The Ferrari 458 Italia has been introduced at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, currently ongoing in Germany. The sports car was codenamed the F142 and was long rumoured to be named the F450, but it will be called the Ferrari 458 Italia. The car takes its name from the engine, a 4.5 litre V8. The Ferrari 458 Italia has a 7 speed dual clutch gearbox which directs power to the rear axle. The car’s aluminum structure helps keep weight under control.
The Ferrari 458 Italia will be capable of doing 0 – 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. According to Ferrari the car is “a completely new car from every point of view: engine, design, aerodynamics, handling, instrumentation and ergonomics, just to name a few”. The Ferrari 458 Italia is just over 4.5 meters long and just over 1.9 meters wide. The car will be able to reach a top speed of +/- 325 km/h (202 mph). Despite the engine being bigger than the ones used in the Ferrari 458 Italia’s predecessors, the emissions are reduced and the car is quite economical. The car is capable of travelling 100 km on 13.7 liters of fuel. This sports car promises to be one of the most memorable Ferrari vehicles, in my opinion. Because of the price tag on this vehicle, it’s highly unlikely that we will see many of these cars on the roads of South Africa. It will probably cost more than R2 million here if it’s ever released here.
