Why does "everyone" prefer the 458 over the 488?

Ahh.... That never gets old

 

I remember your camo 430 Exhaust shriek. It wasn't a Civic for sure

 

I miss that civic shreeek lol

 

If you want something that's slow there are (probably ) better choices than a 458 - an older Ferrari with a manual gearbox for instance...
And if money were no object, I'd take a turbocharged 288 over a 458 any day.

 

Ah cool! Which one you have? 95 B? GTS? Spider?

 

What colour?

 

I love the teal with the white leather ;-)

 

C2 Split window is beautiful

 

Which ironically is the one I like least....give me a '67 convertible with a big block.

 

Not everyone.

I dont. Actually never considered the 458 ITALIA.

Hate the 3 pipe , hate the lack of air openings on the rear quarter that were evident on all previous models and especially hate the front end the curved ends.

Now if the body was the same as the speciale which fixed 2 of the items of what I didnt like then I would have bought one.

 

The difference between N/A and turbo comes into play if you follow speed restrictions. The N/A isnt going to show its glory until right up in the rev range. And in second you are in jail.

The turbo has the torque way low and lets you play with the gears every day without going to jail.

 

I too am struggling with this decision as I will be purchasing either a 458 or a 488 in a couple of months. I also love the shriek of a high RPM N/A car, but I already have a pristine factory gated 360 with a Capristo Level 2 exhaust that I do not plan to sell.

 

You already have a great car the 360 with a gate.

If you are looking at the 458 for that shriek all I can say I hope you like having your license.

The 488GTB has a sound of its own. No slouch whatsoever. You will have a better time with the 488 if you wish to keep your ride and your license.

The torque is amazing.

You can still find 488's with one owner and a complete history with the original owner and have a full factory warrantee.

 

I can assure you, an inconel constructed, high quality exhaust system, will change your tune about the 488 exhaust. It sounds so much cleaner, high pitched and less (clapped out civic) than the 458's.

 

Pick the one with the biggest trunk and space behind the seats for bumps in the trunk

 

hmmm...well, I wouldn't go so far as "craps all over it" but I can attest first hand that the right combo of exhaust, sport cats, and charge pipes on the 488 make a WORLD of difference. You get the F1-like sounds PLUS the high pitch turbo whine. It's actually insane. Oh, and with the ECU tune I take it to almost 9k RPM too ;-)

 

Does the 488 handle better than the 458? They're fundamentally the same chassis.

Is it more reliable? Beyond the fact that it's slightly newer I'm not sure that will hold true over time. Turbo engines are more high strung, more complex.

Looks wise ill give the side profile and rear to the 488 but the front is less cohesive on the 488 than the 458 I think.

The NA v8 thing is kinda a big deal. Not in terms of actual experience, more as a talking point. Wrt power honestly both are way more powerful than I'll ever need, maybe I'm a pansy.

As for tech... What tech? Infotainment is a meh point and Wrt to driving aids yea the 488 has the cooler **** but we're also at the stage where both are old enough as to not matter. At some point both are just old and you don't care about those things anymore. The 488 is still new enough that I agree it sounds probably trade at a premium to the 458 because the novelty should still be worth "something" but I wouldn't hold my breath for the values to diverge in that direction. I think the market has basically agreed that the last NA thing is going to be a story thread that has legs and prices have taken this into account. It might be a bit of 355 vs 360 situation where the newer one is less desirable and I don't think that will change as time passes.

All those reasons you mentioned for 488 being better than the 458 will remain "true" but they'll become less important. If we look back at 308/328/355 we're not talking about performance, we're talking about feel. At that point the "last NA v8" will be the most major item. The extra performance over the 458 won't matter because both will pale in comparison against whatever the newest sports/supercar is.

 

Go drive a 458 and 488 and pick the YOU like best. End of story!

 

Well, since I have experience with both, I can tell you that the 488 DOES handle better. Way better. and it's faster. Way faster. It not only has better suspension, brakes, steering, and chassis, it also has better (next generation) stability management electronics that are more precise.
But does that mean it's better? To some, yes, to others, no. So as mdrums said, drive them and buy the one YOU like! No bad choice possible here.

 

There's a lot of placebo there

The main difference is drivetrain

Everything else is identical or near identical in hardware

-steering rack is carried over from the 458 speciale (1000 dollar part if you really want to change it in a regular 458 you can)
-anti roll bars are carried over from the speciale (they're a 300 dollar part)
-brakes are a bit difficult to understand how they would be better as I'm not sure there's been really any big advances in tech during that era (or to be honest even since then)
-chassis is fundamentally the same (that's simply how ferrari evolve their models, engine then chassis then engine then chassis etc) with just mild changes for fitment or new body panels or whatever (wheelbase is the same as 458 but track widened for turbos and stuff, it's a mild redesign however you cut it)
-rear hubs are not only identical to the 458 but nearly every f car since the Cali (this is wild, I encourage you and every one else to look this one up)
-gearbox is mainly different in the tune, the gearbox itself is identical with nearly every other modem ferrari (I think all the 7speed dcts are the same getrag unit)

I'm not doubting you felt better in the 488,far be it from me to tell you how you feel. What I am saying though is a lot could have been explained by the 458 being a bit older and maybe not as fresh, older tires could explain almost everything you felt that wasn't engine related. That doesn't even begin to touch on what is the specific example of the 458 you tried perhaps having leaky suspension or whatever from age.

No doubt it is faster, if this matters to you, then that's your preference. That's not really what the market values though because if it did we wouldn't see F40s trade where they do.

There's no doubt the 488 is on an objective basis better. Although the 488 is an evolution of the 458 the 488 shares a lot of stuff mechanically with the more recent Ferraris and marks a noticeable(arguably first) step in another generation of F car (classic era ending with the 355, modern turbo era starting from the 488, 360-458 being a middle ground of modern NA).

I guess the question of why is the 360 a cheaper car than the 355 is very similar. The 360 is a better car, why does the 355 command higher values? Same is true in the porsche world, why are air cooled 911s worth so much more than the 996?

I do heartily agree with you that you can't really go wrong with either of you just pick the one you like more. If all your friends are driving aventador svj or 720s and you like doing really high speed stuff then a 458 is just going to feel very out of place... honestly that original 570 power figure ferrari quoted is probably quite optimistic and the weight is way higher in reality than what ferrari says. The 488 is going to be a much much much better weapon in the arena of performance.

 

Which one got better bumps tho?