The Ultimate Italian Stallion: The 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia Review

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Ferrari is a brand that needs no introduction, being thought of as a benchmark in ultimate desirability and status. Let’s face it – everyone wants one. The 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia is the most recent model to roll into production. This 570bhp mid-engined V8 supercar is a jaw droppingly gorgeous machine that showcases utterly brilliant engineering and design to give the definitive Ferrari experience.

Needless to say, the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia is simply stunning no matter what you’re into. Its low waistline body is a fantastic blend of sleek curvature and sharp creases combined with brilliant aerodynamic quality and pure sexiness. The design signature of this 458 is the front headlights which combine clever rotating bi-xenon lights and a 20 high stack LED. Style cues from Ferrari heritage are also prevalent with Enzo style rear lights and 308 inspired air intakes. Speaking of which, the air intake engineering is extremely well thought out, making a big contribution to cooling and maintaining downforce. Of the triple barrel exhaust, only one is active at lower speeds, but put your foot down and all 3 kick into action. There is also a drop top Spyder variant for those wishing to feel the wind in their hair. Its top moves with a two piece aluminium frame that pops up in 14 seconds to blend seamlessly with the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia’s bodywork. The interesting thing about this is the fact that unlike with most cars, the convertible body doesn’t actually ruin the dynamics of this brilliant machine, so if going roofless with a supercar is your thing – try the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia.

The cabin is a fantastically driver-orientated place. There’s plenty of headroom (with plenty more possible in the Spyder form… for obvious reasons). The small steering wheel holds all the controls in the manner of an F1 car, which is very cool, but can be a bit confusing and fiddly – often leading to an attempt at flashing another driver with your windscreen wipers. It’s something you’ll need to get used to. Behind the wheel, the gearshift paddles are beautifully effective when driving and frames the action around the wheel perfectly. Storage space… do you really care? Well I say that, but actually you’d be very surprised about the amount of storage space you really have. Ok the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia is still not as practical as your mum’s Skoda Yeti, but for a supercar you’re looking at a bonnet cargo area of 230ltrs which trounces on the meagre offerings of other supercars.

The big 4.5ltr V8 kicks into life with a thunderous clearing of the throat before settling into a nice crisp idle – that is before you tickle the throttle to the tune of a deafening roar of Ferrari goodness. It’s enough to make you giddy. Ferrari have done away with the manual transmission (which may disappoint some enthusiasts) in favour of a special 7 speed semi-automatic dual clutch F1 gearbox that can be marshalled from wheel mounted paddles and is very clever in the way that it can select the next gear before you’ve even left the last for practically seamless ratio ascension. The steering is rapier sharp, but somehow doesn’t feel nervous, allowing for simple wrist flick turning.

You can alter the dynamics of the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia via steering wheel controls. This adjusts the chassis, engine and transmission as well as the stability, traction, DBS brakes and electronic differential through 5 specific modes. There’s a choice of wet, sport, race, CT off (which completely turns off the traction controls) and the ultimate ECT off setting which disables the traction and stability controls. Be warned though – this is one for either the very skilful or the utterly mental as you’ll be on your own controlling this mighty steed. A great development in the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia is the ability to configure the most powerful engine setting alongside the softest suspension mode to take on bumpier road terrain. Brilliant!

The wonderful 4.5ltr direct injection V8 engine marshals a simply astounding 570bhp and 9000rpm, which all actually works well in low revs. And yes, of course it’s fast – IT’S A FERRARI!! It comes with launch control and rockets off the line to 62 in a staggering 3.4 seconds, getting all the way up to 124mph in just 10.4 seconds and topping out at 202mph! Everything about this car is exciting and dramatic, never letting up for a second. Naturally, the Ferrari 458 is a brilliant machine to show off at a track day. The massive carbon ceramic brakes are amazing in a way that will leave you thankful when letting this beast off the leash. Combined with the rapier steering, fantastic front end grip and the low centre of gravity, it all provides a really great level of reassurance so you can really enjoy yourself even when you’re charging into corners. Basically… get behind the wheel of a 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia and you’ll see exactly why it’s one of the most desirable cars on the face of this planet. It doesn’t disappoint.

All in all, what’s the lowdown with the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia? The 458, probably more than any of its illustrious Maranello forbears, is the definitive and most complete Ferrari experience. It took everyone by surprise on its release, making a huge stride forward in automotive excellence to claim its well-earned place as a supercar segment benchmark. Everything about the 458 is brilliant – all the engineering that has gone into it is so well thought out and immaculately executed, while the driving experience is simply mind blowing. It’s a thing of real beauty and dramatic charisma, yet it’s also very practical (for a supercar) and easy to drive despite all that insane power on tap. The Ferrari 458 Italia is without a doubt the embodiment of the Ferrari dream.

If you want to get hold of the 2015 Ferrari 458 Italia then don’t hesitate to leave us a message on our contact us page or give us a call on 01903 538835 to find out about our Ferrari lease deals.JTNDY2VudGVyJTNFJTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGcy1WTS1jZU1ZRU0lMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNFJTNDJTJGY2VudGVyJTNF