If you ask Ferrari, there are too many people who love the 458 Italia but are put off by its measly 562 horsepower and piddling 202-mph top speed. At least that’s what we assume the thought process is, as the gang in Maranello pulls from the oven the 458 Speciale—a 458 variant that’ll work even the sturdiest of leather kilts into a bunch.
The 458 Speciale is the sort of car we expected to see at September’s Frankfurt auto show. Now that it’s official, we’re glad to report that the Speciale earns its moniker by addressing three basic tenets of suprecardom: power, grip, and aerodynamics.The naturally aspirated 4.5-liter V-8 is now rated at 597 horsepower, although torque remains steadfast at 398 lb-ft. Ferrari says it’s the highest-output naturally aspirated Ferrari V-8 of all time, and that its 133 horsepower per liter is the “highest ever achieved by a roadgoing naturally aspirated engine.”
Equally as important is the Speciale’s weight loss, with Ferrari quoting a dry weight of 2844 pounds—down from a claimed 3042 pounds in the Italia—which gives it a power-to-weight ratio of 4.77 pounds per horsepower. The Italian marque says that 0–62 mph will take 3.0 seconds—which we find conservative as we’ve recorded 3.0-second runs to 60 in Italia guise in previous testing—and 124 mph will arrive in 9.1 seconds. But, really, who’s counting—we’re all gentlemen here, right?
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