Love my spider. Love the looks top up and down. No wrong choice.
I am a spider guy. My first Fcar was an F355 GTS. Targa top. My next Fcar was a 360 spider. Current car is 2012 458 spider. Really like the hard top convertible. The back window can be put down when its cold or rainy and you can hear that wonderful engine/exhaust music. Putting the top down in the Colorado rockies is breathtaking. And it seems like you are going faster with the top down. Resale value is better as well. My car is not a garage queen and has just over 30,000 smiles. Ciao bella.
You get 2 different cars with the spider as far as looks go, as far as handling I'm not a track guy and my skill level of driving is no match for my 458 spider but I am working on that... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Easy, spider gets you double of everything with top down. That includes sound, speed, nature, smells, wind and sense of occasion. it’s damn spectacular! sure it’s moves a bit but you forget about it when you drive it hard! Also at normal speeds it feels more special, a bit closer to an F1.
There's absolutely nothing like putting the top down and going for a drive on a bright sunny day. Even with the top up, the 458 Spider still looks like a natural coupe. Sent from my SM-G960U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
You are indeed correct. The Spider is far better looking and it handles a beautiful day so much better.
I am the original owner of a 2013 458 spider with race seats.. I had a 458 Italia with power Daytonas before it. It is irrelevant that I had 360/430 coupes before that but it shows I have been in a Ferrari seat for >17 years. I am age 65 ,height 5'6" (down form 5'7" due to age.☹️) and 140 lbs. Yes I have done some driving schools. No I will never track a 3400lb car in anger that costs this much. I was one of the first on this forum 7 years ago to talk about my feeling the steering wheel shimmy. At that time - as I have also previously mentioned- no one seemed to agree. (I recently went back and watched the authoritative reviews from the British motoring press re: 458 spider. They mention it and describe it FYI.) After 8 years of Fchat musings, I think some people with no experience with actually driving it or without taking the time to drive it in various manettino, tire pressure, or roof positions have developed incomplete NOT incorrect opinions. Below is MY 7 year experience in trying to maximize the best and minimize the frustrations others are describing. First, take an Italia or a spider that is parked and bounce its front fender. You will see it is super soft versus a non magnetic shock equipped car. These shocks - IMO - play a large part in the wheel shimmy. There are a huge number of computer algorithms in the Ferrari. At warm up the shocks are not "sensing" that they need to be stiff (yet). So, roof down leaving my block and hitting road imperfections, the wheel does shimmy. yes, it drives me nuts. Body flex not as much as you would think. Case in point: take hand off the wheel and hit same road irregularity. Your butt gets some minimal sensation. Not what the exaggerated wheel sensation which seems to imply about total lack of stiffness. As you drive the car and the feedback loops in the gearbox/oil/coolant temps kick in, and if you have gotten car up to operating temps and lit the red lights up some (1 or 2 lights not red line), the shimmy quiets down. I could ramble about theories but the net is that climbing the manettino to Race or CT off or adding just 1lb of air pressure to the tires make it so that after a good run, the wheel now has less shimmy than the first 1/2mile suggested. Next, same roads, same scenarios. Even at start up with roof up there is virtually no wheel or body flex. Not zero, but the car feels completely different structurally. Of note is that with the 458 Ferrari NA/SpA said roof had no bearing on structural rigidity. For 488 they quote 95% structurally as stiff as coupe. WTF? I know 488 has a rear and a bulkhead brace but it is the same car otherwise. There is no way the roof position affects rigidity in the 488 but not in the 458. I maintain my sensation of roof up makes a difference. So, if you want to hammer the car AND feel like car is "stiff enough" go for a blast roof up rear window down. It sounds way better than Italia windows down as no wind buffeting and intake and exhaust literally in your ear. Plus, you just eliminated 99% of the noxious sensations the critics throw out. At 70mph going down a normal highway there is so much tire movement/suspension activity in any car that roof down I can assure you the wheel is not only rock steady but actually more communicative than my Italia was. In this setting the 458 spider actually feels more alive than the Italia IMO. I will not address the appearance issue. Suffice it to say I like the rear deck of the spider better than the motor view. Additionally, the rear fender curve is maximized in the side view by the spider. The Italia has a California like area above fender that blends into roof that adds weight to that area. Yes, the spider has the buttresses. Apples oranges. I am just saying what I see. See what you like. Lastly, spider will always give you 2 1/2 cars for the price of slightly > one Italia. Roof up, roof down, and roof up rear window down are 3 different experiences. In regards to race seat vs Daytona, best to do an Fchat search. I can tell you in a PM the trade offs of each. Best
Clarification on my above post: Ferrari claims the 488 95% figure with roof up. Previously said position was irrelevant. I maintain that yes the 488 is stiffer (than the 458) but if they now use roof position for clarification it must play a role they previously denied. Best
LOL. I get the joke. It really comes down to personal choice. I really like the lines of the Italia its engine view, but there’s nothing like a spider with the top down on a nice day. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
Yes. Both great cars. It’s just a matter of which the person prefers, they each have pros and cons. You will not convince a spider guy that a coupe is better, and you won’t convince a coupe guy that a spider is better. It’s two different cars for two different people/purposes.
Italia is way better, all the way. Spider looks very Batman's Batimovil. If I want air, then, MV Agusta 1000RR.
I love spider, but I just love the look of the engine staring back at me. That reminds me of a Ferrari, plus I prefer the contour of the Italia. Spider top down definitely looks very hot as well.
The cowl shake in the Spider is very real. I've grown to accept it as a "character quirk" of the car, and choose to view that characteristic as one of the ways that it communicates with me. That said, just as is the case with personal relationships, it's clear to me that what is perceived as a "character quirk" to one person may be a total non-starter to another. That's much what makes finding a good life partner such an ordeal: a mutual tolerance for each others' quirks, and a complimentary appreciation for each others' strengths, is a complex matrix to navigate! With the Spider, I've found my "car partner." The fit isn't perfect in every single way, but it's pretty damn close. Enough to put a ring on it, anyway When contemplating the purchase of cars like these, which is far more of an emotional decision than a rational one, I think the advice given elsewhere in this thread - "go drive your options for a good while" - is 100% spot-on. You'd never marry someone based on the recommendation of a bunch of internet nerds, would you?
As long as you don't mind all the shaking and shimmering you can. So, eeh, no you can't Sent from my SM-G930F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
If your options let you 'drive them for a good while', are they really worth putting a ring on them????
There is no wrong choice here. I have had a 2014 458 spider for 6+ years. The experience roof down/ or roof up with the back window down is thrilling. I recently got an F12- great car, better engine and not as much fun. For me, the benefits of the spider far out weigh the costs- and it’s not close. Still- no wrong choice.
If only we could have the rigidity of the 488 spider with the body and engine of the 458 spider....sigh. Would be a 97pt car. In my owner opinion, 458 spider was a 80pt car and amazing but damn that shake and shimmy. Coupe to me was 75pt car as you couldn’t get enough sound even with windows down. But rigid! FWIW
I believe there are areas of the country (or the world, for that matter) where one cannot not get a spider, handling aside ( I don’t think it surrenders anything looks wise, but that’s personal). I knew in advance what I was giving up by going this route, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
But you don't get to see the engine . I dare say my engine bay of my 488 GTB has been photographed 1000 times. Seeing the engine is one of the highest thrills.
