The white 959 showed up for a comparison drive by Gerhard Berger who brought out one of the F40 prototype cars. Even Piero Ferrari came over to observe at Fiorano that day. CH
No, I've proven myself to be worthy of that title many times already! Maybe when I get the Italia you can call me "Moron". Please feel free to call me an idiot anytime!
The title to this thread really is a laugh, too heavy and cushy, well I mean really. Ferraris are not defined by numbers but rather by the experience.
Amadeo Felisa stated the 458 would have a 'two generation' run with 4 years and a major refresh at the start of the second four years. More power in the plan for the 458 development and that was one of the reasons the car was heavier. It was a requirement to meet the extra stress of increased horsepower. From a conversation with Paul Horrell, September of this year. CH
Do you think major refresh could imply a step of the likes of 360->430? I mean, for the 8 cylinders: 355: 1994-1999 360: 1999-2004 430: 2004-2009 I remember reading somewhere that they planned to keep the 8 cylinders on a shorter lifecycle than the 12 cylinders as it has been?
My friend M. Scola told me that there would be a 458 Scud coming soon and that it would be much quicker than the 430 Scud.
What you see as today's 458 is actually already a redesign of the first replacement car styled by Pininfarina for the 430. The first car with it's external air scoops looked too much like the old 430 so the engineers went back to work on internal air management (cooling) changes. This work gave Pininfarina the engineering requirements necessary to clean up the car with a fresh inovative design. One example of that is the design flaps on the nose that close up at higher speeds where cooling is less of a priority. Internal air management got just as much attention as the more commonly thought of external air management (over and under the body) for good downforce but with low drag. The .33 cd achieved seems to be a good compromise. The 'green' focus will probably force greater change in the future than Ferrari would like. The 458 uses the more basic in this league aluminum chassis instead of a carbon tub that McLaren is introducing for their new model. Ferrari states that for a 458 production volume three times what McLaren will be building; aluminum is their best choice. CH
I think the 458 matching the Scuderia's Fiorano lap time is quite impressive. The 'standard' car is performing at a similar level to the outgoing track model. What's wrong with that? As far as the two V8 cars matching/beating the Enzo's Fiorano time, well, the outcome would likely differ on a longer track (or with different tires). Although, at 570hp, the 458 is creeping up on older supercars' power levels. The Scuderia replacement will be quite a car. It'll probably have 600hp, less weight and a more track focused chassis. Geez...what's the Enzo replacement gonna be like??
Sorry but I won't trust Ferrari's word about the 458 record. what are the chances that the enzo, scud, and 458, all have the same lap time. we know that the 458 is faster than the scud, and the scud is the "same" as the enzo; So how is it possible that they have the same time. There is no shame in building a fast and "cheap" car, just go ahead and say it Ferrari: we build a $240k car that's faster than a +$600k older car around our track. it's that simple
Don't be surprised if the updated power to the 458 comes in the form of batteries and electric motors and the V8 will probably stay pretty close to the same if not shrink in weight. That's reading between lines of what the Ferrari engineers are saying.
and one of the best most indestructible rental cars in the world... If I had to choose an H2 or a Town car for serious off road work when I got to Hertz... I made a mistake and got the h2 ONCE... biggest mistake of my life. Town car has never ever let me down. Ive broken out the radiator core support and still drove back 95 miles on 4 cylinders at a time (cylinder deactivation during overheating instances)... absolutely amazing car. Come 2012 ill have a town car in the garage just incase the world ends... ill drive that thing to another planet. I know it will make it
I was talking about records times posted for the 458. it should've been faster than the Enzo. But maybe Ferrai test driver lift off or something. I guess we have to wait for someone else to test it, or three years for me to test it myself
Too heavy too cushy have you people lost your minds. Sure I would've liked the 458 to way in at 2600 lbs. and keep its 562 hp but I think Ferrari hit it out of the park none the less. How about everyone who thinks its too heavy or too cusy waits until they actually drive one before spewing this crap. I wasn't dissappointed with the 430 when it replaced the 360 and I doubt anyone is going to be disappointed with a 458 after driving one either.
i agree, calling this car too heavy too cushy, may be going a bit too far. besides, some cars are beyond specs...it may seem 'heavy' on paper (3,300lbs boohoo), but those who have driven it say it is super duper agile, fast.
