Well for buying a 2015 I must say that it looks almost like a 2015. Mine will probably sound better too.....LOL
Maybe its nothing but why is that "plastic doorpanel" over the original. Look here at picture 7: Ferrari M458-T - 13 september 2014 - Autogespot In the same picture the plastic folie just behind the door covers something that looks like a hole. Could this be a "turbo hole" (fore example like the Porsche Turbo) or is it nothing. When it is nothing why do they cover the door like this. The same thing can be seen at this other mule (worldcarfans.com): Ferrari 458 M spied for the first time and at this mule Ferrari 458 M Coupe & Spider spied testing a new exhaust system your thoughts? Gr. Xander
I believe the ferrari designer said the turbo hole was something ferrari want to design a bit differently. Every turbo rear engine supercar has the turbo cooling intake at the side. My guess is the plastic is to hide the intake design and also hide what looks like a side opening at the front wheel wells to channel air to the turbo inlet.
If this is really the test mule then it basically means the m458 is a facelift of the current italia and a smaller turbocharged motor? I was thinking of trading up but it looks like my 458...
Guys, this is just a mule. It won't look like that. It will be a 458 facelift, just as the 430 was a lifted 360.
Perhaps I'm late to this discussion, but I think sound is still critical to the Ferrari brand as every time someone lists reasons why another make is "better" (i.e. McClaren's faster etc), Ferrari faithful always revert back to the argument of soul and the unmatched high-rev sound they make. And I agree - the hair-raising shrieking of a high-rpm naturally-aspirated motor will always do it for me and is a core component to the 'soul' element. I hate to make women analogies but for me in this case it's too accurate to avoid - a faster car with a boring sounding turbo motor (i.e. Porsche 911 Turbo) is like a super hot girl who's quiet and uninspiring sounding in bed while a 458 Speciale may technically be slower yet is the girl who makes amazing, inspiring, opera-wailing sounds that bounce off the walls in bed. Its not who would you rather look at but rather the question for me is who would you rather actually sleep with? Personally I'd choose the latter all day long. Here's hoping Ferrari goes back to what makes a Ferrari unique and special to me, and reverts back to all-motor engines.
BTW, the Speciale is considerably faster than the 991TT. Ferrari went turbo for emission reasons, not performance.
I agree with you on emissions, but not on the performance part. Twin turbo forced induction gives more torque and power period. Now saying that N/A engines are great. Love my 458 and sound and 9k red line! But, when it come to absolute power it's hard to beat the torque and pwr of forced induction.
Caution "off topic": Very briefly, check out latest on global warming farce discussed in WSJ. The scientists own model doesn't work as CO2 levels decreased over a 15 year period. Back to Fcars.....
Couldn't agree more. Sadly, Fcars of the future will be "PC" which means lower emissions, higher mpg with less "sound pollution"...aaargh.
Emission reasons AND performance! We are talking about more than 670 hp and a huge amount of torque, such "performance figures" aren't realizable with the "old" F136FL engine.
What for? The NA engine produces more than enough power... At the end you have to be able to put all the power to the ground...
Perhaps to sell new cars? Or do you believe that Ferrari is changing their business model and will now start to develop new cars to protect the legacy models? And do you really mean with the holy 458 the performance limits has been reached forever? oh mann mann mann...
Ferrari goes Turbo because of $$$. It needs huge investment in engine development to launch a new model with higher revs, larger capacity and more power. But for turbocharged, simply add more boost will easily give extra 200 hp. Get a larger turbo will easily add 500 hp. Local custom stores used to do this. For example : Nissan GTR, with $80,000 power increased from 500+ to 1,000+ hp. Then one engine can be used in many many models. Cheaper models have lower boost while more expensive models will be given more boost and call it S model.
+1. get the Hennessey HPE700 for the 458, $60,000. Increase power to 700 HP. Looks I just did ferrari's work for them.
I guess you are right that turbos are so cheap! I'm sure this is the reason why Bugatti installed four of them on its V16 mass production engine.
You talked about the 991 Turbo vs a N/A Ferrari and I replied that the Speciale is faster, which is a fact. You can't argue with numbers.
The old V8 was at its limit. It would either be a new N/A engine, or a turbo. A turbo was the easier way, plus the less CO2 emitting.
