Lack of power in 4th gear

Hi !

Just got back from annual service at the dealer. We did a full fluid change on my 2011 458 and also installed a Forza Componenti valve controller. My Pirelli P Zeros were worn out, so we replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.

The car seems to be in excellent health, but I noticed something on the highway. While overtaking in 4th gear, it felt like the car was slightly down on power.

To be sure, I went for a test drive the following day, including a quarter-mile run using launch control. The car performed very well—around 11 seconds—and felt strong in higher RPMs, especially in 4th gear (between 6,000 and 9,000 RPM).

This could just be the nature of a naturally aspirated engine—or maybe it’s subjective—but is it possible for the car to underperform below 5,000 RPM for some reason? I understand it’s not a turbocharged engine, but overall, it feels like the car was more responsive in intermediate gears before...

Car has no lights on, so diagnosis wise I think nothing to mention yet.

Thanks!

 

Not sure, but from anecdotal experience only, I've never felt that my 458 felt particularly urgent below 6,000RPM in fourth gear. I'd always be changing down to third if requiring some extra grunt - as you say, it's not a turbocharged engine and isn't as torquey as the 488 (458 is 398 lb/ft @6000RPM, whereas 488 is 561 lb/ft at 3,000RPM !).