferrari's sportiest V8-engined car, to distinguish itself from the recently launched Ferrari California.^[10]

The 458 was also reviewed on 15th season of Top Gear, where it received 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 Enzo Ferrari.

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 seconds slower than the Ferrari FXX.^[11][12]

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.^[13] Ferrari responded later that it was aware of the fire-related cases, and was in the process of investigating them.^[13][14]
On September 1, 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.^[15][16]

Convertible and lightweight versions

Speculation started only a few months after the 458 Italia coupe had been showed to the public in Frankfurt, about a Spider version. Firstly, rumours went around that it would have a folding soft top but Ferrari confirmed in early 2011 that the "458 Italia Spider" would be the second convertible in Ferrari's history to use a folding-metal roof. It would however drop the transparent engine cover.

The lightweight version has not even been mentioned to be in development but it has been rumoured that the lightweight version would be called the "458 Italia Tifosi", being named after the fans of Ferrari. The 458 Italia Tifosi would use the same 4.5-litre V8 as the standard Italia but power would be increased from 562hp (570 PS) to 612hp (620 PS).

458 Italia GTC

Ferrari unveiled their new GTE racer for the 2011 races sanctioned by the ACO. The 458 GTC 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 464 hp (346 kW; 470 PS), which is less than the road car and the 458 Challenge. The double-clutch gearbox had to be replaced but paddle-shifting is retained since rules in 2011 allow them. 6 Ferrari 458 Italia GTCs are on the entry list in 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, backed by 4 older F430 GTCs.
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