I happened upon a parked Ferrari 458 Spider the other day.
This is the fastest car Ferrari’s ever built,
and also one of the quietest.
They say you can hold regular conversations up to about 125 mph.
At 140 those black turning vanes in the nose auto-adjust to create a suction under the car, generating almost 300 pounds of downforce.
It tops out at 203mph or so.
Aerodynamics are state of the art by
the Pinifarina coachbuilders.
Air is channeled down into vents alongside both the head lights and tail lights, to cool carbon ceramic disc brakes by Brembo.
Brembo makes the best stoppers in the business,
famous also in motorcycle design.
At 570 horses this mid-engined racing car generates enormous heat. The shark-like gills on the rear engine deck help with ventilation.
But first gen, the air-gills were not enough.
Now air is also channeled alongside the door pulls to sweep over the rear fenders and get sucked down into aerodynamic venturi tunnels, blasting road air on the 8 cylinder engine.
This model, the SPIDER, is a convertible.
The articulated top is made of thin aluminum, like the body, and flips-up-then-slides-down between the cockpit and the engine in just 14 seconds.
caranddriver
At £178,491 for the base model, this supercar is priced for only the fairly wealthy.
That said, this price does include, like all Ferraris these days, all your servicing for seven years.
If you manage to keep the greasy side down for that long,
that is.
Happy Monday!
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