2014 Ferrari 458 Speciale

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          We’re of the mind that all Ferraris are speciale. Yes, even the California. We take this observation to be self-evident and universal, a fact of life that even Lamborghini owners, Red Bull Racing fans, and Prius drivers accept and appreciate. But spend a meaningful amount of time in the industrial burg of Maranello, and you’ll come to the disturbing realization that its denizens are cool toward Ferrari’s red-hot Italian sports cars. Pedestrians stare straight ahead as a barely disguised LaFerrari trundles past. At the hallowed Fiorano test track, an illuminated “Gas Off” sign orders us to lift on the straight because a Ferrari at full bore is too loud for the neighbors to bear.

Those who breathe the same air as flat-plane V-8s and fall asleep to the sweet songs of V-12s have been desensitized. To these cynics, Ferrari’s new 458 Speciale is merely a louder and quicker take on the 458 Italia that has been terrorizing this town for half a decade. Around Maranello, the 458 Speciale is as spine tingling as an F-150 is in Dearborn.The

Too bad, because the 458 Speciale is yet another Italian masterpiece, one loaded with improvements that you wouldn’t have thought possible or necessary if you’ve driven the 458 Italia. The Speciale shifts faster, turns in quicker, and stops shorter. Thanks to an additional 35 horsepower and 200 fewer pounds, it is swifter than the car on which it’s based, in a straight line and around a track. Best of all, Ferrari has improved on the 458’s sublime chassis with a fresh dose of clever technology and engineering. This car amplifies your skills, strokes your ego, and stimulates your pleasure center, all while possessing limits high enough to humble any driver.

The Speciale’s secret sauce is a piece of software: side-slip control, an algorithm developed in tandem with the LaFerrari to determine the car’s slip angle in real time, set a target slip angle based on your driving style, and adjust the agility or stability accordingly. SSC alters the Speciale’s temperament by way of the electronically controlled rear differential (E-Diff) and traction control (F1-Trac). The computers reduce the differential locking torque during understeer to liven up the handling. On oversteer, the diff unlocks and F1-Trac cuts engine power to keep the rear end from overtaking the front. The beauty of the program is that it’s working even when you’re not exploring the extremes of those scenarios—plowing toward the outside of the corner or wildly drifting around a bend. SSC boasts the nuance and finesse to adjust your path when you enter a corner at a neutral tack and below the limit of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber. As we feel our way around Fiorano in a three-lap tease, the 458 Speciale gracefully rotates even when we’re well off the pros’ pace.This car is much more than ones and zeros, though. The Speciale cranks up the crazy with a 4.5-liter V-8 that now makes 597 horsepower at its 9000-rpm peak. (The regular car packs 562 horsepower; both cars make the same 398 lb-ft of torque.) The increased power is made possible by a sky-high 14.0:1 compression ratio, revised combustion chambers, new pistons, shorter intake runners, reshaped intake ports, and higher lift on the exhaust and intake valves, along with a new carbon-fiber manifold and airbox.

Pinning the throttle brings sensory overload akin to that of a Vegas gaming floor. Five LEDs at the top of the steering wheel flick to life as you near redline, the engine’s wail drowns out the world around you, and the concept of time disappears. Ferrari quotes shift times so quick we find them hard to believe, and yet watching the tach, listening to the revs drop, and feeling the subtle push of the seven-speed dual-clutch swapping cogs leaves little room for insincerity. Helped by a shorter final-drive ratio, the Speciale should easily crack three seconds on the run from 0 to 60 mph and post a sub-11-second quarter-mile timeo make a car this stiff feel so unfazed by such bad roads qualifies as a miracle in our religion. Always obeying minute corrections, this 458 is as confident on the street as it is on the track.

Specifications :

VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe

ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $298,000

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 274 cu in, 4497 cc
Power: 597 hp @ 9000 rpm
Torque: 398 lb-ft @ 6000 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 104.3 in
Length: 180.0 in
Width: 76.8 in Height: 47.4 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3200 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 2.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 10.7 sec
Top speed: 202 mph

FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 13/17 mpg


The cabin drives home the car’s hard-core intentions with yards of faux suede (roughly half the weight of leather), carbon-fiber door panels, exposed bolt heads, and—as another nod to the LaFerrari—pushbutton transmission controls that are now mounted on a carbon-fiber phalange jutting out of the center tunnel. There’s an optional “advanced telemetry system” that records to a USB stick or passes information to an iPad app for a co-driver to analyze in real time. Our test car was equipped with four-point harnesses, optional in Europe but verboten in America. Just as well, because the webbing chafes at your shoulders and being strapped down means a tollbooth or pretty much anything in the passenger seat is out of reach.

2014 SRT Viper TA

2014 SRT Viper TA

Le Mans Viper driver Tommy Kendall summed up the SRT Viper TA perfectly in two sentences: “The best thing about this car is that it will do exactly what you tell it to do. And the worst thing about this car is that it will do exactly what you tell it.” He’s not kidding. Turn it too quickly, or get too deep into the 8.4-liter V-10 in the middle of a corner—in just about any gear—and the rear end will break loose, putting up a serious fight against the driver’s control of the beast. This track-focused model is obedient, but it demands deference. It’s the automotive equivalent of a circus tiger; one wrong move and you’re going to be in a world of hurt.

A TA—it stands for “Track Attack,” so you can get your mind out of the gutter—starts life as a base Viper and gets a host of alterations made with a single focus: lowering lap times. These include Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, two small carbon-fiber splitters with a replaceable wear strip, new damper tuning, 20-percent-stiffer springs, a 35-percent-stiffer front anti-roll bar, a 31-percent-stiffer rear anti-roll bar, a high camber alignment, reworked brake rotors and pads, and a carbon-fiber engine-bay brace and rear spoiler. Orange stitching on the cloth interior doesn’t make you any faster; it just feels that way. The engine, the gearbox, and the shifter are the same as those found in base cars.BYOTA

In the pits, we overheard Kendall’s co-driver, fellow American Jonathan Bomarito, express his respect for the 640-hp road car, saying he wished their GTS-R racer pulled as hard. He wasn’t talking about basic acceleration characteristics but rather the top end on a straight. We estimate this model should post the same benchmark acceleration numbers as those of the non-TA car. The only new Viper we’ve tested—a GTS model for a comparison test—ran to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and covered the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds at 126 mph.

SRT is building only 159 examples of this Viper variant: 93 will be TA-exclusive orange, 33 will be white, and 33 will be black. But don’t fret if you can’t find a factory-fresh example or you want similar performance in a different color. All the parts are available over the Mopar counter, so any Viper could be retrofitted to keep up with a TA on the track. You’ll only miss out on the orange paint and the number plate on the dash signifying the limited run. In place of the latter, we suggest owners order their own custom plate engraved with that quote from Mr. Kendall—they’ll want to remember to pay their car some respect.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 3-door hatchback

BASE PRICE: $120,480

ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 20-valve V-10, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 512 cu in, 8382 cc
Power: 640 hp @ 6200 rpm
Torque: 600 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 98.8 in
Length: 175.7 in
Width: 76.4 in Height: 49.1 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3350 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 3.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 7.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.5 sec
Top speed: 193 mph

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 12/19 mpg

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