The Ferrari 458 Italia Is Here!

A new Ferrari hitting the street is a bit more exciting than most other automotive debuts. I mean, do you care that there's gonna be a new Chevy Aveo?  No.  But have you been holding your breath just to see a few more photos of the prancing horse's latest and greatest?  I bet you have!

Well go ahead and exhale, because Ferrari has put out more information, and a ton more pictures, on the upcoming 458 Italia - the replacement for the beloved F430.

Although the  car's official debut it still pegged at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Ferrari really can't keep the tiger in it's cage, and has been slipping out little details the last few weeks to keep everyone excited - as if it's necessary.  It doesn't hurt that these are real in-the-flesh photos, not CGI renderings as well.

I have to say, from what I've seen so far I'm a big fan of the 458's styling, which isn't something I can say about other recent Ferrari developments - like the California Spyder and the 612 Scaglietti.  It manages to be 100% Ferrari, yet a bit futuristic at the same time.  You can tell that perhaps too much math was used in the design of this car - I mean, it's a Ferrari, it's supposed to be an emotional experience not a mathematical one - but if it's up to the standards of the 599 GTB, then perhaps it'll benefit from all those slide rules and trigonometry.  It's still got visual ties to the 360 and 430, but at the same time it looks more exotic and less classic.  Very nice; I wish other brands were styling with this kind of bravery and originality these days.

It's just striking how well integrated the whole design is.  For instance, this rear fender is shaped to provide a clean runner surface for the twin intakes, as well as cold air for the radiator.  Even Lamborghini and Audi can't do this kind of ultra-smooth work; check out the giant gashes and strakes on the Murcielago LP670-4 SV or the R8.

Even the headlight surround has become an effortless intake path, without looking overdone or awkward.  The more you peer into this well of design, the more surprises you find.  Top notch.

This time around, Ferrari's spent a little more effort designing the interior of the 458, and it shows.  It's IKEA minimalistic but at the same time, not really missing anything.  The idea behind the interior design was to centralize secondary controls as close as possible to the driver, for increased focus on the task of driving.  This means the signal indicators, high beam, flash-to-pass and windshield wiper controls are now all on the steering wheel boss, and the stereo controls are  on the back of the wheel where they fall readily to hand.  The paddle shifters are even longer now, Ferrari says because it makes shifts easier from any steering angle.  Glad someone thought of this.  The controls for the variable shock damping is right next to the "engine start" button where it falls naturally to hand - they're really thought all this over.

There are two "satellite pods" on each side of the steering wheel, with controls centralized in those.  The right pod controls all the useless crap you don't need - "infotainment" (love these synergystic words!), Bluetooth, satnav controls, digital speedometer and rear parking camera.  The left pod houses controls for the cruise control, and the neat integrated TFT computer screen in the dash.

That computer display shows data from the Vehicle Dynamics Assistance system, which monitors the condition of three critical components - the engine, tires, and brakes.  It displays "WARM" (meaning the systems are approaching operating temperature), "GO" (You're good to go!) and "OVER" (stop before you blow a head gasket!)  Perhaps overkill, but still pretty cool.

This is really the important part, though.  We've already discussed the 458's technical attributes here before, but let's reiterate.  The direct-injected 4.5L V8 spits out 562 horsepower, and winds up to an impressive 9,000rpms before the fuel cut brings the fun to a stop.  It's mated to a 7-speed twin dry clutch DSG-style automated manual transmission, and will have launch control. You know that's gonna be fun.

I suspect we'll find out more about the 458 Italia during the official debut at the Frankfurt show, but it seems like most all of the cards are already on the table.  Still, stayed tuned for more on the 458 Italia as the show approaches.