600hp plus Ferrari 458 Speciale to debut at Frankfurt

As if the 458 Italia wasn’t enough for petrolheads, Ferrari has introduced the 458 Speciale – a hardcore version of the 458 Italia, with everything turned up a notch. The supercar will be on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show which begins early next month. But it has some big shoes to fill owing to its great ancestors in the form of 360 Challenge Stradale and the famous 430 Scuderia.

More power, less weight and brilliant aerodynamics is what makes this new iteration of the 458 so ‘special’. Dry weight is now quoted at 1290kg, having shaved off 90kg of fat from the standard 458 Italia (if you could find any). Power has been bumped up to 605PS from the Italia’s 570PS, by re-tuning the high-revving 4.5-litre V8. Torque though remains the same at 540Nm. The power bump makes this engine the most powerful V8 ever with a specific power output of 134.45PS/litre, the highest ever achieved by a road-going naturally aspirated engine, as claimed by Ferrari. Combine the above facts and you conjure up a mouth-watering statistic called power to weight ratio, which for the Speciale stands at a rather healthy 469PS/tonne.

The super car also gets more tricks up its sleeve in the form of active aerodynamics, which Ferrari plans on integrating into all future road cars.  The front and rear of the car have flaps which open or close according to the speed of the car thereby balancing downforce and cutting drag. There are new enlarged vents in the front enhancing airflow while the bonnet and sills are re-profiled. There’s a new rear diffuser to make the car more slippery which means that the car loses out on an exhaust pipe and now has two. And the racing stripes running along the body just make the Speciale go faster, dont they?

A new introduction is the Side Slip angle Control system (SSC) which helps the car stay on the limit longer thereby increasing the fun factor! It works in tandem with the F1-Trac traction control and the Electronic Differential, distributing torque between the two wheels. These and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres specifically developed for the Speciale help the car generate 1.33 of lateral G forces. Neck straining numbers these!

Performance figures, as you’d expect, are explosive. Ferrari says that the 458 Speciale achieves 100km/h from standstill in 3 seconds flat and on to 200km/h in 9.1 seconds. The car will lap the Fiorano track in 1:23.5, 1.5 seconds faster than the 430 Scuderia, Enzo and the 458 Italia!

So what we have here, according to Ferrari, is a car with the quickest response time (0.06s; gear changes maybe?), highest lateral acceleration and most aerodynamically efficient body ever made by the prancing horse. Do we like it? Duh! Will you like it? Well, if you can ever get your hands on one. We expect it to cost as much as a house. But for a car this ‘special,’ we’d even sell our soul. 

Related: Ferrari unveils its Enzo successor - LaFerrari at Geneva