Ferrari unveiled the 458 Spider at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.
This convertible variant of the 458 Italia features an aluminium retractable hardtop which, according to Ferrari, weighs 25 kilograms (55 lb) less than a soft roof such as the one found on the Ferrari F430 Spider, and can be retracted in 14 seconds.[15][16] The engine cover has been redesigned to cope with the retractable roof system. Ferrari plans to make 1,500-2,000 458 Spiders every year. It has the same 0-62 time as the hard-top but it will only do 198 mph (319 km/h).
Design
The small aeroelastic winglets generate downforce and, as speed arises, deform to reduce the section of the radiator intake and cut drag.
The body was designed by Pininfarina, as with all recent Ferrari models. The car’s exterior styling and features were designed for aerodynamic efficiency, producing a downforce of 140 kg (309 lb) at 124 miles per hour (200 km/h). In particular, the front grille features deformable winglets that lower at high speeds, in order to offer reduced drag. 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 their being on the dashboard, similar to racing car designs.
According to British car magazine Autocar, the 458 Italia's design has drawn inspiration from the Enzo Ferrari and its Millechili concept car. It has been designed to be Ferrari's sportiest V8-engined car, to distinguish itself from the recently launched Ferrari California.
The 458 was also reviewed on 15th season of Top Gear, where it received acclaim for its styling and performance. In a drag race against a Ferrari F430, it won by a considerable margin. The car also lapped the Top Gear test track in 1:19.1, just 0.1 seconds slower than the Ferrari Enzo.
Handling
Rear
The car's suspension features double 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% when compared with its predecessors.
The brakes include a prefill function whereby the pistons in the calipers move the pads into contact with the discs on lift off to minimize delay in the brakes being applied.
This combined with the ABS has reduced 100–0 km/h (62-0 mph) braking distance to 32.5 metres (107 ft).
The adaptive magnetorheological dampers are co-developed with BWI Group.
Performance
Ferrari's official 0-100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration is under 3.4 seconds, while top speed is over 325 km/h (202 mph), with a fuel consumption in combined cycle (ECE+EUDC) 13.3 L/100 km (21.2 mpg-imp; 17.7 mpg-US) while producing 307g/km of CO2.
Engine
The 458 Italia is powered by a 4.5 L (270 cu in) V8 engine derived from a shared Ferrari/Maserati design, producing 570 PS (419 kW; 562 hp) at 9,000 rpm (redline) and 540 N·m (398 lb·ft) at 6,000 rpm with 80% torque available at 3,250 rpm.
The engine features direct fuel injection, which is a first for Ferrari mid-engine setups in its road cars.
Transmission
The only transmission available on the 458 is a dual-clutch 7-speed GETRAG gearbox, in a different state of tune shared with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
There is no traditional manual option, making this the fourth road-car after the Enzo, Challenge Stradale and 430 Scuderia not to be offered with Ferrari's classic gated manual. It is the first mainstream model to not be offered with a manual transmission.
No comments:
Post a Comment