A first-person YouTube review and performance test of a tuned Ferrari 458 Italia by Michael Chuang. The presenter contrasts the 458's analog, race-car feel with contemporary supercars, describes subjective driving impressions (stiff suspension, dramatic F1 gearbox, engaging steering), and reports limited acceleration results due to fog: an in-house "4100" run at 5.03 seconds, a "68130" run of 8.41 seconds, and a 100–200 km/h time of 7.22 s. The car is not stock (stock 562 bhp from a 4.5 L V8) — it has a stage 2 tune and high-flow cats producing ~620 hp at the crank, about 137 hp/L, and weighs ~3274 lb. The reviewer places the 458 highly among gateway Ferraris and notes market/value context (under $200k is attractive).
Questions this video answers
July 16, 2021
562 bhp from a 4.5 liter V8
Stage 2 tune and high-flow catalytic converters
Around 620 hp at the crank
Approximately 137 horsepower per liter
Chapters
Sam. So here it is, the Ferrari 458 Italia. A high revving, prancing unicorn from the post housing market crash. Something to remind us that at any moment this crazy bubble might burst again. Or at least show us what it's like to drop a piece of history. I'll be honest, I haven't been in too many Ferraris before because I'm more of a Lamborghini guy and Ferraris tend to be a little bit more rare around here. But this thing is quite the handful and it's a head turner, especially when it's a different color than the usual Rosso Corsa red. It really doesn't like being driven slow. The F1 gearbox is kind of dramatic. Power delivery is bipolar and the suspension is rather stiff. But I just love that steering wheel. There's really no denying the race car pedigree that this thing has. So I'm curious what it can do when we push it to the limit today in our acceleration test. But of course we need to explain what this car is first. It's not a stock Ferrari 458 that makes 562 brake horsepower from its 4.5 liter V8. And it doesn't run a low 9 second 6130 time. It does however, have a stage 2 tune and high flow cats making it put out around 620 to the crank numbers alone aren't impressive, but if you think about it, it's 137 horsepower per liter. And since it's relatively light at 3274 pounds, the power to weight rivals a lot of modern supercars. So let's see how it does in a straight line. Of course, somehow the fog has rolled in and made visibility a crapshoot. So I, I don't know if we'll be able to do the full half mile, but we'll give it a shot anyway. Unfortunately, we couldn't do the handling test because we only had a short amount of time with the car and the fog was getting a little out of hand. So that means we have limited acceleration data. Well, actually we have everything except for the half mile. Let's start with our in House 4100 where the 458 put down a pretty decent 5.03 second time. That lands it right up there with a bunch of modern supercars like the new NSX, Audi R8s and Hellcats. But 4100 is certainly not the range that best expresses a Ferrari's capabilities. So let's take a look at the 68130 where it did a respectable 8.41. In my research, that's almost a full second faster than stock. What that means is that with a simple tuning exhaust, the Ferrari 458 can still be a formidable force in this day and age where 8/2 6130 times are sort of the norm with high performance sports cars. For my metric friends, the story remains about the same. 100 to 200 kilometers per hour happened in 7.22 seconds and that's still plenty fast. You'll be in the range of some very interesting company which includes the Ariel Atom 3s. For more times and metrics, check out the fastest link in the description below. Oh boy. Ferrari. Ferrari. Ferrari. We really haven't had too many of these on the channel yet and the last time we did it was a little bit misrepresented, but hopefully the numbers here today did it some justice. I mean I think for a 10 year old non turbo supercar it held its own quite well here. But if you ask me what I think of the 458 as an exotic in general, I think it holds a pretty high place in my heart. At least higher than any other entry level offerings from Lamborghini or McLaren. Even though it predates the Huracan and the 570s, it feels more race car, more rare, more analog, less refined, more supercar esque if you will. It's kind of hard to keep track of for our generations right now, but all you need to know about the 458 is that it's the last naturally aspirated mid engine V8 from Maranello and to me that makes it even more special. It's not the most outlandish car, nor is it the fastest or is it as classic as the F430, but if you can find these for under 200k in this post Covid inflated car market then you'll be quite enthused with what I consider one of the greatest gateway Ferraris ever. Anyway, hopefully you guys enjoyed this episode and as always I'll catch you all in the next one. I hope you guys enjoyed this video as much as I did making it. If so, it'd be awesome if you can hit that like button and share the video with your friends. I can't cover everything I want to in the short amount of time that I have, so if I missed something let me know in the comments below. As you probably know, it's mainly just me and my wife doing this channel in our spare time, so if you want to show your support. I'd really appreciate it if you took a look at our merch store or maybe bought something through our Amazon affiliate links in the description below. And if this is your first time here, don't forget to check out some more videos on the channel. I produce all sorts of cinematic car content, so if you like what you see, smash that subscribe button for new episodes whenever they come out. Thanks for watching.
