Ferrari 458
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The Ferrari 458 Italia is a sports car to be produced by the Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari, as the replacement for the Ferrari F430.
Ferrari has not announced a price or even the start-date for production, but images have been released to the press. Ferrari will officially launch the car on September 15, 2009 at the Frankfurt Motor Show[2][3] and at Ferrari's Galleria Ferrari museum simultaneously.[3]
Specifications
In Ferrari's first official announcement of the car, the 458 Italia was described as the successor to the F430 but arising from an entirely new design, incorporating technologies developed from the company's experience in Formula 1.[4]
Engine
The Template:Auto cc V8 engine was rated Template:Auto PS at 9000 rpm (redline) and Template:Auto Nm at 6000 rpm with 80% torque available at 3250 rpm.[4] The engine features direct fuel injection, a first for Ferrari mid-rear engine setups in its road cars.[4]
Transmission
The standard transmission is dual-clutch 7-speed F1 transmission, similar to the Ferrari California.[4].
Handling
The car's suspension will feature twin wishbones at the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear, coupled with E-Diff and F1-Trac traction control systems, designed to improve the car's cornering and longitudinal acceleration by 32% compared to its predecessors.[4]
The brakes include a prefill function whereby the pistons in the callipers move the pads into contact with the discs on lift off to minimise delay in the brakes being applied. This combined with the ABS has reduced 100-0 km/h (62-0 mph) braking distance to a 32.5 metres (107 ft).[5]
Performance
Ferrari's official 0-Template:Auto kmh acceleration is less than 3.4 seconds, while top speed is over Template:Auto kmh, with and fuel consumption in combined cycle (ECE+EUDC) 13.7 L/100 km (20.6 mpg‑imp; 17.2 mpg‑US) while producing 320g/km of CO2.[6]
Design
The car was designed by Pininfarina, as with all recent Ferrari models. The car’s exterior styling and features was designed for aerodynamic efficiency, producing a downforce of 140 kg at 124 miles per hour (200 km/h).[4] The car's interior was designed using input from former Ferrari Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher, including a new steering wheel design which incorporates many features and controls as opposed to them being on the dashboard, similar to racing car designs.[4]
According to Autocar, the 458 Italia's design has drawn inspiration from the Ferrari Enzo and its Mille Chili concept car. [7] It has been designed to be Ferrari's sportiest V8-engined car, to distinguish itself from the recently launched Ferrari California.[7]
References
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External links
- Official Ferrari 458 Italia page
- Motor Authority Ferrari 458 Italia First Look
- Ferrari 458 Italia Color Options Gallery
- ^ a b c d e "Ferrari Announces the 458 Italia as the F430 Successor, Counts Down to Frankfurt Debut". italiaspeed.com. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ "Ferrari 458 Italia - Hallowed be thy name". AUSmotive.com. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ a b Ferrari.com official 458 Italia homepage
- ^ "Ferrari 458 Italia". Inautonews. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ Officially Official: Ferrari 458 Italia announced!
- ^ a b Ferrari 458 Italia revealed, Autocar.co.uk
- ^ Ferrari 458 to hopefully save the Italian automaker