Make the encore to the Ferrari 458 Italy is like trying to blow off phase of U2 's stadium: it's one tough act to follow.
But skyrocketing new 458 Speciale in historic Ferrari Fiorano track in Maranello, Italy, it was clear that the company's engineers had $ 298,000 victory in their hands. They have taken one of the most heart-pounding world of sports, and hit a shot of adrenaline and fiery technology into a finely tuned the throats.
That includes V-8 technology is the most powerful of any roadgoing Ferrari in history: 597 hp from only 2.8 liters of displacement, up from 562 in Italy. In terms of horsepower for the size of the engine, it is also the strongest naturally aspirated engine in the history of car production, at nearly 133 horsepower per liter. That horrible output aided by 14: 01 crazy compression ratio, the highest of any V-8 in the world.
Like the previous Special Edition, mid-engine coupe Ferrari Berlinetta nature, such as the 360 Challenge Stradale and Scuderia 430 Speciale, who is the hardest of the hardcore. This is a stripped-down, shriekfest muscled-up, his brain teeming with a dirty little secret of the Ferrari Formula One playbook. This is not a Ferrari for poseurs South Beach or infant NFL bonus. Ferrari car called the training tools-with a learning curve, but it's still safe and approachable-for serious drivers who want to challenge and improve their skills. Company executives estimate that 50 percent of the buyers remained Speciale racetrack.
Weight 3086 lbs only slender sidewalks. , Nearly 200 fewer than Italy, Speciale doesn't even have a standard audio system. However,
the owner can choose a telemetry system that records a lap race at USB,
with the application of teaching-tool for detailed analysis of every
lap and driving techniques.
Measured
against the old 360 Stradale and Scuderia 430, Speciale also is a more
extreme progress in performance over the standard version.
Ferrari
actually call the new Extreme braking system Design: The carbon-ceramic
binder which is taken directly from the new, approximately $ 1,300,000
LaFerrari supercar. They brake, opposed the big-is-better trend, actually smaller in front than those in Italy. However
exotic, caliper disc brake pads and high-silicon hybrid materials
reduce the distance stop and remove the fade in of the most brutal
conditions.
Like
his cousin, Italy Speciale also hotter than finding cool functional
434, with the V-8 is displayed under glass and hubba hubba-curve which
remains grounded in a serious function. New
active aerodynamics including vertical and horizontal flaps in the front
fascia dramatically wide open or shaft speed and air pressure
increases, increasing downforce and reduce drag. A rear spoiler is enlarged in a corner licking saucy, like Miley Cyrus ' tongue protrude, only sexier. A
black diffuser looks angry and electronic flap moves under help slice
through the air while Ferrari remain affixed to the asphalt.
An
optional blue-white paint stripe, inspired by antique North American
Racing Team (NART) Ferrari, divide the car's front-to-rear. Stripe seem to must-have, if only to remind people that you paid $ 60,000 extra for Speciale.
I
encourage the Fiorano circuit with Speciale co-pilot at special: Marc
gene, the Ferrari test driver and winner of the 24 hours of LeMans with
both Audi and Peugeot. As I adjust to the surface
of the morning are still sleek, body-smushing it Speciale-force
acceleration 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds and up to 1.33 g lateral grip
tires-which also gets warmed up, aided by specially developed, 20-inch
Michelin Pilot Sport tires on wheels forged Cup2. But
the power to stop Ferrari is already in full force, such as the
tendency towards my gut-checking final braking: "I do not believe we
will create one corner," said Gene with a wink. " But their stunning brakes. "
As a former F1 driver, gene intimately involved with ongoing technology transfer from Ferrari F1. The
Speciale all-star list including intelligent, the fastest version yet
of the F1-Trac traction control, a F1 dual-clutch, seven-speed automatic
transmission and e-Diff electronic differential, locking and unlocking
within milliseconds to divide traction to the rear wheels.
This
is a mouthful of technical, sure, but it makes 458 Speciale sports car
that seems to blend in, magically, with his drivers ' every thought and
commands. But Ferrari never came off--like, say, a
BMW M5 or a Nissan GT-R – as a dumbed-down, automatic robot that even
Grandma can you drive fast. By design, it takes a trained hand to maximize system performance and Speciale.
Leaving
the track and tear through the Emilia-Romagna region-House not only
from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani and Ducati, but Italy goods of
Reggiano Parmigiano cheese to Prosciutto di Parma and balsamic vinegar
of Modena-I was quite famous in the Speciale.
Magnetic shocks Revision update their magnetic field every millisecond. Brush
paddle shifters carbon fibers, and new teeth to explode to life seems
to be before your fingers stop twitch: upshifts are 20 percent faster
than the 430 Scuderia, with 44 percent downshifts more quickly.
As
usual, the nerve center of the car's manettino: what sounds like a
newfangled form of actual pasta red metal lever on the hex shaped,
carbon fiber-wrapped steering wheel that adjusts every imaginable
performance parameters.
Ferrari
is particularly proud of a new Side Slip Angle control, which forged an
algorithmic conspiracy between the suspension, steering, F1-Trac and
e-Diff. The system mostly works behind the scenes, as stealthy and mysterious as the fictional Oswald accomplice on the Grassy Knoll. But it gives a real effect, acknowledging and rewarding driving skills. Real-time
system opens the envelope performance during the driver remains in
control, allowing him to aggressively pursue driving Nirvana – includes
tire-spinning surprise dollops, tail-sliding oversteer. The
system then maximize any kind of power through the rear wheels, while
reducing the activity of the steering wheel by 14 percent. This catapult from a Ferrari proved to be faster than Italy, with a nervous little correction from the steering wheel.
I
give in to the temptation to delinquency in the system a roundabout on
the way back to the Ferrari HQ in Maranello: Hitting into first gear and
squeeze the throttle, I make the rounds like Speciale skater through
the roundabout, as a pair of teenagers Italy derided the approval from
the side of the road.
Ferrari
also devotes attention to the sound of the engine, which took turns
stroking Speciale and assaults Your eardrums like eight tenor Italy
after lungful shabu blue Walter White. Sound-off
carpets thrown out in favor of a thin sheet of composite, carbon fiber
intake system improves both the sound quality and engine performance. Cabin hard, ride stiff enough, even in the rare moments when I'm glad only the burbling along the autostrada Italy. If you dare, top speed of 202 mph, unchanged from Italy.
For
all the technology, all the digital zero and flow through the blood
vessels, which oozes charm like Speciale 458 gigolo of the
Mediterranean. The Ferrari feels not like an exercise technique is cool, but a living, breathing thing, full of soul and sensation.
There may be a quicker sports car. There are of course more expensive sports cars, including LaFerrari on the horizon at about four times the price Speciale. Corvette
Stingray has the possibility of undefeated for the roughly $ 65,000
price, but fanboys can stop there: The Vette was not in the same
universe as this Ferrari in terms of exterior and interior design,
technology, voice and emotional performance. Certainly, from the perspective of everyday finance, Ferrari may not be worth more than four times the price of the Corvette. Now, ask people who actually can afford Speciale does he trade for four Corvettes, or eight Mustang. Supercars have their own laws of mathematics, where the two-plus-two is not the same with Ford.
In a few weeks, I would encourage almost $ 1 million Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid, and maybe I'll change my mind. But at the moment, 458 Speciale strikes me as the best sports car in the world. There
is nothing that I have driven such a bravura performance, combining
characters, sound and technology, and wrap it in such exotic, desired
package-complete with a bow quite blue-white.