Ferrari 458 Spider

The 458 Spider ushers in a whole new generation of Ferrari convertibles: an effortless marriage of technology, design and beauty, it is also the first car ever to combine a mid-rear engine with a drop-top. Make no mistake about it, however: this isn't just any old drop-top, but a retractable folding hard top that delivers both unprecedented in-cabin comfort when closed and unparalleled spider performance.
The 458 Spider is an extraordinarily original concept, a completely new solution that once again confirms Ferrari's unique talent for innovating and astounding without ever losing the identity and core values that have defined its story since 1947. A story that changes with the times but which also continues a glorious tradition founded in great part on fabulous open-top cars designed for hot sunny days: spiders, cabriolets and Barchettas. All cars that are spectacularly wonderful to drive because having just the open sky above you as you grip the wheel has a unique and truly unforgettable emotional impact: hearing the engine's soundtrack, feeling the car's speed, having the perfumes of the world swirl around you. An impact that's heightened to the last by nature itself: this is car at its best on coast roads, Alpine passes, Riviera, tree-lined avenues. Roads that lend a very special exhilaration to taking a drop-top out for a spin even at slower speeds.

The 458 Spider is a two-seater that brilliantly reflects Maranello's core strategy of offering the right Ferrari to each individual Ferrarista. The 458 Spider also, however, delivers a whole new set of emotions. You can hit the retract button, drive it top-down, and be enthralled by the distinctive harmonic rumble of its GDI V8 engine without your conversation with your passenger being drowned out, for instance. The 458 Spider also adds a genuine sense of sportiness and power to weekend trips à deux. A clever mix of sounds supplied by the car's 570 horse power incorporates just the right notes, turning it into music to your ears. Music that acts as a brilliant soundtrack not only to the pleasure of driving a Prancing Horse car but in-car chat. It's no coincidence either that this very V8 was named International Engine of the Year 2011: the 458 Spider delivers absolutely unprecedented performance for a spider, in fact. However, the 458 Spider has another feature that makes it unique. The key innovation around which its entire concept was crafted is, of course, its aluminum retractable hard top which guarantees in-car comfort that's far superior to a traditional soft-top.

The Ferrari 458 Spider also has an extraordinarily fast deployment and retraction time, and is far lighter and simpler than any other package of its kind. The Ferrari 458 Spider shares the 458 Italia's cutting-edge technologies to offer uncompromising comfort and performance as well as the distinctive thrill of open-top driving. It is perfect for everyday as well as weekend use, particularly in fine weather. It is the ideal choice for owners that want to experience sporty driving on mixed and challenging surfaces but don't feel the need to constantly push their car to the limit on the track. People who like to add an extra shot of exhilaration to driving to dinner or a day out at the coast. Who want the comfort of ergonomically perfect cabin space in which every last detail has been honed to perfection. A dream drive, in other words. But a very real, drop-top one, to boot.

The 458 Spider is the world's first midrear-engined car to sport a retractable hard top. In fact, the car's entire concept of combining comfort, lightweight construction, functionality and performance, was built around that feature. The first advantage of a retractable hard top is that it significantly improves in-car comfort when closed, as it insulates occupants from both weather and noise. The 458 Spider's unique hard top doesn't deform because of the pressure field that builds up at high speeds either. Cabin space and comfort are actually improved thanks to the roof's double curvature, an element made possible by its aluminum construction but impossible to achieve with a traditional canvas soft top.
With the Ferrari 458 Spider, the retractable hard top's structure is incredibly light too, thanks to a simple yet ingenious mechanism. It actually weighs 40 kg less than a traditional hard top and 25 kg less than a fabric version. Its simplicity also ensures its speedy and graceful deployment as well as ensuring it is extremely compact and aerodynamically efficient. As the two sections of the roof rotate simultaneously, the 458 Spider's hard top takes just 14 seconds to deploy or retract. It also tucks away neatly into a 100 liter space in front of the engine bay - a huge achievement given that the roofs on most retractable hard top cars usually take up 150-200 liters. However, this incredible compactness was vital to retaining the superb aerodynamics and styling of the rear of the 458 Spider and also the engine's mid-rear position. Drop-top driving is an absolutely uniquely exhilarating experience.

However, correct distribution of the airflow inside the 458 Spider's cockpit is vital to ensuring occupants fully enjoy the top-down experience without any unpleasant turbulence. This is why Ferrari has installed an electric wind stop in the 458 Spider: once the hard top has completed folding away, the latter automatically raises to about a third of its maximum height, the optimal position established in wind tunnel testing on a 1:1 scale model. That position may, however, be adjusted by the driver both with the top up or down. It can be completely lowered so that occupants get the full benefit of the 458 Spider's soundtrack even when the car is in coupé configuration. Design-wise, these results are the product of having moved the cut-line for the start of the roof from the waist-line to the top of the B-pillar. This simplifies the shape of the roof, making it two-dimensional with the result that it can be divided into two sections which overlap during folding.

The 458 Spider's architecture was developed around the retractable hard top concept with the aim of delivering exceptional handling, safety and lightness. Its second generation aluminum chassis is made at the Polo Scaglietti facility in Modena, a center of excellence in aluminum fabrication which not only benefits from Ferrari's own in-house skill-set but also associated universities and technical partners worldwide. Several different types of aluminum alloy are used to make the 458 Spider's chassis, each one with its own specific function: two alloys are used to produce thinner castings (30% thinner than the first generation); five high resistance alloys were used for the extrusions (yield strength is 80% higher than on previous alloys); three for the thin paneling (-25%); specific alloys were also used for the front and rear crash boxes to guarantee maximum energy absorption. Alongside these high-tech materials, Ferrari also uses the most advanced forming technologies (including Superplastic forming to make highly complex shapes less than 1 mm thick). Various different joining techniques were also adopted to re - duce weight and to deliver a high standard of structural rigidity.

In the 458 Spider, significant attention was also focused on minimizing the number of components in the car (particularly in the case of the door structure), to improve both performance and safety. New solutions include more robust sills and the introduction of structural buttresses which considerably increase torsional rigidity and beam stiffness (both + 23 per cent compared to the Ferrari F430's figures). The latter also provide roll-over protection, a function normally the sole domain of two highly visible roll-bars. This solution guarantees an exceptional standard of safety and easily exceeds the most severe safety requirements in this regard.