Ferrari 458 2016 News

The New York motor show in April will see the announcement of which vehicle has won the 2014 World COTY, and there looks to be a tough -- and very varied -- field of finalists.Last year's winner was the Volkswagen Golf, which also took awards in pretty well every country on the globe. But this year it could be anything from the little electric BMW i3 to the offroading Jeep Cherokee and even the Citroen C4 peoplemover, judging by the shortlist.A panel of 69 motoring experts from around the world -- including Carsguide's Paul Gover and National Motoring Editor Joshua Dowling -- will choose the winner from: Audi A3, BMW 4 Series, BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Ford Fusion/Mondeo, Infiniti Q50, Jeep Cherokee, Lexus IS, Mazda3, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia.The 10 finalists for the 2014 World Luxury Car are the Bentley Flying Spur, BMW X5, Cadillac ELR, Cadillac Escalade, Maserati Ghibli, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche Macan, Range Rover Sport and Rolls-Royce Wraith.Due to a tie, there are 11 finalists for the 2014 World Performance Car: Alfa Romeo 4C, Audi RS 6 Avant, BMW M6 Gran Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Ferrari 458 Speciale, Ford Fiesta ST, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG, Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche 911 Turbo and Volkswagen Golf GTI.A separate panel of five 'green' experts will choose the 2014 World Green Car from Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (+ Audi e-gas), BMW i3, Honda Accord Hybrid, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Volkswagen XL1.Similarly, a panel of five design experts will decide on the 2014 World Car Design of the Year, from among: BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Lexus IS, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Volkswagen XL1.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Sydney Motorsport Park is set to host the biggest gathering of Ferraris ever seen in Australia, with the announcement of the Ferrari Racing Days festival for April 2014. Similar to the Porsche Rennsport event held at Sydney Motor sport Park in May, the three day Ferrari event will see hundreds of Ferrari road and race cars converge on the western Sydney race circuit to take part in track activities, static displays, and on-side entertainment. Ferrari Racing Days will also include the second round of the 2014 Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific (APAC) one-make series for 458 Challenge racers.   Another drawcard will be the first Australian appearance of the official Ferrari F1 show, with a genuine Ferrari racer set to take to the circuit, and no doubt aiming to beat the 1:13.6 time set by Mark Webber’s Red Bull racer at the Top Gear Festival in March. "Not everyone can own a Ferrari and not everyone can be a racing driver, but anyone can come to Sydney Motorsport Park in April 2014 to see, hear, smell and maybe even touch Ferrari Racing cars," President of the ARDC Andrew Leithhead says. Ferrari Racing Days will be held at the Sydney Motorsport Park from 11-13 April 2014. This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn  

The video of this teen at the wheel of his father's Ferrari 458 Italia -- worth more than $525,000 plus a hefty amount of Luxury Car Tax here -- claims insane acceleration. The footage doesn't quite match to the promise, with the young tacker taking it pretty carefully. But you still get a good earful of the fantastic 458 engine: a whomping 4.5-litre V8 that pushes out 425kW of power at 9000rpm and 540Nm of tyre-shredding torque at 6000rpm. Getting that to the rear wheels via a seven-speed sports auto, it delivers a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.4 seconds. We don't see that in the kid's video, but he seems to be already driving fairly confidently. And while we might be a bit envious that he gets to play with this kind of toy, at least he's treating it with a bit of respect -- unlike the video earlier this year of a young lad drifting his dad's Ferrari around a dusty carpark. Watch the desktop version of the 14-year-old takes dad's Ferrari 458 super car for a blast video here.  This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott    

The Prancing Horse brand is about to launch an even prancier version of the already snorting 458 Challenge. Called the 458 Challenge Evoluzione, the new car -- set to be fully revealed later today -- draws on the experience the Italian supercar maker has gained in GT racing. Ferrari says that experience has led to aerodynamic improvements, most notable in this first image with a leviathan rear wing to produce increased downforce, balanced at the nose by modifications to the splitter and floor. This "allows drivers to make full use of the 458 Challenge Evoluzione's dynamics and performance, extending its limits and those of the driver, while improving performance both in terms of laps times and over long distances," the Ferrari teaser statement says. The donor 458 Challenge's mid-mounted 4.5-litre V8 engine carries over without any increases to the 419kW of power and 540Nm of torque, but Ferrari has modified the gear ratios and calibration to deliver peak torque earlier and has added its first electronic differential for a track car. Interested buyers will have to wait a little while to hear the price, but those who already own one of the 458 Challenges -- first launched in 2010 overseas for the 2011 one-marque season -- will be able to upgrade with the Evoluzione pack. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Ferrari’s hardcore 458 Italia, the successor to the 430 Scuderia, has been revealed as the new Ferrari 458 Speciale. The vehicle’s dry kerb weight comes in at 1290kg, which combined with the stouter engine performance means 0-100km/h acceleration in 3.0 seconds flat and 0-200km/h in just 9.1 seconds. See the video here.

Russian dash-cam footage may dominate the world of viral motoring videos, but the Middle East still wins when it comes to truly crazy car culture. Whether it's hypercars abandoned in the desert or rich Saudi Arabians posing with supercars and their pet tigers and lions (seriously, that's a thing now), the Internet is awash with very wealthy people doing very silly things. DON'T MISS: Crazy truck jump | video This young kid hooning a Ferrari 458 Italia around a dusty parking lot is the latest, and we're just as confused as you are. Who owns the Ferrari? How do two kids -- the one driving and the one holding the camera -- get access to such a thing? ALSO SEE: Watch a Jaguar XJ220 hoon around a farm | video Luckily, despite shouting what we assume is the Arabic for "watch this!", the kid manages to avoid destroying the 458 as he zips around the parking lot. Impressive age of the driver aside though, it's a bit of a disappointing video. Any true hoon would have turned off the traction control first... Watch video here.  

Ferrari’s hardcore 458 Italia, the successor to the 430 Scuderia, has been revealed as the new Ferrari 458 Speciale.

The hardcore version of Ferrari’s 458 Italia supercar, the spiritual successor to 2007’s 430 Scuderia, is reportedly being prepped to be unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show this September. The biannual event has been favoured by Ferrari of late for debuts concerning its entry-level mid-engine model, with 2007’s Frankfurt Auto Show playing host to the debut of the 430 Scuderia followed by the debut of the 458 Italia at 2009’s event and the 458 Spider at the most recent 2011 show. Thus, it’s easy to see why Car and Driver is reporting that the new hardcore 458, which some are suggesting will be called the 458 Challenge Stradale or perhaps even a 458 Monte Carlo, will be shown in Frankfurt in just a few months.   Like its predecessors, the hardcore 458 will be lighter than its donor 458 Italia. The previous 430 Scuderia weighed 100kg less than the regular 430, meaning the hardcore 458 could end up weighing about 1300kg. The car is also expected to borrow a number of elements from the 458 Challenge racer, and utilise knowledge learned during development of the new LaFerrari flagship supercar. Look for new gear ratios and a more tightly calibrated tune for the 458 Italia’s seven-speed dual clutch transmission. There should also be stiffer suspension, uprated brakes, stickier rubber and the aforementioned lighter kerb weight. Peak output from the 458’s 4.5-litre V8, meanwhile, is reported to see an increase to around 450kW, up from the current 425kW rating. This is said to be courtesy of forged internals, the redline moved up 300 revs to 9,300 rpm, and the exhaust system made less restrictive. Finally, new aerodynamic features are said to be planned, including the use of active winglets on the rear diffuser. Oh yes, one of the best supercars on the market is about to get a whole lot better. www.motorauthority.com

An Italian driver has crashed his $600,000 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider while trying to overtake another Ferrari on a freeway. The expensive crash was captured on the dash camera of the Ferrari that was travelling with the 458. The crash in southern Italy occurred as the driver of the Ferrari 458 Italia tried to get past the camera car, but instead lost control and fishtailed into a roadside guard rail. According to reports in overseas media, the police were called to the site of the crash, but the Ferrari was not there when they arrived.  

The racing version of the Ferrari 458 Italia road car took the lap record at the legendary Mt Panorama race track during a practice session. Allan Simonsen at the wheel posted a 2:04.9560 time at the weekend around the 6.2km track. This is more than four seconds quicker than the existing lap record for a GT3 category car and the quickest for any form of non-open wheel racing car. It was the first outing for the newly arrived Ferrari 458 GT3, which will be campaigned in Australia by Maranello Motorsport and their sponsor Il Bello Rosso.  The Ferrari is now a front runner for the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour event in February. Straight out of the box, the Ferrari has proven to be highly competitive. Simonsen was thrilled with the race package of the Maranello Motorsport entry. "This car is damn fast! Given this is our first test, it's certainly nice to break the lap record finally and we did it in style," he said.  "From the first laps at Bathurst the car was very quick, given it has a great setup baseline from running in Europe this year so we knew we'd be able to work from where they'd left off. "The power and the chassis are so complementary and I'm feeling really comfortable in the car and with the team. These new generation cars are all going to have a fast pace, and there's no doubt the (Bathurst) 12 Hour is going to be very fast and incredibly competitive it's an event I'm definitely looking forward to on the calendar."