A lighter, faster, more-hardcore Ferrari 458 called the 458 Speciale has scampered into South Africa after its 2013 Frankfurt International Motor Show debut, and SACarFan was invited to attend the exclusive unveiling event in Johannesburg… Veuve Clicquot bubbly and all. Ferrari has a reputation of lightening their mid-engined supercars and creating memorable race-focussed machines with equally improbable price tags as a result. But let’s leave the sordid matter of coin out of the equation for now, because the Ferrari 458 Speciale is a dream machine and it’s one vehicle that genuinely gives you chills the moment you climb inside it.
A clinical, unashamedly stripped-out interior plastered with bare carbon fibre on the doors greets any occupant who climbs behind the wheel. No carpets, racing harnesses, and no unnecessary garnish on the inside of this Ferrari 458 suggests this car foregoes the fanaticism of regularly-plush Ferraris, and performs like the razor-edged, track-honed beast we can only dream about experiencing one day for ourselves at full throttle. The drivers view is dominated by three simple dials, and the exquisite and somehow brutal coming together of soft alcantara and sporty red-stitching surrounds you in the cabin. Ferrari say the majority of the 90 kg lost on the 458 Speciale comes from the stripped-out interior, I can believe that.
Ferrari runs a Ferrari 458 Challenge racing series, and experiences grained on the race track in the field of aerodynamics, the engine, and trick on-board electronics have trickled down to the 458 Speciale. The result is a car that easily outperforms iconic cars from Ferrari’s illustrious past – think Ferrari Enzo and F40 (the car that arguably first put into play the much-loved, modern, light-weight Ferrari) – and is only 0.5 of a second behind the Ferrari F12, the most-powerful Ferrari ever, around the Fiorano test track.
The Ferrari 458 Speciale has a power hike to 445 kW and 540 Nm of torque but loses 90 kg of weight (now 1290 kg) and gains an ‘extraordinary aerodynamic efficiency,’ according to Ferrari. Although it’s not like the regular Ferrari 458 was exactly a bread van to start with, let’s be honest. The Ferrari 458’s rapturous normally-aspirated 4.5-litre V8 engine gets a new intake and exhaust system, reshaped cam profiles, forged internals and coatings to further reduce friction. Compression is up to a mega 14:1 ratio and that combines with the Speciale’s seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which has been recalibrated to shift gear in 0.1 of a second and allow for totally savage response.
Out and out performance figures: 0 – 100 km/h is romped past in a trifling 3.0 seconds and a top speed of 325 km/h. Ferrari say the 458 Speciale laps their Fiorano test track 1.5 seconds quicker than the regular 458; a car that already lapped quicker than a Ferrari Enzo, don’t forget. To achieve this Ferrari is taking active aerodynamic components to a whole new level in road-going cars.
Clever aspects of the Pininfarina-styled car are that it adopts different attitudes while cornering for downforce, and on straights where drag reduction is paramount. This is courtesy of the new front spoiler, vertical air curtain, rear diffuser and more aggressive rear spoiler. A front spoiler deploys at around 140 km/h and the rear aerodynamic affects come into play at over 170 km/h. So clearly Ferrari has no issue with this car exceeding the speed limits. Try explaining that to the traffic officer who pulls you over. Vertical aerodynamics on the sides of the 458 Speciale also keep the car stable at high-speed, without the need of big rear spoiler.
Here is the ear-splitting promo video of the Ferrari 458 Speciale:
