2012 Ferrari 458 Spider: A brilliant masterstroke
The pinnacle for an automobile journalist and the dream of any self-respecting diehard is driving a new Ferrari in the country where it was born. I happen to be both, and I accomplished this feat during the international launch of the Ferrari 458 Spider a few days after it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Talk about hitting the jackpot!
The Spider is the convertible version of the 458 Italia coupe that has been winning awards and plaudits since 2010 when the model debuted. It also becomes the first car with a central engine fitted with a retractable top. Its ancestors at Ferrari had always featured soft-tops, including the F430, which precedes it on this legendary manufacturer’s family tree.
Most surprisingly, the 458 Spider’s hard-top, made of aluminum like the rest of the Spider, is actually 25 kilos lighter than the F430 Spider’s soft-top. Overall, the car outweighs the coupe by only 50 kilos. The F430 Spider was 70 kg heavier. They began designing the roof at the same time as the California, which became the first Ferrari with a retractable hard-top in 2009, was being developed.
A simple, brilliant solution
The designers and engineers drew their inspiration from the roof of the 575 Superamerica, which was produced in limited quantities. The principle is remarkably simple: you press a button, a panel opens behind the cabin, the two sections of the roof separate and do a 180-degree backflip to land flat, one on top of the other, in a thin compartment above the engine. The panel closes and the whole thing takes only 14 seconds.
However, the Spider has to be completely stopped for this to work. No putting the top down while moving like with some other cars. The mechanism is quiet, wonderfully simple and the folded panels take up just 100 litres (this type of roof usually eats up 200 to 300 litres of space).
There’s a seven inch high pane of glass between the two streamlined supports that serve as a roll bar behind the seats. Wind tunnel tests demonstrated that seven inches is the ideal height to minimize turbulence. That’s true, but it can still be raised or lowered entirely. Even at very high speed, the comfort and the fun of driving with the top down are absolute.
Excellent genes
The 458 Spider is one of the most beautiful hard-top convertibles ever, but it has neither the coupe’s fluid elegance nor its large window to see the red cylinder heads, as the roof compartment hides three-quarters of the show. For the same reason, the engine air intakes had to be moved to the back. Careful attention was paid to aerodynamics and the tailend looks as though it was sculpted by the wind. The 0.33 drag coefficient is identical to that of the coupe and the Spider features the same aerodynamic cunning. According to Ferrari, its maximum speed is 320 km/hr versus 325 km/hr for the Italia.
The Spider was designed at Pininfarina and its style is pure Ferrari. From the side and from the back – with the top up – it is somewhat reminiscent of the Enzo. I also see the 206 and the fabulous P3 and P4 in its smooth and rounded flanks. There’s even some of the 246, the 308 and its successors in the slender surfaces that frame the rear window. It’s in good company.
The mechanics are just as noble. The engine is the same dual overhead cam 4.5-litre V8 with fuel injection that comes in the coupe. Its 570 horses at 9,000 rpm are a record for fuel rating at some 127 horses per litre. The torque (398 lbs-ft at 6,000 rpm) is transmitted to the rear wheels by way of a seven-speed automated dual-clutch gearbox built by Getrag and programmed by Ferrari.
There are three round buttons on the console for automatic mode, reverse and launch control mode. Press the third one and Ferrari promises you a 0-100 km/hr time of 3.4 seconds like the coupe, despite its extra weight. The transmission is nearly perfect. It shifts smoothly when going through an Italian village at 40 km/hr or pins your back to the seat every time you pull the carbon fibre control to the right of the steering wheel when the needle hits 9,000 rpm on the large yellow indicator straight ahead. The gear changes are precise, sharp and immediate. And the same goes for downshifting. Pure pleasure.
A cheetah in its natural habitat
The folks at Ferrari had planned a trip of about 300 kilometres for the 458 Spider test drive on the roads of Emilia-Romagna where it was developed and fine-tuned by the young Raffaele De Simone and the legendary Dario Benuzzi, the Cavallino Rampante’s test pilots.
Some forty kilometres from Ferrari’s stronghold of Maranello, we depart from the hotel near Reggio nell'Emilia heading toward the lunch on the Ligurian coast on the Mediterranean near Carrara’s marble quarries. The morning saw us snake through the narrow, winding roads of the Apennines; in the afternoon we returned on a strip of highway cutting through the mountains.
Our hosts probably hoped we wouldn’t overeat because the afternoon was going to be very intense. With the help of maps and the GPS, we even cheated on the way back in order to drive as much as possible and try a thing or two. I was riding with Jim Kenzie, an old friend, who wrote the texts on the Ferrari FF and the Lamborghini Aventador in the most recent Guide de l’auto.
Among other things, we treated ourselves three times to the long and ultrafast curves of highway A15 near Berceto, which Ferrari’s Matteo Corte spoke to us about. We got on and off so often that we broke the highway toll system, but it was worth it. The speed of the 458’s steering is unprecedented. Its ratio is about 11.6:1, while the norm is 16 to 18:1 for a sports car with a central engine.
According to Matteo Lanzavecchia, director of technical development in Maranello, Ferrari gets away with it thanks to the stability of the 458’s multi-link rear suspension. In long, fast curves, the Spider remains glued to the pavement, but you’ll have to steer carefully as it really wants to turn. Conversely, you’ll quickly get used to taking on the sharpest turns on winding roads by crossing your forearms without letting go of the wheel for even a split second.
Multiple personalities
That’s where the decision to put a maximum of controls on the 458’s steering wheel, like in a Formula One car, makes perfect sense. There are commands and buttons for the windshield wipers, high beams, turn signals, shock absorber settings for bumpy roads and a big button to start the engine. It’s not easy at first, but it’s worth the time it’ll take you to get used to it.
The 458 Spider shares the same mechanical components as the coupe and features the same state-of-the-art driving systems: traction control, anti-skid, ABS, electronic limited slip differential, shock absorbers. They are totally integrated and they interact remarkably. The conductor’s baton – the magic wand, if you will – is the manettino, a red button located on the steering wheel that has five settings.
Turn the dial to Wet for smoother, more progressive settings. We drove primarily in Sport mode where the reactions were livelier, but within reason. The 458 Spider is much more responsive and its reactions are more abrupt in Race mode. In fact, they’re almost too abrupt for the road. It’s worth it for the sound of the exhaust that has been modified on the Spider for your listening pleasure. The effect is extraordinary and the sound, a husky and intoxicating howl, is sublime in full acceleration. Imagine it in a tunnel with the top down – no one does it better.
On the way back, in a series of hairpin turns, I put the manettino in CT-off mode to deactivate the traction control and the Spider rewarded us with some easy controlled fishtails with a simple turn of the wrist. What a rare joy, but I put it back in Sport mode right after and I didn’t dare use the CST-off setting that also turns off the anti-skid. This is definitely for track use only. The factory standard carbon brakes are powerful, progressive and tireless. I thought that the pedal felt a little softer after a hard sprint, but I must have been imagining things.
Comprehensive approach
For such a wildly efficient sports car, the 458 Spider’s comfort was most surprising. It owes its comfort both to its BWI-Delphi magnetorheological dampers – similar to the ones that are working wonders for the Audi R8 – and to a solid body and an irreproachable suspension springs identical to those of the 458 Italia but slightly softer absorption. The body is 30% less rigid than that of the coupe, but it would take some pretty wicked cracks to rattle it, which is a sign of the convertible’s flexure.
The Spider gives up only a half-second to the coupe on the Fiorano circuit, but Ferrari will tell you that typical buyers are more interested in driving with the top down with a friend. And they’ll be happy to hear that the passenger compartment has only 2 millimetres less headroom. Our test car was painted Rosso corsa, one of sixteen available colours, and was equipped with the optional lighter “racing” seats, which are impeccably made and comfortable.
And I haven’t even mentioned its very acceptable trunk under the front hood, an optional (and necessary) rear back-up camera, clear and programmable screens on either side of the steering wheel, or the optional HELE system that reduces fuel consumption and lowers carbon gas emissions by 20% compared to the F430. The price in Italy is €226,800. No official word yet for America, but it’ll definitely be in and around $300,000 plus options and taxes.
Truth be told, the most fascinating thing with the 458 Spider is its range and the incredible richness of the sensations it delivers. It may well be the most glorious of all, the most spectacular expression of the automobile and of the reciprocating engine. It’s certainly the most impressive and captivating that I’ve ever driven. In fact, it’s the best.