Hello, this is my first message but I have been lurking around for a bit. Great community, I am sure you can help me with some useful info I am looking at purchasing my first Ferrari. I live in Denmark, where taxes on cars are outrageous. A car costs 2.5x more than anywhere else in Europe! For this reason, I am trying to make sure that the car I pick is the right one for me, as I don't want to regret my choice. I drove a 458, 488, F8, 812 and SF90, and I am settling on the 458. It is hard to describe but, even if this is my first supercar, I must say that the sound, the vibrations, handling and the general feeling of being on a 458 is incomparable with the others. 488 and F8 are faster and generally "better", but they felt a bit "dull". The 812 is a monster but I discovered that I prefer mid engines and, on top of it, it has too much of a GT for my liking. So, I am settling on a 458. Now I am looking for the right one. Which is a problem by itself, given the current market in Europe. I am not decided yet between a 458 and a 458 speciale (I'd love the Aperta, but in DK it will cost me 1.8m+ USD and it is overbudget ). In the hope to help me decide, I have a few questions, especially for the lucky ones who have both of them. 1. The price difference on a well spec'd model seems to be around +50%. To me, it looks like the difference is justified by the scarcity, the different driving experience, and the higher quality of the engine. Is it true, or is the Speciale simply off? 2. I am not making an investment, I am buying something that I want to enjoy. But truth is that, by living in DK, I will most likely drive the car for 6 months a year, and given my current lifestyle, this means using it ~40 days a year. I will probably put 3/4k miles on it a year. Given this, and given the fact that I know myself and I will find myself looking for a replacement car in max 3 years, will a Speciale + 10/12k miles going to depreciate drastically and be very hard to resell? I am looking at cars with max 10k miles. Which is, as I understood it, is kind of an hard limit already. 3. Are the maintenance costs of the 458 Speciale particularly higher than a standard 458? I presume the engine is more delicate? 4. Both are getting old-ish. Do you suggest a warranty extension, or just bite the bullet and deal with the extra expenses if anything bad happens? 5. Does the color matter a lot? I love unusual specs (which there are not many of for the 458s, but I saw a blue Nard one with golden rims, golden stripes and copper callipers that looked stunning), but I am genuinely worried of end up being stuck with the car forever. 6. Last but not least: for a long weekend, is the 458 speciale too uncomfortable due to the noise, seating and stiffness? AKA: will I find myself regretting not having bought a regular 458 after 1 full day of driving my speciale? Thanks a lot - sorry if I have piled a lot of questions here but I am clearly in the paralysis by analysis phase Best!
Had both. In regards to #6, both you can get with race seats, and they are THE most comfortable of the styles, and look miles better than the dated Daytonas FWIW. Speciale does not sound as good or as high pitched as regular 458’s also, so no problem there for you as a DD. Personally if I were in the market, at these elevated and foolish prices, I would get 458 and wait for prices to normalize on Speciale’s. #4 the 458’s are very reliable, but at these ages I would opt for an annual warranty. Plenum went on the last 458 twice.
Thanks dustman. Regarding the prices, I am unsure if they are going to correct or not. I feel that the 458 will hold their value decently, even more the 458 Speciale. They went up 30% over the past 2 years, that's true, but at the same time Ferrari is not going to make a NA V8 anymore, so I am bullish on the fact that if a correction there is, it will be for -10% or so, and as we approach the "end of ICE cars", they will go up a bit. It feels to me the 458 can be an all time classic. But only time can tell, and. I am not here to make an investment. Just want to pick something that will not dip too much too quickly, and I feel that the 488, for example, will be that kind of a car. Pista too, it looks like they have made quite a few.
1. Different driving experience, in a word, yes. Consider it a steroid bump for those who can appreciate it - a bit quicker on its feet, a bit more responsive, a bit lighter and nimble, of which the summation enhances the titillating driving experience. 2. Market is crazy, no future predictions, value is in the driving. Some say future 1 mil car, others say bubble will burst and come down. 3. I have not heard of any catastrophes happening of one over the other. For the most part, quite reliable. 4. CPO if possible, but most are fine without it as well 5. Color does matter upon resale. 6. Super comfortable in the Speciale. Couple points… consider a 458 spider if weather permits. Speciale needs exhaust to perfect F1 symphony, transforms experience. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah, probably "dull" is the wrong adjective. English is not my native language and I didn't know how to describe it properly. If felt super fast and responsive, very powerful, but somewhat too perfect. But yeah, "dull" is probably the wrong pick
Thanks. Wouldn't the exhaust reduce the ability to resell the car? I see a few speciale/458 with Novitec exhausts for example, and I am unsure about purchasing them as I don't know if the average Ferrari owner like modified cars. Regarding the spider: I am considering it, even if DK is not the best country for it. Problem is that there is basically only one in Europe that I'd buy atm - at least on the official circuit. I found a bunch of other interesting spider ones, but they are all enhance by Novitec.
Still, if I find a good one that has Novitec exhausts, do you feel I should not consider it? There are a few cars that have aftermarket carbon/wheels/LED-steering-wheel, and I am also wondering if this will, for any reason, make them harder to resell eventually.
I have the 458 spider (I’m in FL). A wonderful car, totally enjoyable - not perfect. For fun, I added Kline SS cats and exhaust, SME Tune, laser jammer, and shortly, Novitec springs and spacers. With regard to sound, mine is plenty loud and aggressive for me. I’ve heard one with headers and it is too loud for me. The tune removed a lot of the jerkiness at lower RPM, but I didn’t notice any true performance increase. These cars look totally awesome with CF wheels, but I left as stock (because of the roads I drive on). If I had to do it over again, I’d have gotten the Speciale - but not at today’s prices. My car is 8 1/2 years old, 25,000 miles (most of which I’ve put on), and it’s been trouble free. It is driven often, driven hard, and serviced by my local mechanic 2-3x per year for fluids, overall checks, etc. The Prancing Horse is in its greatest state of happiness when it is run hard. This is just me, but I opted out of any extended warranty.
I own a 458 spider (I had an Italia and turned down a Speciale spot) and my buddy a Speciale, not Speciale A. We both love our cars for different reasons. I find the spider is 3 cars in one due to roof and rear window. My buddy had an Italia before his Speciale and has a 991 GT3 touring, old M5, and 993. He says Speciale on a long trip has a droning exhaust. For a 30 minute blast, however, he loves the noise. He pinned his exhaust open to make sure always loudest possible! I would refer you to the original review in the British Magazines : CAR and EVO. You will see that one of them - can't remember which- basically said that while the Speciale turns up the wick, it is not night and day more than a 458. Especially the exhaust. The 458 is a little sweeter sounding. Based on current values, the Speciale has been "free" to drive for 6 years based on resale. It is the ultimate expression of 458 performance, but it is a little less refined for lack of a better word. I.E. road noise, "squeak" sound at high RPM gear change, and squealing brakes are a few trade offs for the increased performance. So, it likely will always carry a premium to the 458. How much, I have absolutely no idea. I drove 488 and F8 and never felt need to trade up. I understand your opinion of the F8 feeling more sterile in its ability to eclipse the handling and speed of the 458. Best
I agree with this. I have a 458 and have been looking at every exhaust option out there. Ultimately I decided the stock exhaust was the perfect volume and pitch. Driving on a city street with buildings on either side and downshifting from 3rd to 2nd with the windows down and you’ll quickly wonder why anyone upgrades the 458 exhaust. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Excellent, thanks a lot for the feedback. I guess that the biggest issue at the moment will be finding the right car. I am deadly impatient, which doesn't fit well with the current market situation! Do you feeling regarding which is the best period of the year when the used market populates with more cars?
It used to be the case that especially spiders were easier to obtain in Winter, but I doubt this is the case w hardtop spiders and Covid pricing.
1. Engines are basically the same. Speciale is tuned to have more HP but same torque. A list of differences can be found here. https://www.hotcars.com/ferrari-458-italia-vs-458-speciale-what-differentiates-these-mid-engined-stallions/ 2. This is difficult to predict. In the U.S., Speciales are more difficult to find and cost more to buy, but tend to depreciate less. But in the U.S. few Speciale owners drive their cars much, so the lower depreciation may be a function also of fewer miles. The traditional wisdom is that the special versions of Ferraris tend to hold their values better. At least in the U.S. 3. Maintenance should be about the same. 4. Warranty extension is a function of risk avoidance. The main failure point of all 458s is the DCT gearbox. And it seems random. Some have experienced its failure and others not. It’s $10k-15k to repair it if the internal sensors fail. Warranty extensions tend to cost $5-6k/year so in 3 years you would break even. If the transmission doesn’t fail, you’re ahead. 5. Color matters but here in the U.S. more for how long it would take to sell. The right buyer who wants a blue car, for example, will pay to get it because there aren’t that many of them. But there are more buyers wanting red ones so it should take less time to sell it. That could be balanced against what other options your car has. If red, it will be competing against other red cars and the well-optioned ones would be purchased ahead of yours if only lightly optioned. 6. The regular 458 is more comfortable for longer trips and has slightly more luggage space. The Speciale is a better “point A to point A” drive. Good luck. Can’t really go wrong with either one! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
If you have a chance for a Speciale don’t pass it up. It is much better and I have driven 13k miles in ours, including many 8 hr days behind the wheel. They got the name right with that car. 458 has sweeter exhaust but drive of the Speciale is intoxicating.
There’s a 458 Speciale for sale on the FCA classifieds with 82,000 miles (for $360k). Not joking. The 458 whether Speciale or Italia is absolutely bulletproof and is among the first generation of Ferrari that can reliably sustain 100k+ miles with just Routine maintenance and not much more. You should have total confidence buying ANY 458 with a clean history and full service records. I have 27k miles on my 458 and plan to hit 100k. I’ll never sell for any 488 or F8. I would only sell my 458 if there was an opportunity to purchase a Speciale at a reasonable price. This is a terminal car, end game. Only cars above this would be next level unobtainable hypercars like the LaFerrari, Enzo, F40, etc. 458 is the absolute pinnacle of Ferrari production supercars. 2010-2015 is the best years in Ferrari history and I think the curve began to go in a downward trend starting with the less than pure 488, and now we’ve got a soulless V6 hybrid 296 GTB that is marketed to the woke nuevo riche. It’s only downhill from here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The engines are different. The Italia has 12.5:1 compression The Speciale has 14.1:1 compression the engine in the Speciale is quite remarkable, it is the best N.A. V8 Ferrari ever made. Speciale write-up from Ferrari.com https://www.ferrari.com/en-RS/auto/458-speciale To achieve these results, Maranello’s engineers maximised the 458’s V8 potential, carrying out detailed refinements to all the components, optimising combustion, volumetric and mechanical efficiency. Ambitious targets set at the design phase included boosting torque across the entire power curve by increasing the compression ratio to 14:1, once again a record for an engine of this layout. Ferrari drew heavily on its extensive F1 knowledge at the design, process and control stages. The engine is produced in the factory’s in-house foundry using the same processes and machinery employed by the F1 team to deliver complex components with the necessary extreme structural and dimensional characteristics. Optimised combustion chamber fluid-dynamics, new intake geometries, and a new cam profile are just some of the adjustments that allowed the designers meet their targets. Other significant factors were the revision of various engine components: new materials for the pistons and the con-rod bushings, for example. The crankshaft geometry was also redesigned as was the intake system, the latter cutting engine weight by eight kg. This very special engine has an equally unique soundtrack that is seductive and uncompromising both inside and outside the car, thanks to the position of the tailpipes, the silencer configuration and a redesigned inlet tract.
I agree re 488, F8. But if you could, would you trade it for an 812 GTS? Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
Exhaust no problem … just keep it attain a stock exhaust to switch back later upon selling. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Is the Kline SS cats 200 cell? I’m considering high flo cats vs decat on my SA. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
