458 Silly question about the front air diffusers (carbon fiber)

I have the CF ones. They are flexible and it is not in the connection as they are bolted with three bolts and studs. You can move them with your hands.

are they as flexible as yours... That I don’t know.

 

Hi,
based on engineering background, and assuming the story of the purposely flexible flaps is true and not just marketing gimmick, in principle there is no real reason why the same result (if any) could be achieved with carbon fiber parts; after all collapsable carbon fiber wings were commonplace in F1 until they got banned.
Carbon fiber is perfectly capable of alternate elastic bending, like it happens in helicopter blades or leaf springs.
I hope it helps...

 

I would imagine whichever material flexes less would generate more front downforce at high speed. Whichever one is lighter provides an advantage at all times. I've heard that changing the rake will make a big difference, but haven't done that yet. My car does need more camber on the front tires and more front downforce over 80mph (camber might fix that). But I'm not serious enough to pay to fix the issue.

As I've passed Speciale's on track in my Italia, rest assured that such small changes don't make any difference, but they do look cool! A good driving coach is worth much more than the price difference between an Italia and Speciale when it comes to performance. ;-)

 

On the 458 most of the flexing does come from the fixing point but some does come from the spoilers themselves. Most of the aftermarket carbon fiber ones currently available are too stiff and Ferrari did spend quite a bit of time getting the OEM carbon fiber ones to flex like the stock ones. Problem is that Ferrari charges over $5000 for the two front wings!

Last year we were commissioned to make a run of carbon fiber 458 front wings engineered to the correct stiffness by a private client. At the end of the project we ended up with one set left over that is 100% identical to OEM in stiffness and shape with the perfect match to factory carbon. If anyone is interested we can sell this set at a loss for $1K just to get it in the hands of an enthusiast. These parts are a straight bolt on and it is necessary to remove the bumper in order to install them (it is impossible otherwise however bumper removal is not hard).

Anyone interested just e-mail us at [email protected]

 

I am surprised to hear that Ferrari spent much time getting the CF to flex like the standard plastic. I think $1K is a good price you are offering for essentially a one-off.

 

The spoiler set we have has been sold. Thanks for the interest guys.