Somewhat unexpectedly, Ferrari has just released a spiced up version of the 458 Italia re-dubbed 458 Speciale, which will be showcased at the upcoming 2013 Frankfurt motor Show in September. The new mid-rear-engined V8 ‘berlinetta’ from the legendary Italian carmaker was designed to boost both performance and driving emotion to unprecedented levels, yet simultaneously guarantee smooth, effortless control in all kinds of situations.
The 4.5-liter V8 engine of the car has been finely reworked to produce 605 horsepower at 9,000 rpm with 540 Nm of maximum torque available at 6,000 rpm. That makes it the company’s most powerful naturally-aspirated V8 engine ever, That makes it the company’s most powerful naturally-aspirated V8 engine ever. This unit, in combination with a dry weight of 1290 kg and a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.13 kg/hp, allows the 458 Speciale to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3 seconds flat, and from 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 9.1 seconds. CO2 emissions are not too bad either: 275 g/km.
Special paint-job aside - especially that unusual blue stripe - one of the most innovative content of the 458 Speciale is the Side Slip angle Control system (SSC) which performs a real time analysis of the car’s side slip, compares it with the target value and then optimises both torque management (via integration with F1-Trac traction control) and torque distribution between the two wheels (via integration with the E-Diff electronic differential).
via EUROCARBLOG
