458 Sport Mode engages traction control on highway, no slip

Hey everyone,

I have a 2013 458 Spider and if I try and use “Sport Mode” and only Sport Mode, as soon as I tip into the throttle at highway speeds it triggers the traction control to jump in, cutting throttle.

I do have HRE(s) in the attached sizes, but the rotational delta from factory is now +1 extra rotation per mile.

Is there some sensor or thing I should be looking at?

Wet Mode - Perfect
Race Mode - Perfect
CT Off - Perfect
ESC Off - Perfect

Only Sport Mode has this weird issue

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So I got within .1 rotation difference from front to back compared to the stock setup and "Sport" works up to about 80mph. Cruising around town, everything is fine, as soon as you are going down the highway at 80+ and tip in, it flashes.

I am currently running:

255/35/20 Fronts
325/25/21 Rears

I rub in the front with 1.7 degree negative camber at full compression going straight, front edge of the fender lip kisses. I am going to try an put a bit more camber in it (need longer studs for the shims) and have my body guy roll the fender a bit if need be.

As a side note, I swapped my springs again from Novitec as they were to low even at full height adjustment. I went with 50lb more spring rate and 1" taller than them. Now have a bit more wheel gap (doesn't look as god) but havent hit my rear diffuser on ****ty New England Roads since the adjustment. Still a decent amount lower than factory.

 

Also to the earlier poster, my "normal" driving mode is TC Off, Manual mode. Only mode affected is "Sport". Wet, Race, TC Off, and of corse ESC Off, all work fine.

Sport must have a really tight tolerance on wheel slip. Remember, Race allows wheel spin unless the back starts to rotate, so going straight you can do burnouts in Race, wheel slip not an issue. TC Off, allows 30% or so for slip angle (someone can fact check me on exact amount) but it only intervenes when the car gets a decent angle, I power slide mine around like a 16 yo with a mustang, 9 times out of 10, never kicks in, when i get really frisky i will feel it kick me back into line. Wet expects some wheel slip, so probably within tolerance on a dry road as it doesn't slip "enough"

 

If you are happy with the out of the box configuration, that is wonderful.

However those seeking advice and information on how they can tailor their experience is just as valid.

Ferrari has to make concessions to appeal to the masses, this is evidence in their own testing. For example, a 458 during any type of review / test always are much lower than how they arrive to the customer. This is because the aero is most optimal when the vehicle is lower, allowing for better lap times, the car delivered to the customer is compromised not optimized. (This is just one example, there are many more)

I hope to see more and more people modifying and finding the limits, so we can all benefit from a healthy aftermarket versus being stuck with Ferrari only solutions.

 

I got mine to be less annoying around town by going to a 255 front on my setup. I am now just slightly out of original spec w/ 255 front and 325 rear. It does it now at 80 or so on the highway cruising.

 

If you go outside the OE spec, you may have issues in Sport. If you drive in Race or CT off. No issues. I actually drive mine in CT off 99% of the time. I only discovered the Sport issue when my girl took it out.