the 458 VERSUS the Scud and other predecessors

OK, so my friends call me the Jeremy Clarkson of Ferrari reviews because I'm prone to having a faded memory of prior "reviews". In an attempt to be as unbiased as possible and as detailed as possible (given the fact I have only driven my 458 or 2 lengthy drives thus far), here goes:

my recent Fcar past has been quick jumps from car to car - call it A.D.D. I have gone from 360 coupe to 2 different 360 spiders, to a 430 coupe, to a CS, to an 08 Scud, BACK to a CS, BACK to an 09 Scud.....and FINALLY to the 458. A bit of background on my car flipping: while the flipping part has always been my personality, I kept switching trying to find "something" I felt was missing in my experience. I only drive a Ferrari on the weekend, never to work and rarely with my wife or child. I've owned and driven many many other sports cars and vintage cars. I wanted my Fcar experience to be exciting, stimulating, a love affair with the entire car; not overly concerned with going from 0-60 in a second or racing the mustang next to me, but knowing that I could get my heart pounding with the flinch of my right ankle and foot and the turn of the wheel. I finally found what I wanted with the CS because the refinement of the 430 was a turn off for me. The CS and the Scuds ultimately struck me as the perfect Fcar for me. Not heavy on comfort but comfortable enough to enjoy a long, spirited drive and to have a blast doing it.

My last car, a Nero 09 Scud was amazingly equipped. Gianni Merculi has become a close friend and my Fcar sales guy. He is the sales manager at Ferrari of Long Island. A truly passionate Fcar guy who knows exactly how to make me happy. Build the prettiest car with the best, practical options. And you can tell him I gave this glowing review! Anyhow, he built the Scud with an eye towards beauty. Nero with a silver stripe, yellow calipers and shields, black alcantara seats with silver stictching throughout and all carbon fiber everywhere! The car was amazing. The Sucd is a true marvel on wheels. Tremendous power, tremendous stance and agility and you hardly ever felt like you were in trouble during a spirited drive. as for the aesthetics, we could argue this one over and over again in trying to compare the Scud to the CS. To me, I loved the body of the CS better than the Scud, but I "compromised" with the Scud because the difference in power, fit and feel are so superior to the CS. As amazing a car as the CS is, I always felt like the car was going to break. It just never left me comfortable on long drives. Trust me, the CS is a car I want in my collector stable but it isn't a car I would drive over the Scud. It is a piece of art and an amazing car, but the Scud was a more enjoyable drive for me every time. Again, Baskin Robbins makes 31 flavors for a reason....

So, along comes the 458 and a few local ones get delivered. My thought before seeing one in person was that the 458 market wouldn't affect the Scud market because they are different cars for different people. After all, the Scud is the best of the best on the road and track, right?

The 458 comes as a surprise to me. I was a major critic of the design when I first started seeing pictures and reading reviews. I assumed the technology and fit would be an upgrade but never suspected I would find a noticeable difference between the Scud and a 458. My Scud was a $309k MSRP so how could a $263k 458 possibly over impress me?

So, the verdict. The 458 is a car any Scud owner would love to drive. It is a true driver's car. The fit and finish of the car is obviously superior because the 458 Scud has yet to be built. But there are aspects of the 458 that, while initially I thought were negatives, turned out to be astonishingly cool to me. The dash configuration with all controls being targeted towards the driver only. INCREDIBLE. You truly feel like you are the captain of the starship enterprise. Everything is available at you closest fingertips without reach. Stereo: button an elbow reach away. windows: drop the elbow and push the button, etc. Even in the Scud, I had to reach for controls. As for the steering wheel controls, it is so intuitive that you can't believe you've been using stalks as long as we have in cars. Your turn signals, wipers, everything at the easy touch of a button. And all placed in a very user friendly location. Hands gripped at 9 and 3 makes the thumbs available to use the turn signals.....And don't listen to Clarkson's complaint of them being confusing with the wheel upside down...after all, who turns on the turn signal AFTER starting into a turn?

The dash is a marvel too.....another Clarkson flub. You can see your speed in the left indicator window even with navigation on the right screen. The visuals in the car are so advanced over the 430 it isn't even a competition. The cabin fit and finish is incredible. Ferrari is finally recognizing that they need to step up simple things like a decent stereo, like quality leather and stitching, etc.

The sound? Some don't like the quietness of the car at idle. Rev the engine and all of those worries are gone. Agreed it is a remarkably quiet car at idle but this engine sounds magnificent at speed. And switch the Manetinno to race for a true symphony. Some call the new exhaust note "synthesized"....call it what you want. It sounds better than the Scud and if it is synthesized, sue me. The problem I always had with the Scud was that you only heard the tantalizing exhaust note at 3.5 rpms and 6.5....with the 458, the note is aggressive when you stomp on the gas all the way through the rpm range. INCREDIBLE! Also addicting is the popping and gargling the car does when you left off the gas at higher revs....truly a great sound!

Speed? How could it be that this car feels so much faster than the Scud. Are you kidding me??? The spped in this car is very jekyle and hyde.....one second you are slowly crusing and with a gentle touch of the gas the car explodes like a banshee on steroids. In the Scud, you always have to have the car above 4000 rpms to truly get the car to blast. Not so here. Torque like a mad man!! Head snapping feeling which is like you are in control of the fastest roller coaster on the planet!

The dual clutch. Oh, thank heavens for this clutch. Every prior F1 I have owned should be removed from the car and thrown into the junk yard for replacement with this technology. Ferrari finally figured it out. Out for a leisurely drive? Simply allow the shifts to be effortless flicks of the fingers and feel the slight pull immediately upon shift. Out to plow through the gears? Step on the gas and blip the paddles to feel how smooth and seamless the shifting is. And the torque after banging a gear upshift is addicting. I thought the Scud was a marvelous upgrade over the 430 and CS. This makes the Scud seem like fossil technology. Trust me, I am not trying to bash the Scud. It is a beast, but banging through gears in this 458 is a marvel that must be tried before you bash me.

Driveability? How could it be that they outdid the Scud here? I'm not a track guy so I can't profess to compare the 458 and Scud on anything other than the road but the steering is much much more direct and stable than the Scud. Some seem to be calling this "overly sensitive". 2 turns lock to lock doesn't mean it has to be overly sensitive. I find it amazingly direct to the driver. I feel able to make moves and corner better than I did in the Scud. I feel it makes me a better driver and that impressed the sh*& out of me the moment I took the wheel of this car! the car is also so well planted and nimble. It is actually surprising how nimble this car is. Almost like driving an Elise on major steroids. You cannot believe the grip on this car! My car is equipped with the latest Pirelli Corsas so that helps alot!

Gianni really built another impressive car here! the white is so perfect a color for this car. It truly shows the lines of the car and is so well contrasted by the gun powdered sport wheels and the grey side skirts. The yellow calipers, center caps and shields finish it out to perfection. The interior with the black leather sport seats are CRAZY cool. The white stitching makes the interior POP!

For those doubting the looks or ability of this car, make a point of checking it out in person before passing this one up. you will not regret it. If it wasn't for my friend Bob Craig (a member of this Board), I may have passed up on the opportunity to own this very special car!

I will give a more detailed summary after I get more time behind the wheel. For now, I hope this gives a good first impression of the car.

cheers,

Joe Mac
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