Why did I wait so long to lower my 458?

After going through many threads on this subject I was nervous about lowering my 2013 Italia (no front lift). I read about a harsh or sometimes even floaty/bumpy ride. I was also concerned that if I didn’t replace stock springs with Novitec progressive springs that I would also experience a detriment in ride quality. I decided to go ahead and lower the car on the stock springs (20mm rear and 25mm front) and added 20mm rear Novitec spacers and 15mm Novitec front spacers. I couldn’t be happier with the look! I have suffered no detriment in ride quality, if anything to me the car feels more planted. I appreciate reading all the positive and negative threads on the subject and thought I would share my experience. Attached are some photos.
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Before lowering

 

Looks great! Did you do it yourself? If so, how difficult was it?

 

No didn’t do it myself. Requires an alignment also. If on the fence at all, I’d say get it done!

 

After

 

Looks like a 4 x 4 before the drop. I daily drove my 458 Spider for 2 years with that wheel gap on the stock setup.

 

Yeah same, I’ve waited longer. Not sure why. All my Porsche GT cars made the 458 look get old.

 

Same reason people wait too long to mod this car period, IMO.

a) “it’s a ferrari it’s perfect” - harrrrd eyeroll
b) you never get your money back - not always true....and if it matters, don’t do it
c) hurts resale - until the inevitable happens and more and more people figure out that these cars modded are better....and again if it matters don’t do it
d) they just don’t want to, their prerogative

Looks much better, compared to stock, night and day better. Time for some aero!

 

I lowered my 458 15mm in the front myself, just by turning down the coil overs. The car looked much better and handled better also. Prior to lowering, the front end felt a little skittish and speed and under acceleration. That went away after lowering the front. Since it was just 15mm in the front, I didn't bother having the car realigned.

Ray

 

Look so much better.

I’m thinking about doing the same thing myself by asking the dealer to lower mine as much as possible given my fal during my yearly service.

My only hesitation is a principled one. It bothers me to no end that novitec spacers are over $1k for a $200 part simply because they’re going on a Ferrari. It feels like paying to be violated. Is there another spacer alternative?

 

I will give u an advice on those springs which happen to my friend: using novitec springs puts you at risk to have ur sensor trigger ur side airbags in a pothole.
M’y friend who had a 458 had this unfortunate experience. Ferrari refused to fix it and blamed it on the springs. 13k to fix. Just be careful, see link below




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Car looks awesome

 

I too was hesitant to “mod a ferrari!” A good friend has had his 2013 Italia lowered on stock springs for the past 3 years on stock springs. In his case this was done by our local dealer during a scheduled tire change. What gave me peace of mind was his experience has been on par to what I’m experiencing now. The fear of the draconian response from Ferrari should their be an issue held me back. My car is now out of warranty so I’m on my own anyway. The air bag issue posted above I’m glad I didn’t know about before hand and thankfully in all the posts about this subject I read it was not mentioned. Dallas roads are not without potholes, however, my main routes are so that’s reassuring. I know the Novitec spacers are expensive, but lowering the car without adding spacers does not look good in my opinion.

 

On thé flip side of my friend’s story: he sued the city which made him a check for 6k out of the 13k better than Ferrari who gave a big fat 0


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That looks fantastic, glad to hear the ride quality didn’t suffer. I’m planning to do the same with my F8 when it arrives, hopefully can achieve the same results.

 

For sure my GT3's OEM stance was perfect but I scraped the black plastic front lip all over the damn place even with the FAL. Fortunately it's a $300 part and I viewed it as a disposable item.

Installed skid plates myself on the Huracan, was only $299 part and took me an hour or less to install with a rivet gun. I have the FAL but believe a lot of the scrapes happen from bottoming out on a road dip rather than entering/exiting a graded driveway for example.

Anyhow your new stance looks tits and is an inexpensive mod and you can always revert back to stock if you like.

 

I heard you were getting this done. Word travels fast around here!

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wow, very disappointing it was not repaired, being a safety issue and previously flagged and fixed as a recall

 

Took it to work today!
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Looks great! This car definitely looks so much better lowered a bit.

 

Lowering on factory springs and adding spacers really cleans up the look.

 

Reality check
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The look is transformed

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I really like the idea of lowering the car on stock springs.
I like the looks, and see the point of a lower center of gravity, hence a reduced body-roll, regardless springs stiffness is the same.
Now, as an enthusiast DIY'er I have a couple of questions:
1) Is it something that can be done with the shocks on the car, or does it require to remove them and work on a table?
2) Is it something that requires special Ferrari tools?
Of course instructions and step-by-step procedures would be appreciated...
THANKS!

 

Sorry I’m no help with specifics. I had the work done. 8hrs labor was on the receipt. I’m not mechanically inclined so was happy to just pay to have it done.