Wheel Spacers on 458

H&R are nice and priced well but they only offer 15mm minimum.

Novitec is very good option


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Don't use wheel spacers. The car is properly set up by Ferrari.

 

No ... what "spiders" said.

 

The car is whimpily set up by Ferrari: inadmissible narrow track and
SUV stance!

15mm spacers in front, 20mm spacers in back a MUST

 

No. You should not do anything. If you'd like, you can.

If you want to run spacers, don't use H&R, use HE spacers. They have steel inserts in the bolt holes, the H&R does not.

That being said, spacers will alter how the car feels and handles. A common setup is 11 mm spacers front and 15 mm spacers rear. This will influence the car in two ways. 1: It will make the car push and understeer more as long as you increase track in the rear more than in the front. 2: It will actually soften up the ride ever so slightly as you move the A arm loading point away from the A arm pivot point. Note that the "softer" suspention will also add to the understeer.

Add to this that the more load you put on your suspension components, the more they'll wear.

 

Bingo, the right attitude!

I never made bad experiences with wheel spacers. Go for it in the dimension as recommended by Carlo.

 

Why would you do so ?

I had them on the 512TR because the wheels did not fill the wheelarches imo ... but that is not the case in the 458 imo.

And it may indeed cause extra wear indeed on bushings and tyres .... (but who cares ) ?

 

Don't have spacers ... but do have 305's now
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The question of "should" is really answered by Spiders- they set the car up great from the factory.

However, maybe you want to adjust something to be a little more to your individual taste. I don't think there's anything with nudging the car in one direction or another. I just wouldn't go too crazy- and thats just my judgement call- others might say why not go totally bananas! My opinion is if you are going to adjust one part of the equation, you have to adjust other parts. And then its about tuning the car to where you want it. I don't think there's anything wrong with spacers, but if you use them, I would suggest you use them in conjunction with a little stiffer spring and certainly lower the car just a little and do a new alignment. For that reason I like the Novitec stuff. Its worked for me. I prefer using the same width spacer at all 4 locations. On a 458 I wouldn't go more aggressive than 15mm but again, thats what I think looks and works well. Either way, the 458 is an awesome car so enjoy it!

 

To go along wheel spacers, stiffer springs and an alignment, I'd suggest velvet smooth roads. The car's original setup isn't all that high. When going at some pace on a car sitting significantly lower, you *can* bottom out. I recall a member bottoming out his 355 F1 at speed and being stuck in 6th gear, along with miscellaneous damage to the gearbox.

Potholes but most of all ramps are also a worry on a lowered car. The 458 can scrape on the road even in its original setup even in the hands of a seasoned and careful owner, let alone on a lowered Ferrari.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

I always put spacers on my F cars to get rid of that tucked wheel look particularly in the rear where the body looks, to my eye, more than bit too large for the rear track. I guess the factory stance bugs a minority of us more than others.

On a '13 458 Spider, installed Hill Engineering 15mm on rear and 11mm on front. Put a few thousand miles on it with no issues. They softened the ride (noticeably more than the same set up on '17 F12 and '15 Cali T). Nonetheless, used it on track (Monticello, NY) with no negative effects....pushing pretty hard, but only for maybe a dozen laps (would take them off if I did it regularly). In any event, no unusual tire wear, and the car seemed almost as solid and predictable as my experience in non-Spider 458s at Corsa Pilota (Mont-Tremblant).

Depending on how fussy you are, your dealer can set up the car again after installing the spacers. Didn't do this on the 458, but did so on one of the others because I had dealer drop it 10-15 mm (which I don't recommend for everyday driving, lifter or not).

 

Yes Nuno, that is true. But like you said, even with the standard setup you can bottom the car. Lets face it, driving a Ferrari isn't like driving a SUV. So its up to each person to decide how they will use their car, and with what they are comfortable.

 

Wouldn't it be better to get custom wheels with different offset to get the stance youre looking for?

 

I had some spacers on mine and I added some extended titanium lug bolts. A Place in California sold the extended lugs for $375 a set and it seemed like a very reasonable price for them.

 

Obviously more expensive than buying spacers, but that's exactly what I would be recommending as well. If the factory wheel set is too conservative or just not doing it for you, we can build our wheels to a larger spec with a more aggressive offset to fill out the fenders which means you can run larger tires, which means you'll have way more grip, and way more fun

 

I did the novitec springs and spacers. 15mm front and 20mm rear.

The car is setup by ferrari so that 50-60+ year old wont run them into parking curbs, not to mention there are laws regulating the height of the headlights and bumpers. It honestly sits like an SUV with amount of wheelgap and tuck it has

here are pics of mine:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/detailing-showroom/548650-lowered-novitec-springs-spacers.html

 

I really suggest the 15/20mm Novitec Spacers. Especially if you mate it to the Novitec Springs! You cant go wrong!

Feel free to give us a call if you have ANY questions at all.

 

I agree. I'm sorry if it came out the wrong way, I wasn't judging the OP nor what he decides to do with his property. I was merely trying to make him consider the other side of the modifications he was contemplating on day to day driving

Sometimes when we infatuate ourselves with something we like, we tend to be less vulnerable when considering the risks and weighing the pros and cons. Ask me how I know!

It was intended to be perceived as a positive, constructive remark.

Kind regards,

Nuno.