Italia Speciale

Those tires will definitely become available in Italia sizes. It is just a matter of time.

However, they are Cup tires and as such will be amazing in the dry at temps of 65F and higher but as you get colder, or wetter, those tires will be no where as good as the MPSS.

I would be tempted to try these tires for my Italia as well because I only drive in the nice weather but the MPSS is already so good and its nice to have the extra 10-15F of better grip in the tires.

And FWIW, I agree that a lot of the improvement in the Speciale could be replicated with stickier tires and a few suspension tweaks- not that you would get all of it- but you could get 50-60% of the improvement. Special models are always going to offer diminishing returns for the price you pay, however, for some it will be worth it. For others it won't. The Italia is already so stunning, I think you have really got to want more of a raw, in your face driving experience to go for the Speciale.

 

The folks at Ferrari told me that, provided the car is not lowered too much and has no wheel spacers or ones that are adequately wide, the Italia's oem 20i. wheels are wide enough to accommodate the Speciale's tires which are just 10mm wider on the back and the front than the Italia's.

The only concern might be that the Italia's TPMS (tire pressure monitor system) might send out inaccurate info or error/warning signals since it is not the usual tire used, but this is just speculation. This would mean that all those owners with larger diameter wheels and larger tires would get notices from the TPMS which I don't see as being the case.

I will put the 305/35 20 spec tyre in the back of my Italia when I get the next set of tyres to have an even more aggressive stance in the back, will keep everyone posted on the TPMS's behavior

PS the front ones will remain the stock 235/35 20s as my car is too low and has 15mm spacers in the front so I cannot add another 10mm tire width in the front.

The mods continue

 

FYI placing larger tires on back and same size up front will induce more understeer than stock. You may not like that...

 

Yes I heard the same, the new cup tires contributed half of the performance improvement over the Italia, it was stated by Ferrari.

It make sense, tire compound always make a huge differences on a car's performance. Performance wise, the Speciale is really just -200 lbs +30 hp with a slightly firmer suspension and a hair quicker shifting and steering. The performance gain is very negligible.

 

The TPMS only measure the tire pressure, the size of the wheel and tire have no effect on it's operation.

Yes 305/35 would fit on your Italia's 10.5" wheel, but it would change the shape of the size wall as it would bulges more on a narrower wheel. Effectively making the handling more mushy on the rear, not to mention it would increase understeer if your front tire stay the same size.

 

It really depends on the tires. With some manufacturers the mold they use for a 305 can be so close to their 295 mold that the 305 really isn't much wider in practice. With so many 458 Italia owners out there, I am sure Michelin will also produce a 295 tire at some point.

 

I have put 245/35/20 tires on front wheels of my italia instead of 235/35/20 stock tires which are little skinny for stock 8,5" wide front wheels.

With the increased side wall, the car raised 3,5 mm from the floor but also tires fill 3,5 mm more in fender gaps. The front contact patch has increased and steering wheel feel got better. I lowered front of my car by 13mm and rear by 10mm so as a result my italia is leveled with increased front tire side wall. I recommend it.

 

Reviving this thread - the new Speciale has 305/30 profile rears as opposed to the Italia's 295/35; so fitting the new Michelins will reduce the gearing. Looking at an on-line tire / profile checker, the overall diameter decreases by over 3% and drops the rear ride height by 1/2"
The fronts are the same profile just 10mm wider so as 'pride355' says, it raises the front by just over an 1/8"
I'm checking all this out, as I'm looking at fitting Speciale rims, and as they're 1/2" wider, i'll fit wider rubber to suit. Looks like it will have to be Pirelli P Zeros as they do matching 245/35 & 305/35 sizes. These are homologated for the F12 (I think), but not the 458.
Wondering now though if this will have impact on Ferrari warranties / insurance???
G

 

Yuck. I'd find another solution, but that's just me.