tcsracing1

fantastic buy!

jp175

Well said!

Where is Rad......Mr Fiat?

aussie jimmy

hahaha! that's the only thing it's good for.
but surely, it's an important point.
although the bentley gtc will do the same job and you get to keep a couple
of extra pairs of panties.

Detour

Hope your very happy with it! After you put some hours in the seat you will find that the steering wheel is ingrained in your head and you have a hard time finding turn signals etc. that you have used for decades on other cars. The exhaust is a beautiful tune, and if your not very careful you will probably knock SEVERAL SECONDS off of your best lap time at your favorite track. Just talk to Rad about brakes first!!

richk

trakcar

happy to meet at sebring and prove you wrong...drove 400 miles in the past two days!!! impressions

gearbox - 10
suspension - 10
motor - 9

Very easy to drive this car very fast...its balanced in a way a GT3 will never be!!!

I put 4400 miles on my 430 scuderia with no issues!

TRAKCAR

Yeah, yeah balanced like a Cayman, shifts like a Cayman.
Motor... OK I'm with you there, I'm all for a Ruf RGT8 with a Fiat engine in the back as long as it comes with a fire surpession system.
4400 miles on Sebring would be different story I bet. Rad's Scud is degrading rapidly, but he only drives half days at Sebring.

Wait, I know how we can settle this, we take turns for scientific evaluations!!
We take the Beetle out to South Beach and the Fiat to Sebring and vice versa. We keep alternating until we are both sure what car is better at dropping panties and what car holds up better at Sebring.

Whattaya say?

kyrocks

You're invited to come over any time and drive them! We'll make you some avgolemono soup, eat lamb, feta, olives, and finish the meal off with baklava!(which I can't eat because I'm allergic to nuts )

Yes, I do love my cars...but that exotic nature of the 458 always tries to suck me in.

kyrocks

And a back seat too!

aussie jimmy

thanks for your kind offer! perhaps one day...

ahhhhh the good life!

aussie jimmy

the beetle will pull more panties at boca raton

NJ-GT

F458

Gearbox - 9
Suspension - 7
Brakes - 8
Motor - 10

Massive intervention of the electronics to make you feel like a hero, e-diff 3.0 + F1 Track 2.0 + EBD = abuse of rear brakes.

I have seen 3 of these driven at Sebring, one by a 360 Challenge owner turning 2:20s in the Challenge and 2:30s in the F458, two more driven a few weeks ago, with one of them driven by a seasoned Club Racer, and lap times nowhere near what a 3.8 RS laps around Sebring.

It weighs 3,500 lbs, it doesn't put the power to the wheels that represents 562Hp at the crank, the F458 Challenge transmissions are not holding well in race conditions, and rear suspension design and shocks used are a disappointment.

F458: BWI steel shocks with sleeves for ride adjustment (cost cutting) made in Polland, and elimination of upper a-arm with a single 2 points arm.

Scuderia: Sach aluminum shocks with threaded bodies made in Germany, double A-arms.

However, it is very easy to improve the F458 Italia, proper springs, shocks, alignment, wheel sizes, tires, brake pads, seats, exhaust, and transmission cooler.

For street use, it is probably one of the best cars around. For track use, it needs minor work.

Compared to the standard F430 it is a quantum leap apart, compared to the 430 Scuderia it dissapoints on all the dynamic ranges except acceleration, and in this specific area, Fiat left a lot to be gained in the Scuderia, not so much in the Italia.

Thanks to MP4-12C and the incoming MP4-12C GT street car, the track day version of the F458 will deliver performance as expected.

Izzone

Valet, yes

Track....you need to have a seven digit income to be able to afford it.

I think Sebring would kill one in 12 months

TRAKCAR

Fixed it.

Minor improvements NJ-GT style:

TurboS

Congratulations and great choice, drive it in good health.

The 458 is not faster than a Turbo S in a straight line, but probably faster over a lap due to the weight. However a GT2 that would be a good comparison. Hopefully tbd this year a Mosport.

NJ-GT

- You can't drag race your Aero Beetles because axles will be flying out on the drag strip.
- None of the Aero Beetles is running stock brakes, because they suck. Fiat brakes suck too, but fix is quite simple.
- Fiat don't have a bladder condition, Aero Beetles **** every single fluid.
- I have yet to replace the first front spoiler lip in the Fiat, you buy them by bulk.
- I'm still using my factory clutch, lsd, and the Aero Beetles are in the 2nd or 3rd replacement of the same parts.
- I have not replaced toe links, or control arms, because the Fiat comes with quality pieces.
- While you keep stripping your Aero Beetles, I keep my amenities, such as valve controlled muffler, A/C, ipod link, Navi, Bluetooth link, cd player.
- Fiat uses real carbon fiber pieces, not a layer of CF over crappy sun blocker melting plastic.
- No matter what muffler tweak you put on Aero Beetles, Fiat makes music, VW pollutes.