The DUMB 458 features

I don't have any issues with the tach. For one thing, it's a useless hold over from the 1960s and about as relevant in today's cars, especially with no manual and auto shift at redline. What's the point of it?

The only time it bothers me is when I'm in a parking lot or tunnel. Then you can't see it. I find it really interesting that it changes to black a night. That is pretty cool.

I love the steering buttons! I use them all the time. Maybe it's an acquired taste but I actually miss them on other cars. I don't miss the stalks at all on this car. Each to their own I suppose.

I love the Red LED's on the steering wheel!

I will say on the negative that navigating the radio controls is really confusing and the labeling of the buttons is strange.

And, the biggest beef is that the AC ducts cannot be trained to point at your face. Also, the airflow at Max is not good enough.


That's really about it on the 458 coupe. The spider has its own few bits of strangeness that I find annoying also. But, overall, I love it.

 

A CD player that repeats the CD rather than moving on to the next one, and if you happen to have the speedo on the right screen, it takes some doing to get back to the menu to pick the next CD.

 

OH! The silly "cup holders". Really? If you didn't want to put them in, you shouldn't put them badly in.


Anyone accidentally entered "car wash mode". I have. Why not just have an on/off button for Carwash mode so you know what to press and what not to press?

 

My GPS on my 458 says from time to time "follow the road" I'm hardly going to follow a river or railway line?

 

I think this was to discourage people from trying to skip the car accross bodies of water, knowing that the underside of the car is sealed

 

Garmin GPS devices say the same thing. I agree that it is kind of funny, but it is not limited to 458s.

 

I'm not totally in love with the whole satnav setup. I wouldn't go so far as to say its dumb, but its not great.

 

My BMW also says this from time to time.

I must say that after a year of ownership, I am hard put to cite any long lasting annoyances. The unlit yellow tach has been discussed often but the LEDs are better anyway. I don't use the nav system so can't complain. The sound system is excellent but I hardly listen to it, in favor of enjoying the mechanical noises. The A/C is more than good enough for Southern California. Getting used to the turn signals took a little time but that is long forgotten.

All in all it is a pretty quirk-free sports car, certainly compared to some earlier F-Cars.

 

What's car wash mode do?

 

what the heck is 'car wash mode"?

 

is "tow mode".
No parking brake on, so you can move the car yourself if you want.

 

It is important to know. If you shut off the ignition with the car in neutral, the park function is not engaged. This is what you would do if the car were to be able to roll freely as in a car wash. The point is that the car will roll freely.

If you turn off the ignition with the car in gear, the park function will be activated automatically and remain on until you restart the car.

 

agree on air ducts, and radio. Not sure why air flow so lousy . My Ford GTs will blow you out of the car.

 

This is a fun thread to follow... truly "First World Problems" sort of stuff, but fun to
hear the foibles of one of the greatest cars (IMO) ever built.

Carry on!



Jedi

 

My problem with the car after 6 months is I still cannot figure out how to find the sattelite radio station I want. I beleve I have "conquered" the left hand screen. However, there is not enough space here to tell you how overwhelmed I am by the right hand screen. For example, I can never find my radio "preferences" and have to "scan" to get back to a station. I once saw a different sized speedometer, but cannot find it again. I have to start over if I want to go from the radio or music to the navigation system without being forced to listen to the radio or music. Cannot just turn it off and switch to navigation.

As for turn signals, I like them. My tach is white and looks and works fine but is really of no use with the steering wheel lights. Best

 

I run out of fuel in the pooring rain in my 458 on the M4 motorway (UK) as the car would not start the auto brake engaged, so unable to release it without the engine on.

This meant the car could not be pushed or towed, so it remained In the middle lane of the motorway causing a massive tail back.

I called my dealer from my cell phone who informed me there is a tool in the tool box that you join together and then locate a release bolt behind the far side rear wheel. After lots of attempts and now soaking wet, I gave up and waited for the rescue truck to come with fuel.

2 hours later, I get sime fuel, the engine fired up, autobrake released and I was on my way, but very wet embarrassed.

A simple manual release button inside the car is surely a better idea?

 

Wow I never heard of this. I'll have to check it out. Sorry for your problem but that's a great post.

I wonder of other DCT systems have a similar situation?

 

Oy!
Yeah, I am not able to pull up solely my presets either. When I pull up a station list, there is a preset indication, but not just the presets, which is the point, eh.

 

+ 100...the audio/satnav/speedo screen is just too much in one place with nothing short of goofy controls that are hard to navigate...maybe I need to master the voice control better because it is not responding when I say "WTF". Though it's far from state of the art, IMO it would have been better to somehow put the Cali/FF audio/nav unit in the middle of the dash and reserve right hand screen for the speedo.

This is my first yellow tach (last car was black), and it's fine for me...though I do have a habit of driving with the parking lights on...I'm thinking maybe that triggers the back lighting.

For me, other than that, it's truly awesome.

 

For what it is worth the black tach is visible in any light. I happen to light the turn signals better than the stalks on other cars. The high beam lights button and the windshield wipers (yes I use it in the rain sometimes!) annoys me even though I like the turn signals.

 

I went for a black tach on my Spider order for the same reason. Yellow tach looks great (like a continuation of the logo on the steering wheel) but can be annoying in the wrong lighting conditions. But the yellow tach is a choice, not something Ferrari forces on you.

I really like the turn signals, lights and wipers being on the steering wheel.

What are "dumb" features for me?

1. The "pit speed" (i.e. cruise control) controls suck and give virtually no useful feedback. But I do like having cruise control. It helps keep the speed down when that's required. I would like for the car to show me the selected cruise speed in one of the multi-function displays and when it is engaged and not.

2. The parking brake still baffles me in some conditions. I like the electronic parking brake and I like how it gives you feedback through the brakes that you've engaged it. But I wish the "PARK" light would always come on when it's engaged. Sometimes instead it sales "HOLD" in the gear indicator but the "PARK" light doesn't come on.

What would I change?

1. Give drivers the ability to adjust the height of the AFS lights

2. Increase the resolutions of the TFT displays

3. Improve the nav resolution

4. Provide a setting such that the steering wheel radio up/down buttons can cycle through presets rather than all channels (some will want this, some won't)

5. Provide Bluetooth audio streaming (not just the iPod connector cable which I still want). My FF has this.

6. Better cup holders (they're only slightly better in the FF)

7. Add the front cameras from the FF to the 458. These ROCK! I never worried about hitting a curb or parking too close/too far from the front of the spot because I have the front camera to guide me. I only wish the display was larger and higher resolution.

That's about it. The car is absolutely wonderful beyond that.

Of course the biggest thing I'd change on the 458 Italia is to make it into a 458 Spider but I'm already taking care of that change for myself

 

Agree strongly on #4...I loaded those pre-sets for a reason! Hello?

 

This is the second sorry story I have heard about the parking brake. An earlier thread recorded an attempt to release the parking brake and the "tool" broke.

Yes, there is a need for a manual release of the parking brake. Either a dead battery or running out of fuel will make for a potentially serious problem.

We can call this a first class quirk. Maybe someone from Ferrari is reading this thread

 

I was about the check the manual for this. The lights are too low on low beam, making the car slow at night.