Ferrari 458 Speciale

Ferrari 458 Speciale, the most extreme road-legal from Ferrari has been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show September this year. If we watch it from a naked eye, it appears nothing more than a regular 458 but the content hidden underneath says the whole story making this supercar truly worthy of the “Speciale” insignia. The new model from Ferrari is innovation to new active aerodynamic and traction modification technologies to make it the fastest and capable Ferrari roadster to grace a track. It sports very interesting specs under the hood retaining the same but slightly tuned 4.5L V-8 powertrain from the base 458 Italia. It generates massive power of 596hp and 540Nm of torque. However the torque value remains the same as in the base 458, its horsepower has been increased by 34hp. Ferrari has been claiming this as the highest figure ever achieved by a naturally aspirated road car engine which edges it closer to its opponent McLaren 12c (616bhp). The engine is coupled with a seven-speed F1 dual clutch paddle-shift transmission gearbox. This great combination allows this beast to achieve 100kmph in mere 3 seconds of time reaching the top speed of 325kmph which Ferrari claims the highest lateral acceleration in any of its roadsters. This supercar also features a new Side Slip Angle Control System that instantly senses oversteering and automatically manages torque delivery and distribution via Formula 1-Trac traction control and E-Diff electronic differential. The advance combination of tailored Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 tyres helps in improving balance and traction. The braking system has also been upgraded with the introduction of new calipers inspired from LaFerrari. Not only this, Ferrari 458 Speciale also shows its improved emission ratings with 275g CO2/km against 307g CO2/km in 458 coupe.

The first and foremost thing that to be noticed in this cranked-up 458 Speciale is its graceful red paint job and combination of blue and white stripes lying on it giving it a stunning look. Front fascia of the car has been given much treatment with more sculptured bonnet giving more room for ventilation. It now features a reverse-vented hood which permits free air flow and help reduce drag. Rear has striking similarity to the racecar with larger diffuser and dual integrated exhaust pipes replacing the standard 458’s trio tailpipes. Ferrari in its latest offering has installed a heavily tailored front skirt which it has named “moveable aerodynamics” that increases downforce and help in lower dragging. As per other aerodynamic enhancing mods, they can be seen easily seen as on the outer edges of the front clothing, a wide opening and reverse-vented hood. In addition to this, Ferrari also reduced this supercar’s weight to 1290kg from stock weight of 1380kg.

The interiors of the car follow the architecture of Italia with a few elegant and purposeful modifications. Sabelt racer seats are affixed featuring standard carbon-fiber shells with presence of Alcantara. The glovebox and carpets have been omitted. The steering wheel inside are perfectly carved holding loads of buttons without any ordinary audio and cruise controlling functions. The lower right of the car, there is housed in a carbon fiber insert, the red Manetinno commutator switch that controls all five performance settings. The lower left holds Scarlet engine start key, when pushed coughs to life like a challenging monster clearing the throat after waking from a deep sleep. As far as instrument cluster is concerned, it has received a yellow-face treatment displaying “458 Speciale” on the screen. Ferrari claims that some of the first time introduced innovative features will make way for its future road cars to come with SSC and active aerodynamic dead certs. The core engineering philosophy revolves around pushing the cover with each new model and at the same time maintaining the inherent chassis balance and handling, ensuring that even amateur can get maximum driving pleasure. As far as competition is concerned, the newest addition from Ferrari will lock horns with Lamborghini Gallardo Squadra Corse 2013. As for now, unfortunately the model presented by Ferrari is a concept model to show off future technology to its potential buyers, so we are not expecting this prancing horse hitting our showrooms soon. But it is sure that Ferrari will release Speciale’s price and production number soon and it is expected to bear a price tag of around US$ 400,000 (INR. 25204800.00).