Hi all I received my first Ferrari a bit shy of 2 weeks ago and wanted to intro myself to the club. How I ended up here is a bit unfortunate actually. I was in hot pursue of a 997.2 GT3RS, either in blue/gold or white/gold for the past 3-4 months. I do know the car market overall has been pretty hot, but the Porsche GT market's gone a bit full retarded in my opinion. I was being offered 220, even 240 for a low mile GT3RS in the spec I was after. Being a die hard Porsche fan, I kept on looking for a "better deal". And one day I just got fed up. It's still a car I'd love to own in my lifetime but it just isn't worth that crazy money. So I started looking outside of Porsche and Ferrari was the only logical choice. I then set my goal on a 430 Scud. I saw a white Scud listed at Bentley of Seattle and called them and I was in talks when they just went silent. I felt we were at close to end of the deal as I set up a PPI date at the Ferrari of Seattle and just needed them to drop the car off when the sales guy just stopped responding. 2 days later, I saw the ad got pulled. A bit of a sour experience how they just left me hanging like that. At least he could have told me hey there's someone else buying it, maybe next time. Anyway, long story short, I wasn't finding the Scud I wanted when Mike @ Yellow Compass (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) brought up "Well I think 458 is a pretty good alternative to Scud" and now I find out it absolutely is! Now that I have driven the 458 for 10 days or so I love the dual personalities and it's raw enough. I probably wouldn't have held onto a Scud for too long as it's in raw mode all the time. So my impressions so far compared to GT3RS and other perf Porsches I have been in. GT cars handle real good but it's a bit taller than the 458, so I feel the 458 is more planted. But GT cars feel more nimble. The sound is just insane, can't get enough of the high pitch sound it makes, and with it the poor MPG so far lol. The DCT is not smooth when getting on it. Now I like it but initially I was afraid there was something wrong with it. I just assumed it'd be like PDK where it's fast and smooth. The throttle can jerk the car going from 1st to 2nd in auto mode. What else.. Oh couple of quirks so far.. Being that I am in SoCal, at a light I heard 3 beeps and didn't know what it was. When the light turned green, I started the give it gas and it wasn't moving! I was panicking when I noticed it was in N. At the next red, It beeped again and this time I did see it went to N. I think if the light is longer than 1 min or so, it shifts to N. I failed smog first time because the OBD2 monitors weren't ready, so did the drive cycle to reset. I can't get used to the turn light buttons being on the steering wheel. The backup camera image is pretty dark. I lowered the beep level in settings but it still beeps loud! I haven't stepped out of garage in awhile Well that's about it so far.. Can't wait to keep learning more about it! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Congrats! I too have been a Porsche fan for a long time and in Oct 2020 I bought my first Ferrari, the 458 Spider. I identify with your initial perceptions. I also own a 2018 GT3 MT so I could not stop comparing the two. The GT3 is as close to ‘perfection’ as it can be, so I was always comparing the 458 to that benchmark. Until I decided to stop doing that and appreciate the 458 for what it actually is. It is, indeed, a very different car. Some things are better and others are not, but I stopped making comparisons because it was driving me a little nuts... Now I think of them as my 2 kids. I don’t love one over the other. Impossible ask. I simply decided to give each a specific purpose: The 458 is a better DD, can go automatic and smooth, it can actually be pretty quiet if not pushed hard, and has the option of going top down. So it’s become my go-to option for everyday driving, taking wife to lunch, as well as spirited WE driving. Then the GT3 is more of the track weapon, as well as some spirited drives once in a while. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Same spec than mine. Congratulations! Enjoy in good health. Wish you many miles of happiness behind the wheel! Kind regards, Nuno
Step 1 of new ownership of any vehicle (new or used): read the manual. . . 3 times, the 2nd time while in the car
Agree with Lobekay, regarding read the manual, I'm very new to Fcars and have been missing a step the 612 manual advises when starting.
congrats. one day you'll brain will make a switch and the turn signals will make sense. hang in there.
Congratulations, I had a 997 for 13 years before stepping into my 458. They are two very different cars and I can appreciate the differences between the 2. My 997 felt a lot more nimble, small and intimate. The 458 is more refined and has a dual personality. I like that the DCT in the 458 isn't too smooth that the gear changes aren't perceptible. I like a little bit of the drama of the shifts so that it doesn't completely feel like an automatic transmission.
I drove mine in automatic mode for a few weeks before I realized it'd better to just put it into manual. It takes some getting used to if you're used to a normal manual or a normal automatic but once you do it's definitely a better experience.
GT3 does not sound as good as 458 in slower speed. I had both pdk and manual .1 and .2 GT3. The manual one became annoying to me at low speed. 458 on the other hands, sounds so sweet at all different rpm.
With my 991.2 I decided to add the sharkwerks bypass and then I set it up so that the valves are always open (no need to hit the button on the center console). Now it sounds amazing at any speed. The 458 sounds like a proper V8 NA Ferrari and it’s certainly more unique than the GT3’s note, imho.
I definitely love the 458 and appreciate its specialness (though not a speciale ) You have a perfect pair! I am thinking about a 996 as a track car, but haven't done any HPDE in a decade. But every time I fire up the 458, sure is a special feeling!
I feel the same! I do like the shifting characteristics and the DCT in this sure feels quite sporty. It's just that I just assumed it'd be smoother. Every 458 YT vids I've watched, maybe I was focused on the engine sound that I may have missed some comment on what to expect. But I love it!
Thanks all for the warm welcome! We just got back from a camping trip and first thing I did was getting in the 458 and wife wasn't happy that I wasn't helping with unloading lol
Oh I rarely take it out of sport. For normal street driving I like Sport + Bumpy Road best. I'm a bit of a softy.