The biggest difference between the 458 Italia and the 458 Speciale is the power train. The reason there is a 458 Speciale is because Ferrari greatly improved their naturally aspirated V8. Ferrari redesigned almost everything. The new V8 is now 17.5 lbs lighter then the old V8 and more powerful. Ferrari redesigned the air intakes, and the exhaust so the engine circulate air better then before. They also redesigned the cylinder heads and up the compression ratio to an impressive 14:1. Thats the highest ever compression ratio for a engine of this lay out. Its also the most powerful, naturally aspirated, road going, V8 ever! At 9000 rpm the 458 Speciale has 603 hp and 540 lb-ft of torque at 6000 rpm. It puts out 135 hp per liter!
Another big improvement from the 458 Italia is the aerodynamics. The 458 Speciale has a new front and rear air dame. The front air dame has a splitter with two vertical and a horizontal flap that channels air into the radiators. When the car is at low speeds the virtical flap are open for the necessary cooling of the amazing V8. When the 458 Speciale is at higher speeds the flaps close to lesson drag. When the 458 Speciale exceeds 138 mph the horizontal flap adjust to help the balance of downforce between the axles. That gives the 458 Speciale a 20 percent shift in aerodynamics over both axles. The rear dam has also improved the aero dynamics with two flaps that adjust depending on what the car is doing. The two flaps can be lowered by as much as 17 degrees, which stalls the diffuser increasing drag, and slowing the car. With all of the 458 Speciale's aerodynamic gizmos the coefficient of drag is .35. Still .11 higher then the Tesla Model S(and yes I will bring up the Tesla every time).
The 458 Speciale also has improved vehicle dynamics over the 458 Italia. To name a few of the many, it has something that is pretty awesome, and completely new, called Slip Slide Angle Control (SSC). When the 458 Speciale starts to slide sideways, it corrects itself by talking to the differential, torque management, and reference data to right the car. Also the 458 Speciale has quicker response to commands. With steering response time of just 0.06 seconds and lateral acceleration of 1.33 g! Those are the best number in those classes ever made by Ferrari!
The 458 Italia is one of my favorite cars. Its beautiful, sounds amazing, and is yet also refined while being able to bite you in the back. Its hard to say, but the 458 Speciale might be more of a favorite then the 458 Italia. It is definitely on my favorite list, but it is hard to say if I like it more then the 458 Italia. Ferrari officially unveil it at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt yesterday(Sep 10, 2013). The 458 Speciale is going to cost some where around $279,000 based on other models(F430 and F430 Scudeira), even though no information on the price has been released. I cant wait for Top Gear UK to get their hands on the 458 Speciale.
Nice post. I would like to see a little more of your opinion in this though. Come right out and say why you like things or dislike things. You do this to a certain degree, but I would like to see more.
ReplyDeleteBuy me this car.