It finally got here last night and today was an absolutely perfect day so I got out and took some shots of it and really enjoyed her! *going to try and get the rest of the pics up, I think my file sizes are too big and it isn't letting me Image Unavailable, Please Login
thanks everyone! Happy to be here and have my new baby! And she's already been driven pretty hard and can't wait to keep playing around, really an amazing car and evolution from the f430
oh yes, the f430 isn't going anywhere! the 458 is light years ahead of it in terms of technology but I still love my 430 partially because it feels so raw comparatively, plus I think they look nice together haha
TylerC Great cars! Were those pictures taken with an I Phone - your 458 red color looks off - I have a I Phone 5S and can't stand it - red Ferraris look way off with it - almost orange - anyway, enjoy ur great cars
Gorgeous. If you would be so kind as to talk about the F430 vs 458 I'm sure many enthusiasts here will enjoy reading...
This photo was taken with my Nikon D3X and a little bit of computer editing on my part. And thanks I will! I would love too, although as the 458 is still very new and I haven't done as much back to back driving in the cars as I would like to, I'll give the brief understanding I have of it now from my experience. One of the biggest differences, as most of you could probably guess, between the 458 and the f430 is the dual-clutch vs single clutch. When you hit the paddle on the f430 to shift there is a noticeable delay and although it is probably faster than have an old fashioned stick shift and going for quick shifts yourself, it is noticeable whereas in the 458 the shifts really are incredibly smooth and instantaneous. The smoothness of the dual-clutch is also significant as in the f430, its very similar to driving with an actual stick as when you have the throttle pegged and get to the shift point and hit the paddle its just a very crude feeling where you get kind of thrown forward in your seat as the gear disengages and changes and then are suddenly thrown back into your seat as it gets re-engaged. The 458 as you all know has truly amazing smoothness in its shifts. The other part is just how advanced the technology is in the 458 vs the F430. In the F430, while it does have a degree of built in control to keep you from doing anything too stupid, if you don't know what you are doing and are being an idiot you can get yourself into a bad place real quick. In the 458, I've experienced a couple of times now where I was out really pushing it, although not too horribly crazy and the car will seemingly on its own kick the ass end out and give a very professional little slide around a corner without really any intent of doing so myself. The 458 seems to really be able to boost the drivers ability 10-fold from how good you actually are. Throughout my experience so far in the 458, I've always felt the car was in control and it wouldn't let anything bad happen whereas in the F430 I've gotten myself into a little bit of almost ****-your-pants situations. Overall, the 458 seems light years ahead of the F430 and like a multi-generation leap in the technologies of the car. The F430 seems kind of brutal and medieval relative to the 458, but I frankly kind of like that. In the F430 you have more of an intimate relationship with the car where you really have to connect with it in order to really enjoy it and not kill yourself. In the 458 it almost seems like the car is doing all of the work for you and makes you a way better driver than you are with no effort from you. I really don't feel the sense of urgency and focus in the 458 that I do in the F430 as I know that it will fix any slop in my driving, and there is a definite lack of connection that there is with the F430. Now having said all of this I truly love both cars equally. I love the brutality and intimacy that I have with the F430 as it really provides an indulging and "all-in" kind of experience when driving it. I also absolutely love the new 458 as I find the technology in it incredible and it really can be a blast to go out there and be able to drive like a tenured pro when you aren't, not to mention how much quicker the car is and I really love the design. The 2 cars are very, very different cars with entirely different characteristics and I find it really hard to believe that they're one is just the next generation of the other and there is nothing in between. Anyways, thats just my quick 2 cents from my experience so far with the 2 cars, theres a lot more details I could get into that I left out but thats the overall idea of what I've observed so far. If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I hope you found this somewhat interesting.
Great review. Thanks for posting. I have never driven an F430, but owned a 360 F1 Spider and an F355 F1 GTS. the 458 Spider is more refined and brutally faster. I feel safer in the 458 at double the speed. When I drove the older cars I was very aware of how I was driving. When I drive the 458 I am just astounded at what the car is capapble of. On the older cars I put on about 3k miles a year. I put on 12k+ miles on the 458 in 8 months. It is just that much more fun for me to drive. Currently, we have three other manual shift cars in the garage. Unless I need more storage space (which is almost never) they sit and the 458 is on the road. Both older cars had Tubis and the F335 sounded great. I like the way the 458 sounds in RACE mode better. 9000 rpm does get your attention. The rear window on the 458 Spider is great. With the top up and rear window down no wind or rain gets in the cabin yet you can hear the engine and exhaust wonderfully. this was the biggest positive surprise for me. I do like the reliability. No issues. the car has been perfect. Life is good. Life is better driving a Ferrari. Life is best driving a 458 Spider.
Sounds like you have a fun garage! I agree with you 100% on feeling much safer in the 458, as much as I thought I didn't feel how fast I was truly going in the F430, in the 458 its really astonishing how fast you can get going without even realizing it. Also I would agree that the 9,000rpm is fantastic! it really gives you a fully satisfied feeling when you finally have to shift with the engine tune, the F430 sounds great but having now driven and heard the 458 the F430 almost sounds incomplete when you have to shift if that makes any sense to you. and the back window is truly fantastic! I was shocked at clear the sound was when the top was up and the back window was down
I just want to agree and reiterate what you and Philnothill are saying. The 458 spider is everything and more. I am just astounded how good and pleasurable it is. Epic!
