Owner Review: 458 vs. Ford GT: Part 1

Be warned that this is a fairly wordy post. For those who hate to read, you can just look at the pretty pictures at the bottom.

A few of points to get out of the way: First, I own both of the cars discussed here, and I don’t feel particularly partisan toward either; thus I would suggest that I have no motivation to skew this review in favor of either car. Second, I have owned the 458 for about five months, compared with the GT, which I bought nearly six years ago. Third, I have compared the GT with various other cool cars that I have owned, and while I’ve really liked most of the “contenders”, the GT has survived the cut as others have come and gone. I confess that in my somewhat warped book, the GT has proven to be the ultimate manifestation of sports car greatness. The burning question therefore becomes whether the universally acclaimed 458 can lay claim to that honor. I plan to answer that question, as objectively as I am able, with this review. Finally, I am not a journalist, an automotive engineer, or a race driver. I have no particular expertise that would recommend me, or my observations, to the reader. I do, however, have a keyboard in front of me, which by the standards of the World Wide Web, automatically qualifies me as an expert.

Apples and Oranges?

As a preemptive response to the ubiquitous naysayers, we must first address whether it is fair to compare the arguably antiquated GT (designed more than eight years ago to compete with the 360 Modena) with Ferrari’s freshly minted, world dominating 458. Hell no it’s not fair. However, relative to the common automobile, these two are remarkably similar: they weigh roughly the same amount, and in factory form, the V8 engines have similar horsepower. Both are aerodynamically advanced, with completely enclosed, flat undersides and sophisticated air management for high-speed stability. Both are mid engine, rear wheel drive cars. Both are (or were) made in somewhat limited quantities. Accordingly, I would suggest that in the big picture, the GT and the 458 are both designed to scratch precisely the same sports car itch. For me, owning both cars at the same time has made for a fascinating experience, and I consider these cars to be natural rivals.

The 2006 Ford GT.

My GT is not stock. We lowered it all the way around by installing adjustable spring perches, and I replaced the factory supercharger with a more potent Whipple unit when the car was basically new. The pulley size and tune is quite mild and it burns 91 octane gas. I’ve put about 13,000 miles on the car, and it’s never given me a problem of any kind since I drove it, literally, off the showroom floor. I’m not kidding. I’ve driven it to an officially certified 210 mph in a little over a mile, taken it to the track on various occasions, and enjoyed more than a few interstate tours in it with my wife. It still looks, smells and drives like a new car. Sometimes, when we are alone together in the garage, I say nice things to it just before I go to bed at night.

The 2012 Ferrari 458

I special ordered this car through my wonderful local Ferrari Dealer. We did the whole sha-bang: including a trip to Italy and a tour of the factory in Maranello. I bought Ferrari undies. After about six months, the car appeared in all of its Scuderia Red glory. I specified the options that were important to me, including the deeply contoured carbon race seats with the no-slip alcantara seating surfaces. I also lowered the car, again by adjusting the spring perches. It has no engine modifications, and unless I was to be subjected to a non-elective frontal lobotomy, I would never dare tinker with any part of the powertrain, as it may interfere with my warranty. In the Ferrari world, out-of-warranty repairs are about as desirable as jalapeno-laced Preparation H.

I’ve come up with a few random categories of comparison that are important to me as a car guy, and I will discuss them further down the page. If you want to learn about hard, verifiable test data, I recommend Car and Driver, as they are not afraid to slap the soup out of a perfectly innocent car in order to get the best test times. My review will be a lot less scientific, but hopefully also a little more realistic regarding the experience of owning and driving the two cars.

The Exotic Owner’s Dilemma: Life in the Real World

Consider the following: in the realm of exotic car ownership in the United States, there are very few instances where one can truly drive a car like the 458 or the GT the way that it was designed to be driven. It’s sorta like keeping a cheetah in a Manhattan High Rise; a great conversation piece, but fun for neither the cheetah nor its owner. I thought it might be helpful, therefore, to begin the review of the two cars in the real world environments where they are most likely to be driven. Here is a grossly oversimplified summary of the three most typical driving experiences available:

The Cars and Coffee Run

This is basically slogging through city traffic, dodging the weaving teenagers who are trying to feature your car on their Facebook page via their phone camera. Many of us are familiar with this, and I dare say some unfortunate souls spend most of their exotic car ownership suffering this death-by-a thousand-cuts. Raise your hand if the following sounds familiar: wake up on Saturday morning. Take the highly polished and usually spotless beauty off of the trickle charger and head out to the local gathering spot. Squirt from traffic light to traffic light, run through the gears a bit, maybe even find an onramp for a good hard pull, providing that the Fuzz aren’t out there keeping the world safe from the grievous perils of exuberant acceleration. Avoid aforementioned weaving teenagers/enthusiastic fellow drivers. Park next to the other shiny cars, ingest stimulant, talk, go home. If there is a Hades for exotic cars in the afterlife, I have to imagine that this is what it looks like to them. You might as well be driving a Yaris for the mechanical demands encountered.

For the Cars and Coffee run, I’d have to give the nod to the GT, quite simply because its got a manual transmission. I gain very little enjoyment twitching from gear to gear in the 458 between traffic signals. Furthermore, the prodigious torque of the GT in comparison to the 458 makes urban driving at least tolerable. The effortless thrust available at all RPM makes for a more enjoyable driving experience. Plus, once you get to Crack House of Coffee, you can really impress the admiring public by opening up the GT’s huge clamshell to show off those Dodger blue cam covers.
The frenetic 458 feels tortured and caged in signal-to-signal city driving. That is, unless you put the transmission in Auto Mode, which is even worse. At that point you are back in Yaris territory. The irony here is that I have well founded suspicion that most of the 458s that see duty in the United States are used for exactly this kind of driving. After all, you gotta be really careful how many miles you put on the prima donna, and driving more than the allotted ten blocks to Starbucks in your Ferrari may result in a week of remorse and self loathing. Wow, fellas, good thing you got those pizza sized carbon rotors; you never know when you may need to perform a panic stop for a surprise yellow light. The cheetah in the apartment…

The Canyon Run

The second is the Canyon Run. This enterprise involves finding some open piece of twisty road, usually either ascending or descending a mountain side. Here, in theory, one can exploit much more of the car’s ability. Sometimes, at dawn on a weekend morning, it actually works out that way. However, whether it’s the Motor Home plugging your lane, Johnny Law and his magic ray-gun, or the ever-present threat of oncoming traffic, there is an element of restraint and vigilance required here. This is the realm where I personally prefer to spend most of my time, even accepting the aforementioned compromises. Referencing the cheetah analogy, this is like taking the big cat out to Central Park. Lots more room to play, but just keep one eye on the cop and the other on that snack-sized ****zu.

In the instance of the canyon drive, the comparison of the two cars becomes more complicated. First off, the visibility out of the 458 is clearly superior to that of the GT and inspires considerably more confidence as one swoops from corner to corner. The driver of the 458 feels like he’s sitting on the nose of a missile, lodged snuggly between the two peaks of the unobtrusive contours of the front fenders. The steering is very quick and absolutely direct, meaning that a twitch on the wheel translates into an immediate twitch in direction. Once you get used to it, it gives a marvelous dimension to the canyon drive that other cars lack. The turn-in is amazing, and instantly inspires irrational amounts of confidence. The car feels like a spiked track shoe on these roads: light, grippy and incredibly nimble. The e-diff is brilliant, and you can feel its subtle influence in pointing the nose exactly where you want it to be as you transition from corner to corner, from sweeper to g-loader and back. At this point in the drive, the dual clutch F1transmission really becomes useful, and you can grab gears without interrupting your steering inputs or your braking. This allows razor focus on the tasks at hand. Tasks like watching for the 1994 Mercury Marquise drifting into your lane in the middle of a blind corner.

The GT is incredibly competent in this realm also, but it does it in a much less robotic way; the nose won’t point as quickly as the 458, but in a way it almost feels more natural. In canyon driving, the GT never feels heavy or cumbersome in comparison to the 458; it simply feels less frenetic. The throttle inputs of the GT are not so hair-trigger, and the ferociously torquey engine makes for smoother thrusts at corner exits. The manual transmission requires a degree of driving skill that the 458 does not, and this contributes to a feeling of Zen-like satisfaction when you get it just right. I’ve often said that the GT is like the lovechild of a 427 Cobra and an NSX. It’s a joy to drive in the canyon.

So, which is the better car for the twisties? I’d have to give the nod here to the 458. Here’s why: recently, my best bud and I took the GT and the 458 back and forth over our favorite canyon road, Highway 89 between Prescott, Arizona and Congress Junction. It’s an undulating, banked ribbon of asphaltic poetry, and I’ve driven it religiously in every sports car I’ve owned over the past fifteen years. I’ve got it memorized. The road has thrilling, banked corners with rock walls on one side and dangerous blue sky on the other. The road clings to the slopes of the Bradshaw Mountains, and then plunges, on a one lane, one way road down to the desert floor. Overall elevation change is over 2000 feet. It’s a Mecca of the sport bikers, and the occasional cross on the shoulder of the road commemorates those who placed the ultimate bet and lost.

I drove the GT through the twisties first, and had a typically euphoric experience. I switched into the 458, for what would be my first canyon drive in the car. My immediate impression was telling; I was amazed at how much confidence I felt right out of the box. I came up the canyon at a significantly faster pace than I had just done in the GT. That has to say something about the stellar quality of the 458. It’s truly awesome as a canyon car, and maybe the best car I have ever driven in that environment.

The Race Track

Finally, it’s the racetrack, runway, or other unrestricted location. Ah, the thrill of no speed limits and the shocking Darwinian reality that you really can kill yourself out here. This is like returning the cheetah to its natural habitat. Of course, the problem at these events, discounting the danger element, is the expense. Whether it’s the $2000 worth of rubber and brakes that one can quite handily destroy in a full track day, or the scary possibility of wadding your shiny big-money ride into a ball at over 200 mph at the Mile events, this is a pursuit for either the very brave or the very wealthy. Being neither, but a bit more of the former than the latter, I limit myself to a couple of these events per year.

My bud and I drove the GT and the 458 to Miller Motorsport Park so that I could drive them back–to-back and try to make a rational and accurate comparison. The sessions were thirty minutes long, which allowed me to drive the cars, literally right after one another. This was fascinating, and also very surprising: where I felt so immediately at home in the 458 in the canyon, I had almost the opposite experience at the track.

In switching back and forth between the two cars, the GT simply felt more planted. I was surprised at the amount of body roll that the 458 exhibited in comparison to the GT. Moreover, I felt much, much more confident in the brake feel of the GT than the 458 at the end of the main straight, this despite the 458’s massive carbon brakes. The pedal effort of the 458 felt “off” and non-lineal in relation to the deceleration, as if more pressure was required to slow the car than the GT. However, I must be very honest with myself here and admit that I have ten fold more track time under my belt in the GT than the 458. I must also admit that I completely lacked the inclination or enthusiasm to drive the 458 as it was designed while on the track. Let me explain.

To really extract the most from the 458, you have to be willing to beat on it like a rented mule. Throttle response between 6000 and 9000 rpm is simply explosive, and thus precisely were you want the engine to be on corner exit. The brilliant dual clutch F1 transmission makes it incredibly easy to do this. I fully realize that this is exactly the way the car was designed to be driven, and I have no doubt whatsoever that if I were willing to enter and exit each corner between 6000 and 9000 rpm, my lap times would smoke those of the GT. However, that’s just not the way I like to drive. It just seems so…abusive. I accept that this is completely irrational. However, having learned to drive at the track with big torque, low revving engines (Viper, Mustang, Cobra) I just have trouble keeping the revs hovering so close to redline all the time. I am considering counseling for this problem.

The bottom line is that I don’t think I’ll take the 458 to the track again, simply because I don’t like to drive it there. I don’t necessarily feel that way about the GT, but I am coming to realize that I’m really not crazy about track driving anymore. I’ll take a deserted canyon road any day. And for that road, the 458 is going to be hard to beat.

A quick note about driving on a Runway. As mentioned above, I took the GT out to the Mojave Air and Space Port a while ago, where we were able to take a running start at a mile and a third. A lovely black 458 attended the event, and after numerous runs, I believe his best speed was in the 190s. That’s a massive achievement for the 458 straight out of the box. My GT, which is admittedly not stock, saw 210. However, having now driven both my 458 and the GT at high speeds in other environments, I must say that the GT is significantly more stable at super high speed than the 458. Thus far, I have not owned or driven a car that is legitimate match for the ballistic GT in this regard. Unfortunately, I’ll never own a Veyron, so I’m pretty convinced that the GT will be my personal high water mark in the land rocket department.

For the next installment, we'll go into more specifics, including engine, transmission and build quality...

 

I'll read the entire post at work tomorrow, but those pics are phenomenal.

 

Wow, great review. BTW, have driven many F cars to redline each shift while on track, and do not consider it abusive if you're doing it only a few track days per year - might actually be good for the drive train. Still, thanks for the great post!

 

Two beautiful cars.

The Ford GT will be a highly collectible classic. Mark my words.

 

Best...post...ever! Can't wait for part 2.

 

Here's what's funny about me and the Ford GT.

I wanted one and didn't get one because of the reason a lot of people here complain about F car dealers: My dealer was a total jerk about it. Downright "who the hell are you to ask for one. I have everyone calling me already".

Wouldn't talk to me about when I could get one and told me literally if I wasn't willing to pay a minimum of $50K over MSRP I should not bother to call again.

I told him I was a multiple Fcar owner. Snooze.

I never called back. Such is life in LA and fancy cars...

But, I do like the Ford GT. I never held my dealer experience against the car.

Look forward to part 2! Great post!!!

 

Totally agree.

 

I've driven the Ford GT twice fairly aggressively. I found it surprisingly refined and competent -- until the sudden onset of hard-to-control oversteer made my neck hairs stand on end. It's been awhile since I drove the Ford, and I never drove the 458 and Ford back to back, but I can see how you came to your conclusions.

I also had an experience with a Ford dealer similar to the Mayor's, and mine was on the east coast. It may be that Ford dealers just do not know how to deal with the kind of owners who show up interested in an exotic.

 

At the Bonneville Salt Flats...
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Great review. It was fun to read.

As far as feeling ok with the 458 high revs...I looked up the numbers.

458 = Bore 94mm, (3.7 in), Stroke 81mm (3.19 in)

Ford GT = Bore: 90.2mm (3.55-inch) Stroke: 105.8mm (4.165-inch)

The 458 stroke is about 25% shorter than the Ford GT.. A full throttle pull at even 2,500 rpms on the forced induction GT probably sees higher connecting rod & bearing stress than the 458's engine at 8,000 rpms...You probably already know and understand this but, it helps to see the numbers and maybe feel a little better the next time you have the 458 screaming with joy.

 

You may not be a professional writer but a talented one indeed. Maybe you should consider changing professions.

Looking forward to the sequels.

 

What makes the comparison between these cars so fascinating is that the engines/transmission combinations go about their brutal business in such completely different ways.

The GT is absolutely American: big bore, big torque, big rumble. I mean Texas big. It’s also impressively high tech: unlike the Corvette or Viper, it has the super boss dual overhead cams, along with 32 valves and a liquid intercooled supercharger. The engine has a dry sump and, courtesy of the Brits, a wonderfully visible, beefy, Ricardo transaxle is attached. The GT engine can be (and has) been modified to produce over 1000 horsepower. It is virtually bulletproof and, given that the engine holds the world record for top speed achieved in the standing mile, it is arguably the best production-line American high performance engine ever built. The power delivery is just what you would expect from an American supercar: big, engorged, whale size quantities of thrust. The power delivery is an unusual combination of brutal, ferocious power delivered so honey smooth that it must be experienced to be fully understood. As a favor to my 17 year old daughter, I took one of her gearhead friends (a Subaru STI junkie) out on a quick jaunt in the GT. I found an open stretch of road, dropped into second gear, and unleashed the hounds. The standard tire squirming and chest compression ensued. I grabbed a couple more gears just for effect, then looked over at the kid. His eyes were wide, and he had a death grip on the lower bolsters of the seat. “ That” he said in righteous awe “was, like a life altering event.” Ah, life is beautiful.

The 458s engine, while of lesser displacement and torque than the GT, earned the International Engine of the Year Award in 2011, and it deserves it. It is wonderfully flexible and much more quick to rev than the GT. Redline is 9000 RPM, which truly distinguishes this engine from that of the comparatively slow spinning unit in the GT. The 458 also sounds like a Ferrari should. The banshee wail of it zinging through the gears at redline might just woo you into believing that a car can actually be worth as much as a nice suburban home. What’s really impressive about this engine is that is produces such fierce acceleration throughout the rev range. While the 458’s engine still lacks the stump pulling torque of the GT, it is by no means a pipey, high strung European gas sipper; it’s a big hunk of fast from down low and it guzzles the gas like a true super car should. It leaves a carbon footprint the size of Sasquatch. Mama mia, but that thing will pin your ears back when you give it the prod. The gears are super short, and acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear is particularly ferocious. An easy way to impress friends is to roll into the throttle in 1st, then flash hyperquick into 2nd at 9000 rpm to continue the thrust fest. Throttle response in the higher revs is particularly neck cracking, and shift speeds are blink-blink quick. Which leads to a discussion of a singular difference between the two cars; their transmissions.

The Conundrum of the Transmissions

There is nothing particularly special about the GT’s transmission, except that it’s a true transaxle, mounted at the tail of the car. It’s got six speeds, and as mentioned, the GT has very tall gears. I am truly torn between the two strategies employed by the Ford and the Ferrari to select gears: When I switch straight from the robotic transmission of the 458 to the GT, I must confess that I find a distinct pleasure in feeling the familiar, smooth shift ball of the GT humming faintly in my hand in concert with the revs of the engine. The GT’s shift feel is wonderfully mechanical, like a hot-oiled bolt action on a dangerous game rifle. I miss that tactile connection when I drive the Ferrari. One simply feels more connected to the car through the communicative pedal and stick.

However, I have to admit that when considered objectively, the Ferrari’s transmission is simply a faster mechanical solution to the basic goal of keeping the engine in the meat of the its torque as vehicle speed changes. By side-stepping the need to depress a clutch and move gears around by hand, the 458 has eliminated the inherent pause in acceleration that accompanies the old school hand and foot work.

Like many who follow Formula 1, I’m fascinated by the sound of those cars exploding through the gears, shifts banging so quick that it makes the hair stand up on your neck. That quality has finally been translated faithfully to a street car in the form of the 458. It is immensely cool and quite incomparable to pull that svelte black lever on the right with two fingers and then to feel and hear the car stab into the next gear, quicker than a blink. The engine misses not a single beat, and in a scant few seconds the engine howls toward redline and its time to shift again. The dual clutch technology has finally allowed Ferrari to offer an automated manual transmission without the compromises or excuses of the previous iterations. It borders on perfection...

So, which is better? This question, which has been debated ad naseum in various discussion forums, comes down to a matter of which side you are between the Guild of the Two Pedals vs. the League of the Three. I’ll not be able to solve that debate here, but make it even less clear with the following three observations: First, there is no doubt that the F1 transmission is faster on a track than a pedal with a stick, the GT included. It also requires about a tenth of the talent. Second, I postulate that it would be awesome to drive a 458 and its magnificently responsive, flexible engine with the control of a manual transmission. (Such, however, is never to be). Third, where an approximation of the tactile and aural experience of driving the manual transmission of the GT can be had in select American cars (the Corvette ZR1 and Viper, to name two) I don’t think the frenetic Ferrari has any peers in this regard, although I have not driven the widely admired Porsche doppelkuggenfluggenfieger. I did, however, own a Nissan GT-R, and there really is no comparison with the machine-gun-quick 458. Yes, the ticket to get into the show is outrageously high, but the transmission/engine combo of the 458 does provide a uniquely thrilling driving experience. The price we pay to have the latest and bestest…but it precisely this which makes Ferrari the international object of lust that it is.

Next: Styling...
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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58DSiLLEwZQ[/ame]

 

It is fascinating to put GT and the 458 side by side, as opposed to considering them in isolation. With the two belligerents sitting next to each other, the first word that comes to mind to describe the GT is purposeful. The 458, on the other hand, is, um {grimace} ... beautiful. Before you mutter "cliché" under your breath and skip this section in disgust, stick with me for a moment and allow me to try to make my point.

Form Follows Function

I have a theory that man's primitive brain finds an innate satisfaction in an object that looks as if it will be effective at its intended use. This is true whether it’s a well- balanced wooden club for Ally Ooping an opposing caveman in the head or a Handsome M1911 Colt Pistol. For example, whenever I see a heavy military vehicle (usually being hauled on a flat bed semi on the interstate) I marvel at the industrial, brutal efficiency of its design. While I wax poetic over the sight, my dear wife does not seem to see or appreciate this. Likewise, I sometimes find myself looking at one of those awesome four wheel drive farm tractors (Like the John Deer 9R) and it makes me, a professional desk jockey, want to go out and just plow something, for crying out loud. I find a deep and almost inarticulate satisfaction in looking at the form that immediately telegraphs the function.

The GT is a great object lesson of this theory. You walk around it, and your brain immediately conjures… speed. Blistering speed. 200 mph speed. The deeply contoured nose vents, the flat, low roof, the narrow, wide windshield. The haunches of the GT are literally stretched out and over those huge rear steamroller tires, which is particularly impressive when viewed while following the GT in another car. The brain sees this and instantly references huge, honking buckets of power being transferred to those tires. The sinister black diffuser assembly, slung low at the back of the car, makes the GT look like it’s from a completely different solar system than your sister-in-law’s emasculated Prius. This ain’t no grocery hauler, son. Most of the prominent lines on the GT are horizontal and impossibly low to the ground. The menacing CG of the car is instantly striking, and this is nowhere more apparent than when you see a GT in traffic, surrounded by comparatively towering minivans and SUVs. Of course, there should be no surprise that the GT's design is so purposeful; it’s a brilliant (and blessedly faithful) adaptation of a design that started life in the early 60's with one ambition in life: to dominate international endurance racing. It just happened that the GT40 Mark I was also incredibly mean looking. To this day, any person with taste will agree that the Mark I, in the wide-haunched Le Mans configuration of 1968 and 1969, has to be one of the most beautiful cars of all time.



The 458, on the other hand, takes a very purposeful mid engine design, and then in typical Ferrari fashion, makes it a degree more beautiful. When one takes a little time to really examine the design of the 458 in person, one is amazed at its detail and complexity. There is so much going on with the mechanical and cooling necessities of a mid engine car, but it is all integrated masterfully, and with flair. Sighting down the car from the rear three quarter view, the highest line of the rear fender swoops up and over the tire, and again down into the door, only to flow forward and be repeated, still lower, at the front of the car. The Enzo-esque contour of the lower surface of the door, as it coves in to meet the angular sill, is wonderful. The car is low and wide, and I particularly like the way the rear portion of the car (from whence the power comes) is more massive in form than the almost delicate and dart-like nose. Missles are also shaped this way. The 458 rides on 20" wheels, and I ordered the diamond finish five spoke option, which, in my opinion, is the only wheel a gentleman should consider. The overall effect is a car that does a great job of telegraphing both purpose and beauty. That's what has made many Ferraris (like the 250 GTO) special, and this car is a homerun in comparison to the somewhat homely F430.
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I am fortunate enough to have two sports cars: one with an F1 transmission (360 F1 Spider) and one with a 6 speed manual (Boxster S). Fun to have the contrast.

Too bad many young gearheads today will not get to experience the joy of mastering a manual transmission sports car.

but you can't fight technology. Embrace it or it will run over you.

 

The exterior of both cars are very well executed. The panel fit and gap alignment on both cars is good, although the Ferraris’ panel gaps are much tighter than the GT. The clamshell configuration of the GT seems to require wider gaps to maintain clearances. Panel smoothness on both cars is of very high quality.

Factory Ferrari’s have never been known for Pebble Beach paint quality; it seems that the water- based paint that Ferrari uses goes on a bit lumpy in places. I should emphasize here that many owners would never even notice this. However, if very mild orange peel drives you crazy, the Ferrari finish will not be good for your mental health. Based on experience, I would say that the Ferrari paint quality is roughly equivalent to that of a new Corvette.

The exterior finish of the GT, on the other hand, has obviously been exposed to the Bentley treatment; the quality of the finish is mirror smooth, and even after six years, the paint on my car still looks ten feet deep. The GT finish has a definite hand rubbed quality, and compares with the finest factory paint jobs that I have seen on the various cars that I have owned.

Inside the cars, it’s a different story all together. The interior of the Ferrari is magnificent and smells like big honking piles of money. Granted, I ordered a few special flourishes on the 458 interior. Even so, there really is no comparison between the Ferrari and the GT as far as pure, filthy luxury goes. The 458’s is the Ferragamo of car interiors, whereas the GT is more the Allen Edmonds. I must say, however, that the GT interior has held up to use perfectly, and the leather used on the seats is both very tough, wonderfully resilient to use, and smells like leather should. (I’ve never been in a car that smells like the GT, a pleasant, analine aroma, friendly and substantive, like a saddle shop). Plus, the entire center console of the GT is made of cast magnesium. Stark, yes, but also incredibly cool.
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I also feel the ambiguity of the DCT vs the traditional manual gearbox from the driver experience perspective. I amuse myself by wondering if I still prefer the slide rule to the hand calculator, or the abacus to the slide rule. Technology marches on, and functional efficiency and performance at some cost will determine winners. The question I ask myself is whether the F1 gives me more overall fun than the manual. Until the 458, I always answered "No." But that has changed.

As for the engines, they are not really in the same universe.

 

Amazing writing style videos and pics. Always a treat to read your reviews. Thank you!

 

Great post and absolutely beautiful pictures.
I like forward to more

 

the 458 interior is beautiful.

the GT interior looks like something from Tomorrowland at Disney World.

 

On form follows function, check out the 500,000 year old hand axe and the computer mouse photo here http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/handaxe-and-mouse.aspx Both are beautifully formed to fit their task. One guy made the hand axe. A few thousand made the mouse. Though they look the same it is unlikely that beauty entered into the form of the hand axe.

 

What if You Could Have Only One?

This is the question that perhaps tests the real impact that a car has on its owner. In this case, despite the 458s obvious appeal, I would have to choose the GT. Before you Ferrari afficionados howl in protest, consider the following: in two or three years, the 458 will likely be old news as Ferrari rolls out it latest and greatest new version. (I try to remind myself how I thought my F430 was an amazing car, and then I look at how the 458 mops the floor with it by comparison). The GT, on the other hand, will never be built again. However, it’s not just that the GT won’t be directly replaced (the same can be said for the repugnant Pontiac Aztec) it’s the fact that the GT is just so dang awesome in the first place. I’ve never had a car that is such a sweet combination of performance, styling, historic importance, and sheer American hot rod exuberance. It’s just a rare manifestation of an endeavor where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and I don’t think even Ford could have intended the car to be as special as it has become. My car is now 6 years old, and it still feels as current and relevant in the exotic car world as it did in 2006. I wonder if the 458 will still feel that way in 2018? And, while it’s not crucial, look at what happened to the prices of 360s and 430s after a few years. The GT, on the other hand, still sells easily for its original MSRP, and the car is almost universally recognized now for its collectability.

However, as the Oracle said in The Matrix, what really bakes my noodle is to consider how this might change if Ferrari were to suddenly announce that it was going to abandon building 458s and go into the blender business. What then? The 458 is certainly head and shoulders above the previous model in both looks and performance, and if it were not going to be replaced, it would doubtless become the high water mark of modern, usable exotics. Then, I just don’t know which I would pick. For now, I guess I’m just glad that I don’t have to make that decision. I’ll keep the GT and keep selling organs to buy the replacement for the 458 when it arrives.

Other Miscellaneous Thoughts

The Cool Ferrari Steering Wheel

I love the Ferrari steering wheel and its convenient controls. I especially like the turn signal switches, located right at your thumbs. It takes a minute to overcome the habit of reaching for the stalk, but once you are used to the arrangement, it’s a better solution. I wish all of my cars had this feature. Its also great to be able to make the suspension more compliant with the push of a button. Just like a Cadillac.

An observation about Ferrari Ownership

I harbor the belief that there are a few of my fellow Ferrari owners (present company excluded, of course) who are really not true cars guys at all. These folks, who wouldn’t know a crankshaft if it hit them in the head, are much more interested in conspicuously consuming that which the hairy unwashed can’t have. It’s a free world, but I’d vote these poseurs off the show if I had the power. None of this, of course, is Ferrari's fault. You can't blame them for building uniquely and universally desirable cars. The sad reality is that after I bought my first Ferrari, I realized that I was still the same jerk I was before I bought it. Amazingly, the car, no matter how lovely, didn’t change that. He who dies with the most stuff still dies. And it’s still just a car. To quote a favorite song: The greatest thing/ you’ll ever learn/is just to love/and be loved in return. Cars, no matter how wonderful they may be, cannot love you back. End of sermon. Amen.

The Gawk Factor

I often have the GT and the 458 in the same garage, and it’s interesting to see how people respond to both cars. Because of my teenage daughter, the usual garage guests are her male friends. They seem genuinely impressed with the GT. However, when I ask which they want to go for a ride in, the almost Turrets-like response is “the Ferrari.” That Ferrari name and the mystique that goes with it is more powerful than I could have predicted.

In traffic, both cars are like walking naked down the middle of main street for the attention they attract. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it’s enjoyable to be able to witness and share others people’s enthusiasm. I guess if I can be instrumental in bringing a smile to someone’s face, that’s not a bad thing. On the other hand, sometimes it becomes disconcerting and it can even become dangerous. I have recently had a quite unfortunate and almost unbelievable experience in that regard, but that is a story for a different day.

For those of you who soldiered on to the end of this windbag narrative, I congratulate you and can only assume that it has been a slow day at work. I would honestly love to hear your feedback and observations/criticisms/common experiences.
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I have one knock against the Ford styling --- it's that it's a copy of the original.

Now it's a beautiful copy but it's not original. That, to me, gives it one knock against it.

They didn't try to take it to the next level. Retro cars are retro cars -- they just don't have the same charisma as the original. No matter what you say, it's still a copy. It was a marketing gimmick and not a serious attempt to do something original.

My complaint isn't the way it looks. It just looks too much like other replica cars.

It's why Hollywood remakes movies. It's an easy buck.

And, I thank god for the same reason that Lambo didn't go ahead with it's New Miura concept. Some things just should be copied.

Still, the Ford GT-40 and the Ford GT are some of the best looking cars made.

 

I also think that the Ford GT loses some aesthetics of proportion in its translation from the GT40. For one thing it seems much too long. I have the same sense when I see a new Camaro: like it is a cartoon of the original. However, I think the interior is a knockout.

 

Not a fan of the ford GT looks. Now or then when Shelby and Ford wanted be beat Enzo at any price.

and I am a convertible guy and would never buy a coupe for a sports car. 458 spider works for me.