Ferrari 458 Spider revealed

By Luke Madden

23rd August 2011

Italian giant Ferrari is set to raise the roof at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show with a drop-top 458 Italia.

The newcomer is called the 458 Spider, and gets a folding hard-top roof which bosses claim weighs 25kg less than a soft-top set-up. Extra chassis strengthening means the Spider is 50kg heavier than the coupe – Auto Express’s reigning Performance Car of the Year – at 1,430kg.

Video: watch official footage of the new Ferrari 458 Spider

As a result, the drop-top isn’t as fast. The naturally aspirated 4.5-litre V8 engine still delivers 562bhp at 9,000rpm and peak torque of 540Nm, but the extra weight adds a tenth to the 0-62mph time, taking it to 3.4 seconds. Top speed drops from 202mph to 198mph.

That’s still quick enough to make the Spider Ferrari’s fastest-ever convertible and one of the hottest drop-tops on the market – just behind Bentley’s 202mph GTC Speed.

Power is delivered to the road via the firm’s dual-clutch F1 seven-speed paddleshift transmission. Also included is the steering wheel-mounted manettino switch, which can transform the car’s character between Sport, Race and normal modes by adjusting traction control, suspension and throttle settings.

The roof mechanism is thought to be a two-piece arrangement, which folds through 180 degrees to stow behind the rear seats. The two pieces are then stacked, and the whole process takes only 14 seconds. By adopting this new design, Ferrari has been forced to ditch the transparent engine cover, but there’s a set of aggressive new air intakes just ahead of the tail-lights.

The way the top is stowed has also freed up a storage compartment behind the seats – but removing the roof hasn’t harmed the 458’s striking appearance. With the hood down, the main attraction is a pair of buttresses, allowing air to be channelled to the engine intakes and radiators.

Ferrari also includes an electrically adjustable wind deflector, which bosses claim allows occupants to have a normal conversation even at speeds of up to 124mph.

The wailing engine note from the 458’s triple exhausts is already one of the finest sounds in motoring, but Ferrari has fettled it further in a bid to give the Spider the perfect top-down soundtrack.

Changes have also been made to the dampers and throttle mapping, although Ferrari hasn’t revealed any further details on these tweaks. There’s no word either on the Spider’s price, although insiders have reported that a premium of around 15 per cent over the coupé is likely. With the 458 Italia costing £173,000, that would see the Spider weigh in at just under £200,000 when it arrives in British showrooms next year.

The new model will follow on from Spider versions of the F355, F360 and F430, and gives Ferrari the upper hand in the supercar battle with McLaren’s MP4-12C, which currently comes only as a coupé. A hardcore Scuderia version of the drop-top 458 is reportedly on the way, too.