Ferrari 458 News

Usain Bolt is used to spending his days at a track, but for once he is not the fastest thing there. The current 100m and 200m world-record holder spent some time at Ferrari's Fiorano test track in Maranello, Italy, as both passenger and driver of the 599 GTB Fiorano and 458 Italia.Ferrari test drivers Dario Benuzzi and Raffaele De Simone took the wheel first, before handing the keys to Bolt for some laps and lessons on car control."It’s a little bit like me, very reactive and determined!" Usain Bolt says, having stepped out of the 458 Italia. “I was really scared, but it was a good scare. I’m excited like a child.” he says.Usain Bolt is not new to driving fast cars. Major sponsor Puma provided Bolt with a new BMW M3 Coupe, which he crashed in April 2009 when driving on a wet highway. The crash rolled the BMW several times, but Bolt escaped with only minor injuries.

The first of Ferrari's latest mid-engined supercars is ready for the road in Australia, complete with a pricetag of $526,950 and a waiting list which already stretches for 15 months. The pioneer car is not heading for a customer's garage - not yet, anyway - but is doing demonstration work for Ferrari as the brand gears up for a total change in its local portfolio. The V8-powered California coupe-convertible is already going well and winning a record number of women to the brand, but Ferrari says the 458 sets the pace for the brand in everything from its design and engine development - including a sump which operates within a vacuum - to a steering wheel which houses switches for the turn signals, lights and wipers. It has active aerodynamic devices, diamond-like coating on the cylinder bores and fully-integrated electronics to make the car easier and safer to drive despite a 300-plus top speed and 0-100km/h sprint time better than four seconds. "It's a window on the future of technology that will be available across a much wider range of vehicles in the future," says Ferrari's local spokesman, Edward Rowe. All the early 458 deliveries in Australia will be made to long-term Ferrari fans, most adding an extra car to their garage after paying a deposit as much as three years ago. All but a handful are going to men and all have a manu-matic seven-speed gearbox, after demand on the outgoing 430 dropped to almost zero in Australia. "Around 90 per cent are existing Ferrari owners. For about 40 per cent of those people the car will be an addition, not a replacement for an existing car," Rowe says. Ferrari is reluctant to talk about exact pricing for the 458, because of differences in optional equipment and government charges, but Brisbane dealer boss Greg Willims (correct) says most will hit the road at between $580,000 and $590,000. Enamel badges on the front mudguards alone cost $3000. The bottom line is a significant jump from the $460,000 range for the 430, but Ferrari justifies the increase with everything from the car's new technology to improved quality. Around 60 458s will be delivered in the car's first year in Australia as Ferrari aims for just over 100 sales, based on allocations from Italy and not local demand. "Whatever the factory can build, that's what we sell. If a customer was to place an order today the delivery would be later next year," Rowe says. "We don't know what the final allocations for 2011 will be. We prefer to err on the conservative side, because it's better for a customer to get their car earlier than expected." The 458 demonstrator is a classic Ferrari, with red bodywork and tan leather trim, but picks up painted yellow calipers on its carbon brakes, side shields, larger alloy wheels, electric seats and upgraded headlamps.

But don't get too excited, because it's leaving again on the weekend.  A single left-hand drive 458, in signature Ferrari red, was airfreighted Down Under this week to tickle interest in Australia and celebrate the opening of a new Ferrari-Maserati headquarters in Sydney. "It's a customer car. It's only here for four days," says Neville Crichton, head of Ateco – the importer for Ferrari and Maserati.  The 458 is accompanied by the global head of Ferrari, Amedeo Felisa, who talks enthusiastically about the car. "The 458 helps you understand how we want to position the cars. We have the complete picture of what we see for our lineup of cars," Felisa says before ripping the covers off the car at Ferrari HQ in Sydney. But the most important thing of all –  the price –  is still a secret.  It's likely to be in the $580,000 range and there is already an 18-month waiting list in Australia, but Felisa is deliberately vague to keep people guessing.  "The car will be in sales in Australia a few months from now," he says. The facts and figures for the 458 are well known - 420kW, 540Nm, 0-100 in 3.4 seconds - but he is keen to explain the specific output of the new-generation V8 motor. "The other numbers are not important. It is 27 horsepower/litre, the best on the market. And 120 Newton-metres per litre. You never find engines that, in the same moment, have the same specific power and torque." He says the design of the 458 is totally new, with a simple brief.  "Nothing has to recall the old car. And the style comes down to the technology." The first 85 458s were delivered to customers in Europe before Christmas and one of those is Fernando Alonso, who has bought - two Ferraris for his garage - with his own money (although Felisa will not reveal the price he got).  "The first time he came we sold a California. Then we sold a 458," he laughs.

The manual gearbox - once seen to be the only gearbox for anything with sporting prowess - has become something more suited to old-school Ferrari cars as order sheets for traditional manuals have remained almost blank. Ferrari's new 458 is now a two-pedal-only proposition, with the famous marque opting out of a traditional manual gearbox because of minimal demand. Vittorio Dini, the engineer in charge of GT car engine development, says demand was miniscule for the manual gearbox in the 430 and the California, which prompted the 458 to be a double-clutch automated manual gearbox only. "There was no manual considered, it was always going to be a DCT gearbox, the manual comparison is just a simulation," he says. Dini says the speed of the gearshift in the 458 is almost instant, with the double-clutch drivetrain offering un-interrupted acceleration. "The engine is synchronised to the gearbox, this brings the engine down quickly, you use the kinetic energy of the engine to give a little extra acceleration, so instead of reducing acceleration you maintain it," he says. Dini says the manual gearbox requests didn't warrant the development and he is not saddened by the passing of the traditional manual transmission, although he understands why some people are. "It is, yes, we think so - but the requests for manual is very low, on the 430 was less than five per cent, California is worse because we developed a manual but we have almost no orders. "The performance difference is big - I understand the tradition of having the gate. "Me personally, I am not sad, because I am technically driven because I am an engineer, maybe some people in Ferrari who are more driven by history maybe, yes," he says. Ferrari Australia spokesman Edward Rowe says the Australian uptake of manual transmissions has been similarly low on 430 and California models. "We're not offering manual on California yet anyway, but order rates on manual transmissions has effectively slowed down to nothing. "The vast majority of 430s are the F1 automated manuals, not since the 360 has there been a statistically-significant number of manuals sold," he says.  

Since cars all deliver on the same basic promise of personal mobility, and many vehicles do it with incredible value and panache, good design can often make the difference between buying and losing.Ian Callum knows it and, after more than four decades of top-class design work on everything from HSV Holdens to Volvos, Aston Martins and now Jaguars, he is the right man to be talking. "This is a time of car design. It's not just styling any more. You really have to understand design, and the elements that make up a good design," Callum says. "We're also seeing a lot of change in the automotive world. The make-up of cars is changing. Designers are going to have an incredible influence."Callum has revolutionised Jaguar design over the past 10 years and just visited Australia to showcase his all-new XJ flagship, which steps right away from anything which has previously worn the brand's leaper mascot. "I didn't want to be a slave to heritage," he says simply.Callum believes good design is simple but incredibly difficult, elegant and timeless, but also challenging and filled with tiny little details. He is rare among designers because he backs his promises with commitment and talent, and is also happy to give an opinion.So, then, how does he judge the work from some of his rivals? Surprisingly, Callum is happy to go on the record with a simple tick-or-cross verdict on the latest designs in showrooms.Here are his ratings: Aston Martin Rapide - tickAudi A5 - tickBMW GT - two crossesBMW X6 - crossFerrari F458 Italia - tickHSV EII Commodore - tickLexus LFA - tickMercedes E-Class - crossMercedes SLS Gullwing - crossNissan GT-R - crossPorsche Panamera - crossRolls-Royce Ghost - tickToyota Prius - tickVolkswagen Golf - tick 

The Ferrari F458 is a sellout success before the first car is even built.  It's typical of the following for the Italian sports car brand, which typically runs two-year waiting lists on its popular models in Australia despite prices that currently start at $459,650 for the droptop California. Ferrari fans will have to pay a lot more for the upcoming replacement for the 612 Scaglietti, which has been scooped by Carparazzi.  The European computer illustrations give the best idea yet of how the V12-powered grand tourer will look when it is ready for showrooms in late 2010 or early 2011. The link to the current 612 is clear, but the next generation will be more elegant and tightly-drawn in the bodywork than today's Scaglietti.  It is expected to retain the same mechanical layout, with a front- mounted engine turning the rear wheels, which will make it a direct rival to the Mercedes-Benz SLS Gullwing just unveiled in the USA ahead of Australian deliveries next June. No-one at Ferrari is commenting on the Carparazzi picture of the new Scaglietti, which could also get a new name as Ferrari switches to Italian place names for its cars.But the company has plenty to concentrate on as it readies the 458i Italia for showrooms, starting with the first press drives this week at its Maranello headquarters in Italy. Carsguide will have a first driving impression of the 458 next week.

Through 2009 we've seen the relatively-affordable Nissan GT-R, followed by the Lexus LFA at more than $750,000 and the born-again Mercedes SLS Gullwing with a $500,000-ish bottom line.It all seems crazy at a time when the world is bumping through the global economic crisis, where Australians are downsizing in record numbers into sub-$20,000 compacts and green-power cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight are growing in popularity with plug-in electrics just around the corner.But showrooms are being flooded with high-priced exotics which promise incredible speed, luxury and exclusivity.  And it's not going to stop.Ferrari is about to go into full production with its latest sellout, the 458, and Bentley has the Mulsanne limousine almost ready for the road with the first deliveries expected in the opening months of 2010. Then it's the Aston Martin rapide, promised as a four-door sports saloon, and the Rolls-Royce Ghost at around $750,000.These are dream machines for most of us, and poster cars for the kids, but what do they give us in 2009 and beyond?  It's a question that's impossible to answer, unless you have more than $500,000 to spend on an automotive trinket, with any certainty. Perhaps it's just because some people can, and because they can see the day when these sort of cars will be museum pieces in an era beyond oil.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

The newest road rocket to carry the Italian supercar brand's famous prancing horse badge, the 458 is unveiled today in production-ready form as the successor to the F430.Its performance promises to be very special, matching or bettering the lightweight Scuderia version of the 430 with a top speed beyond 330km/ h and a 0-100km/h sprint time below four seconds.But it will come at a price - more than $450,000 in Australia when deliveries begin in the second half of 2010.The mechanical package of the F458 - its name comes from the 4.5- litre, eight-cylinder engine - is familiar to anyone who has tracked Ferrari history since the 308. It is a mid-engined car with a V8 motor and rear-wheel drive.It sits alongside the California droptop and below the V12 models in the Ferrari family.The car will not be seen in public until the Frankfurt Motor Show in September but more than two dozen super-keen Australian enthusiasts have already put money down to reserve an early delivery.Full details are also being kept secret until Frankfurt but some things are obvious from the pictures.The height of the F458 is considerably lower than the 430 and it has lost the signature side vents for the cooling system. It is also stripped of any sort of wings or spoilers. This shows Formula One thinking, as there is a secondary wing in the frontal air inlet and the body has been shaped to divert air to essential openings under high pressure. Downforce is all down to the underbody shaping.Space has also been created in the tail for a large diffuser by siting the exhaust high in the back end. But the pictures show three pipes, pointing to an active exhaust which switches mode depending on speed and load.The F458 will take electronics to the next level, with more driver adjustment of the chassis and engine parameters, including stability control.The Australian importer, European Automotive Imports, says it has been flooded by potential buyers since news of the F458 - originally expected to be called the F450 - began leaking from Ferrari headquarters in Maranello. "We are into double figures on orders. As soon as there was even a hint there was a new car coming we were contacted by enthusiastic owner keens to move up to the latest model," says spokesman, Edward Rowe.He dismisses any suggestion that a new Ferrari is irrelevant in 2010 except as a dream machine. "For the car market as a whole they are very much testbeds for technology that spreads very quickly. The most obvious example is electronic stability control. This grew out of Formula One and Mercedes-Benz was the first to put it into production cars," Rowe says. "This car will take that to the next level. It will be extremely easy to drive, and safe.""And then there are robotised manual gearboxes. The Ferrari F355 was the first. Now they are the type of gearboxes that give the best fuel economy and emissions. "It's not stretching a point to say everyone benefits eventually from these cars. They advance the cutting edge of technology."