Ferrari F458 Italia breaks cover

Ferrari revealed the brand new 458 Italia, a new coupe that opens another area of the car that exalts its sporty personality. The new sports car is a completely new vehicle: a two-seater that has huge benefits from the company’s Formula 1 experience.

Ferrari has confirmed that the car, codenamed F142 and long rumoured to be named the F450, will be called the 458 Italia. The name derives from the powerplant: a 4.5-litre V8 which Ferrari claims has the highest specific output of any normally aspirated car engine.

The 458 Italia comes with the new 4499 cc mid rear-mounted V8 engine capable to deliver an impressive 578 hp at 9000 rpm and 540 Nm at 6000 rpm (over 80 per cent of which is available from 3250 rpm).

The Ferrari 458 Italia produces just 320 g/km of CO2 and fuel consumption is 13.7 l/100 km (combined cycle), the best in the entire segment. The Ferrari engineers focused also on the weight reduction and as a result the car has a dry weight of just 1380 kg with a power-to-weight ratio of 2.42 kg/hp. With these numbers the car can accelerate to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds while the maximum speed is in excess of 325 km/h.

The 458 Italia is the latest incarnation of the mid-rear engined berlinetta and will be unveiled at the next Frankfurt Motor Show.