My Relax Place

Maranello has finally revealed the mid-engined V8 replacement for the Ferrari F430.

The new Ferrari 458 Italia is powered by a new 4.5 liter V8 engine producing 570 horsepower at a mind-boggling 9,000rpm, and 540Nm of torque at 6,000rpm (over 80% of this available from 3,250rpm onwards), thanks to high-revving, a 12.5:1 compression ratio, and direct injection. The torque numbers are pretty darn high for a normally aspirated of this size, thanks to direct injection and the high compression. Ferrari pointed out that out of the 570 total horses, 5 are gained only at higher speeds thanks to a ram air effect.

Power goes to the rear wheels via a new 7-speed dual clutch F1 gearbox (no mention of a stick shift so far?). This combination of a V8, a twin clutch, and a dry weight of 1,380kg takes the car up to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds, and the top speed is set at over 325km/h. For those who even bother, fuel consumption is 13.7 liters per 100km on a combined cycle and Ferrari says this is the best in its segment.

See the triple exhaust setup at the rear? It wasn’t mentioned in the press release but apparently it is said that they work in stages, with all three pipes only working from mid-rev onwards.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Wonderful Things. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.