458 vs 360 in terms of maintainence

The 458 has chains instead of belts on the cams! That alone saves a bunch.

 

There's a huge drop off in maintenance from the 360 to the F430. There's more drop off from the F430 to the 458 because the 458 has no clutch. But aside from that, there are pretty similar. Neither need the engine out to do regular service.

Yearly maintenance on a 458 is about $1200 if you don't have the 7 year plan that started in 2012 MY.

Tires though will set you back a few grand and you don't want to know what a brake job costs.

The 458 is the most economical and reliable car they have built to date. Early cars had gearbox problems but most of those have been sorted out. It's pretty rare that we hear people saying they have a gearbox problem today. Or, any major problem for that matter.

 

+ 1

 

As mentioned, the 458 motor has timing chains, as opposed to belts. Belt replacement on the 360 is a hassle. I was going to replace the belts on my 360 myself, but ended up just selling the car (I also had just bought a motorcycle, so I wasn't driving the 360 hardly ever by that stage). Motors which employ a timing chain generally can go many, many more miles before you have any issues relating to the timing chain/wear.

The 458 uses a dual clutch transmission. Check youtube or online and you can find a lot of great information. If I'm not mistaken, it uses a multi clutch setup, similar to a motorcycle clutch pack, which distributes wear across many more discs. More importantly, however, the transmission uses dual input shafts, so instead of the clutch disengaging the power from the motor across the gears, think of it more like you have two transmissions and there is always one on "standby" waiting to flip into action. Because of this, the gearbox as a whole tend to be more bullet proof. Naturally, everything wears, but most Ferrari dealers will basically tell you that the gearbox on the 458 is designed to last the life of the car - if not longer. Outside of some sort of failure, I think in terms of wear and durability, they are probably not far off the mark.

With that said, it pays to take care of your drivetrain. Myself, I am near fanatical about putting the car into N when at rest (such as when at a signal, etc.). I usually pull back both paddles and coast to a stop - or at the very least, go into N if I'm going to be at a stop light for more than 5 seconds. The other thing is to allow the car to get up to temp before driving too hard. Myself, I drive 5 or 6 miles very gently before pushing the car. I also never use Auto mode. Nothing against auto mode, but I just feel like shifting myself allows me to keep the car in the proper gear - in auto mode, the ECU shifts up into 7th gear almost immediately when driving. I prefer to match the gear to the speed and RPM's.

As far as overall construction and build quality, I find it to be about the same as the 360 more or less. The interior is nice overall, but not any sort of quantum leap forward. The dash and LCD stuff is very nice, however. The controls (with the possible exception of the radio stuff) is also very nice once you get used to it.

I'm getting ready to change the oil on my 458 and will post some photos and information. There's already a DIY for the 458 oil change, which I will be using to guide me.

I think if you are looking for a car you can use as a daily driver, which will not break the bank in terms of maintenance, the 458 Italia should definitely be right up there on the list.

Ray

 

Oh, in terms of the brakes...

Outside of track use, I suspect the CCM brake pads will last quite a while on the street. I have 7500 miles on my car and the pads have very little wear. Stock pads are 10 mm in thickness (approximately) and my car currently has less than 3 mm wear in front and less than 2 mm wear in the rear pads.

I have new pads sitting here for the car, which I'll install down the road. The entire set (both front and rear pads) cost about $2500; I plan to do the installation myself. Via Ferrari, I think it's more along the lines of $5K for the pads, plus a couple hours of service (if I recall correctly).

Ray

 

Seemed like some sensor on the 360 spider would need to be replaced...usually one a year. Had about 24k miles when traded for the 458 spider. It squeeked popped and rattled.

2012 458 spider no sensors replaced and have 25k+ miles. Also no squeeks, pops or rattles. Like brand new. I like that.

 

RayJohns - if you are fanatical about wear reduction, I just started to experiment with placing the manettino above Race on dry roads. You'd be surprised how much the brakes are employed under normal driving in the lower modes. Use caution and enjoy.

 

Yes! No lights flash on the dash, but the system is definitely active in the lower modes. Same was true on my (ex)Jag XFR. To manage the weight and torque, the system would really work the brakes in the rear, so much so the pads wore out faster than the fronts!

But I don't go above Race mode in street driving. I'd rather put wear on the brakes than end up hitting something when the unexpected happens. You can minimize intervention and wear by being smooth, just like track driving where "slow is fast".

As to maintenance, the 360 has so many known issues that require upkeep, but so long as nothing breaks, they're similar but for the timing belt issue. For example, to help keep your 360's heat exchanger from self-destructing, you should change the coolant every year. I do that annually on the 458, too, even though I'm not even sure it has a heat exchanger issue.

But on 360s, ball joints and other suspension joints seem to wear quickly; a consumable almost like brakes. 360 alternators don't hold up well. It's been replaced twice in 30k miles, although the first replacement was a rebuilt. Never do that again. 360 exhaust temp ECUs can fail, throwing Slow Down lights. Knock on wood, so far none of these seem to be cropping up on 458s.

 

Which 458 production year(s) have gearbox issue? Was there a recall or were they replaced under warranty?

 

Thanks for the tip on that!

Myself, I normally drive the car in CT OFF mode as a rule. I only use Sport mode if I want to quiet down the exhaust for a bit or something (such as in town or when I drive back into my neighborhood, etc.)

Ray