Finally, after a few days ago some pictures have escaped on the Internet, Ferrari has taken the wraps off the convertible version of its 458 Spider ahead of its debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, and as we predicted, the stunning supercar has gained a retractable hard-top. This way, the new Ferrari 458 Spider becomes the world’s first mid-engined car with a retractable hard-top.
As for the power, the Ferrari 458 Spider comes with a naturally-aspirated, direct-injection 4.5 liter V8. The new model, as the 458 Italia, is using the same dual cluth F1 style transmission through the E-Diff, itself integrated with the F1-Trac traction control and ABS. The figures tell us that the extra weight of 50kg adds a tenths to the 0-100km/h time, taking it to 3.4 seconds. Top speed drops from 325km/h to 320km/h being Ferrari’s fastest-ever convertible.
According to the Italian brand, certain features like the accelerator pedal mapping and the damping of the multilink suspension have been re-tuned in order to assure maximum pleasure and sportiness when driving with the top down.
Now comes the interesting part: the roof with a clever folding aluminium hard top. Despite the fact that none of the pictures released show the car with its roof in place, we know that it’s a two-piece system that’s claimed to be 25kg lighter than a conventional soft top, and which (when folded) is stowed in front of the Spider’s engine bay.
So far no details about pricing were released, but stay tuned because the brand new 2012 Ferrari 458 Spider will make its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2011.
Source: Ferrari
