Only a few hours back we brought to what were supposed to be the ‘possible’ images of the new Ferrari 458 Spider. Now we have an official confirmation from Ferrari, along with the official images and other specs, down to the last detail that the previous images were indeed that of the new Ferrari 458 Spider.
The F458 Spider is going to the world’s first mid-rear engined ‘berlinetta’ equipped with a retractable hard top. The car will make its official debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The new 458 Spider will join the 458 Italia. The Spider will be equipped with a Ferrari patented, fully retractable hard top, a world first for a sports car with this lay-out.
Power, as we told you earlier, will come from the same engine that powers 458 Coupe. The naturally-aspirated, direct-injection 4.5 litre V8 produces 570 Ps of power at a high 9000 rpm and 540 Nm of torque at 6000 rpm. The power is transferred to the road by Ferrari’s dual-clutch F1 paddle-shift transmission through the sophisticated E-Diff. The diff is integrated with the F1-Trac traction control and ABS for maximum handling dynamics.
The Spider’s features have been honed to maximize the driving pleasure with the top down. Even the engine soundtrack has been perfected to ensure that the car’s occupants are completely captivated by the drop-top driving experience.
Made entirely of aluminium, the 458 Spider’s hard-top offers 25 kgs and performs deployment trick in 14 seconds flat. The new, patented design for the roof make sure that very small space is required to house the roof, enabling the designers to include a generous rear bench for luggage.
Even with the roof down, no feathers get ruffled. The design was perfected to slow and diffuse the air in the cockpit, enabling normal conversation to be held even at speeds over 200 km/h.
Here’s the detailed specification sheet of the car.
