Crown

 Can anyone show a side by side picture of the 458 with and without the PEXS option?Thanks to other members, I now know what the difference is but visually not certain which looks better. 

Enmanuel:

BTW that special yellow is AMAZING ! its very subtle but makes a huge difference. kudos to ferrari on that one.

Not when seen in reality! It does look cool but I would not call it "subtle" at all! IMO a colour that fits a Lamborghini, not sure about a Ferrari.
 

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

assman!!!:

I don't think these have been uploaded by anybody yet (I can't seem to be able to embed them :s)

Here you go. Awesome pics BTW.

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

nberry:

 Can anyone show a side by side picture of the 458 with and without the PEXS option?Thanks to other members, I now know what the difference is but visually not certain which looks better. 

Nick, I have not seen one single car without PEXS yet.

PS anybody? 
 

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Rossi:

Enmanuel:

BTW that special yellow is AMAZING ! its very subtle but makes a huge difference. kudos to ferrari on that one.

Not when seen in reality! It does look cool but I would not call it "subtle" at all! IMO a colour that fits a Lamborghini, not sure about a Ferrari.
 

 Oh ok, thanks for the detail. i guess it just looks like that on pics.

Ferrari 458 Italia: "Turn the key, prepare for hyperspace"

(22 November 2009) 

The firm has always made status cars for those with money to burn but the new supercar seems geared to a greener buyer...

"From the silver cavallino rampante on its nose to its triple exhausts, the 458 is every inch a Ferrari. Small, by supercar standards, but perfectly formed, it lounges in the Italian sunshine waiting for you to slide your hands along its curves.

Come and drive me, it says. Don’t worry about how you will repay the £160,000. Or that it will cost the best part of £1,000 if you kerb an alloy wheel, and even more to insure.

Only the Italians could invent such an expensive mistress, but then only the Italians could flatter you in the way the 458 does. The low-slung seats — you can visit the factory and select the colour of the stitching and the seatbelts to match your chosen paintwork — elevate you above everything else on the road. As you wind through the hills around Modena, locals stop to film on their phones. Customers at roadside bars gather round when you pull in.

Ferraris have always been like this, of course, but look closely and you’ll see that the 458 is different. It’s a high-performance, mid-engined sports car, like the F430 it replaces, but designed for a post-recession era. Subtler styling, Apple tactility and reduced emissions make it a car more suited to hair-shirtists who started a successful smoothie business in their kitchen than bankers and playboys.

Gone are the gaping front vents of the old F430 — the styling equivalent of Gordon Gekko’s red braces. Here instead are clever, aerodynamic wings that bend when the car picks up speed to divert airflow under the car and make it more slippery. Slats in the rear wheelarch blow air into the car’s wake to reduce drag and improve fuel consumption.

Press the start button on the new, flat-bottomed racing steering wheel and the engine burbles quietly like a powerboat tethered to a jetty. It’s so restrained it makes you wonder if Ferrari has been cowed by European Union regulators; but, no, clever bypass flaps ensure that the car will cruise quietly through villages, then howl so the exhaust note hangs in the autumn mists of the Po valley.

Clearly, much new thought and design has gone into this car, but sometimes you suspect the driver is just one more component. You can drive me, the 458 says, but you can’t own me. I’m technologically so advanced that only a handful of people at the Ferrari factory will ever be able to understand how I work or fix me if I go wrong.

As you slide into the leather interior you get the feeling you’re sinking out of your depth. Push a few buttons on the dashboard and you call up a screen called Virtual Race Engineer, which tells you whether the engine and tyre temperatures are at an optimum level for racing. Really? Well Jenson Button may be able to use the cold tyre excuse but, honestly speaking, I can’t. And that’s when you know Ferrari has got you. It has flattered you to the point where you want to hide your ignorance and pretend that, yes, you really can instantly feel the difference in the traction control as you swivel the manettino, the big red knob on the steering wheel that electronically adjusts the car’s settings.

The 458 is the first in Ferrari’s range that won’t be offered with a manual transmission. This is because the fumblings of the driver would just slow things down. The seven-speed gearbox, made by Getrag, has two clutches so it can shift seamlessly and in the blink of an eye. It used to be that if you opted for an automatic gearbox in a Ferrari it would be at the expense of performance — now it’s the other way round.

All very well, but who is driving the car — you or the electronics? And will the next generation of Ferrari be controlled from your iPhone? At the end of the company’s technical briefing I was presented with a pile of literature as thick as the Tokyo telephone directory. I got halfway through; most drivers, I suspect, will read even less.

Switch off the electronics, though, and the 458 comes to life. Its 562bhp, normally aspirated V8 engine (the F430 it replaces was rated at 483bhp) is a mighty thing. The fact that it is inches behind your head under a glass cowling brings you into intimate closeness. Apply the power and the sound works its way from your shoulder blades to the small of your back.

From standstill to 62mph takes 3.4sec — quicker than obvious rivals such as the Porsche 911 GT2 and the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 — and the car won’t stop accelerating until it exceeds 200mph. Remember when the Millennium Falcon entered hyperspace and the stars rushed backwards? Then you know the sensation.

All this raises an interesting question: Ferrari has made the 458 so good, it is in danger of eclipsing its more expensive models. The 599 and the 612, Ferrari’s V12 muscle cars, can’t keep up. Even the celebrated Enzo (only 400 of the £425,000 cars were built) is no quicker round the Fiorano test track (time for both cars: 1min 25sec).

It’s worth taking a moment, then, to consider why Ferrari would risk what seems a marketing gaffe. The answer is that it is looking anxiously in its rear-view mirror at upstart manufacturers who are determined to overtake it in the horsepower race. Take, for example, the Ferrari F355, the 458’s ancestor, hailed as “the greatest car in the world — ever” by one J Clarkson. It boasted 380bhp a decade ago. Today, you’ll find 420bhp under the bonnet of BMW’s M3.

No sooner had Ferrari taken the wraps off the 458 a few weeks ago than Mercedes revealed the 563bhp SLS — more power (just) for the same money and with eye-catching gullwing doors — and hovering in the wings is the McLaren MP4-12C.

I suppose we should be grateful that so many designers and technicians are labouring away so drivers can live in rev heaven, but where will it end? Audi has pointed the way by shoehorning a frankly ridiculous 572bhp V10 into the RS6 Avant — an estate car, for heaven’s sake.

Perhaps that is why the 458 draws more than ever on Ferrari’s racing heritage. Michael Schumacher took part in the development testing, and Ferrari has imported a host of ideas from Formula One that rivals will struggle to match. For example, as soon as the driver lifts their foot from the throttle, the brake pads move into contact with the discs, waiting for pressure to be applied, cutting down on braking delay.

The growing threat from other manu facturers may also explain why Ferrari invited a handful of specialist magazines to drive the 458 at its launch, perhaps hoping for generous publicity before the mainstream press arrived to cast a critical eye on the car.

It shouldn’t have worried. The 458 can stand scrutiny and hold its own against the competition, despite its gimmickry. So should you buy one with that spare £160,000? Yes, because it is a very good car. And even though it’s the cheapest model in Ferrari’s range, it will never be common. Next to giants such as Volkswagen, Ferrari is still a low-volume manufacturer — even more so since the recession — and only a few hundred 458s will come to the UK. In fact, licensing of the Ferrari brand for caps, jackets, theme parks and the like is now worth more than car sales.

So, go ahead and be seduced by the 458. It’s better than a yacht in Portofino or a ski lodge in the Alps. Plus, you’ll be helping the environment by giving a home to a rare and important species..."

Ferrari-458-Italia_Sunday-Times-link

Rossi:

nberry:

 Can anyone show a side by side picture of the 458 with and without the PEXS option?Thanks to other members, I now know what the difference is but visually not certain which looks better. 

Nick, I have not seen one single car without PEXS yet.

PS anybody? 
 

 Very strange. Is this Ferrari's way of emulating Porsche i.e. sell an option which should be standard?

nberry:

Rossi:

nberry:

 Can anyone show a side by side picture of the 458 with and without the PEXS option?Thanks to other members, I now know what the difference is but visually not certain which looks better. 

Nick, I have not seen one single car without PEXS yet.

PS anybody? 
 

 Very strange. Is this Ferrari's way of emulating Porsche i.e. sell an option which should be standard?

Ferrari is even more clever than Porsche:

Porsche charges you for having some dull grey plastic parts painted in body colour, but Ferrari charges you to have some dull grey plastic parts instead of body colour.
 

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The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Rossi:

nberry:

Rossi:

nberry:

 Can anyone show a side by side picture of the 458 with and without the PEXS option?Thanks to other members, I now know what the difference is but visually not certain which looks better. 

Nick, I have not seen one single car without PEXS yet.

PS anybody? 
 

 Very strange. Is this Ferrari's way of emulating Porsche i.e. sell an option which should be standard?

Ferrari is even more clever than Porsche:

Porsche charges you for having some dull grey plastic parts painted in body colour, but Ferrari charges you to have some dull grey plastic parts instead of body colour.
 

--

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Why not just use sandpaper?

Rossi:

nberry:

 Very strange. Is this Ferrari's way of emulating Porsche i.e. sell an option which should be standard?

Ferrari is even more clever than Porsche:

Porsche charges you for having some dull grey plastic parts painted in body colour, but Ferrari charges you to have some dull grey plastic parts instead of body colour.
 

 I was just going to write the same thing
 

Body colored side sills might look better.

ONUR

09 Audi TTS Ibis

07 997 Carrera S / 05 M3 Coupe / 03 M3 Coupe / 96 M3 Coupe EVO (ALL BUT HISTORY)

pride355:

Rossi:

nberry:

 Very strange. Is this Ferrari's way of emulating Porsche i.e. sell an option which should be standard?

Ferrari is even more clever than Porsche:

Porsche charges you for having some dull grey plastic parts painted in body colour, but Ferrari charges you to have some dull grey plastic parts instead of body colour.
 

 I was just going to write the same thing
 

Body colored side sills might look better.

 I actually think they will look better in black than painted. 

Ferrari F70 blasts in...

Sensational new Ferrari is ready to blow Bugatti away with advanced chassis and powerful yet efficient twin-turbo V8...

(25 November 2009)

It’s being hailed as the ultimate, most advanced road car Ferrari has ever made. Aiming to leave exotic rivals including the Lamborghini Reventón and Bugatti Veyron trailing, the ferocious flagship will break from the norm in more ways than one. And our stunning illustrations show how such a model could look. 

It will be not only quicker and more focused than the Enzo, but smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient, too. In addition, the latest rumours suggest a twin-turbo V8 will provide the power. It will be the first use of turbos in a production Ferrari since the 1987 F40, making this the spiritual successor to that definitive hypercar.

Internally codenamed the F70, the newcomer will use knowledge gathered from the FXX scheme. This invited customers to buy a pumped-up and stripped-out version of the Enzo for £1.5million, but allowed them to drive their purchases only on approved track days. Afterwards, they briefed Ferrari on possible improvements.

The philosophy behind this new downsized and lightweight hypercar is derived from 2007’s Millechilli concept. Although little more than a fibreglass model, it demonstrated Ferrari’s aim to increase the performance of future models by shedding weight, not by hiking power. Millechilli means 1,000kg in Italian. It’s an ambitious target for the F70’s kerbweight – a full 365kg less than the Enzo – but Ferrari is ready to apply every weight-saving measure possible.

Rival McLaren is leading the way in lightweight construction, with an F1-style carbon fibre tub forming the basis of its MP4-12C supercar, so Ferrari wants to regain the initiative in this area. An overhauled and shrunken tub, carbon fibre body panels – plus carbon-ceramic brakes and a no-frills cabin – should keep weight to a minimum. Ferrari already heads efforts to reduce CO2, having slashed output by 10 per cent in 2009. It promises further cuts from its current 387g/km average by 2012.

But reducing body mass alone won’t be enough to achieve this. To slash CO2 significantly, the engine also needs an advanced design. The Enzo’s V12 will make way for a new direct-injection twin-turbo V8 – the same layout as in the legendary F40. Output is likely to be on a par with the Enzo’s 660bhp, but that lower weight should put performance on another level. Expect a three-second 0-60mph time and top speed in excess of 230mph.

A twin-turbo V6 is also under consideration, to replace the 458 Italia and California’s V8s. Yet before either unit is signed off, engineers are keen to eliminate turbo lag. The F40 was famous for the delay between throttle inputs and the arrival of a savage wave of torque. But Ferrari claims it won’t resort to turbos again until it’s perfected the technology to give the instant response for which its naturally aspirated cars are renowned.

One option is electric or hybrid chargers. These use a small electric motor to spool the turbos up to operating speeds much faster than in a normal set-up, where exhaust gas has to be recirculated. The result is a virtual elimination of turbo lag and a linear power delivery that will be familiar to owners of current Ferraris.

Just like the Enzo, the F70 will be strictly limited to a production run of 399 examples, adhering to Ferrari’s philosophy of always building one less car than you think you can sell. But not just anyone will be able to put their name on the waiting list. Buyers will need to be personally invited by Ferrari to stump up the expected million dollar (£600,000) asking price when the car goes on sale in 2012.

Ferrari’s Twin-Turbo Trailblazer

Think back to legendary twin-turbo Ferraris of the past, and it’s hard to see beyond the ferocious F40 – the first production model to top the magical 200mph barrier. However, the firm’s first road car application of dual chargers was in the precursor to the F40 – the 288 GTO. Its 2.8-litre V8 was boosted to 400bhp, for scintillating pace, and giving Ferrari buyers their first taste of what forced induction was really capable of.

Ferrari-F70_Auto-Express-article-link

Ferrari 458 Italia lap of the Nurburgring in Forza Motorsport 3...

...that's some impressive driving!

 it took me a while to know it was a video game...

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09 Ferrari 430 Scuderia

dhayek:

 it took me a while to know it was a video game...

That video was awkward, the track is correct but the details are wrong. Clipping a curb in Metzgesfeld or 275 kph in the Fuchsröhre? Ahem...

Hahaha. nice try  But of course the title of the vid reads "Forza Motorsport"

BTW they should update the Video game - the green signs with the corner names were gone before the F 458 was launched

The new ones are black and weather conditions yesterday looked more like a 20 minutes lap or so

public roads: Porsche 987 S Seal/Cocoa, toll road  : Porsche 997 GT3 Arctic/Black

Please post spme real pics of 458 in black tie.. ;)

Thanks guys!!

Bianca!

White with red mirrors?  .....  in the first picture there´s also one in black with red mirrors.... don`t like at all....

pjd:

White with red mirrors?  .....  in the first picture there´s also one in black with red mirrors.... don`t like at all.... 

These are California mirrors, I guess the Italia mirrors are not ready yet, so they attached some kind of stopgap.
 

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The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Rossi:

pjd:

White with red mirrors?  .....  in the first picture there´s also one in black with red mirrors.... don`t like at all.... 

These are California mirrors, I guess the Italia mirrors are not ready yet, so they attached some kind of stopgap.
 

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The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Customer car in Germany or dealer demo? First car I've seen fitted with a front license plate.

This car is at the Monaco dealer I believe.

ISUK:

Customer car in Germany or dealer demo? First car I've seen fitted with a front license plate. 

Good friend of mine driving one of the first customer cars.

Regarding front license plate, I think it doesn't look that bad, actually better than I had feared. Relief...
 

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

That is a nice video. That section of town/city is very charming with the tree lined streets and bike/walking paths on either side. The garage is also one of the nicest I have seen with the glass wall and being located on a semi-residential street.

Do either of you guys know what town and country that was filmed in?

The video is in Holland Tom. It's Kroymans Ferrari in Hilversum.

racerx:
Do either of you guys know what town and country that was filmed in?

Should be Kroymans from the Netherlands (Hilversum).
 

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

Thanks Iain, I am watching another video by the same guy about the DBS, I had seen another 1 some weeks ago and thought what an attracrtive place.  

Thank you also Rossi.

That must be nice in springtime, you Euro Rennteamers should schedule a meet there when the leaves and flowers are out.