The new 458 Challenge that is destined to race in the onemake 2011 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli series was revealed today during an annual dealer meeting in Maranello, Italy. Based off the road-going 458 Italia, the Challenge has received a number of competition-spec modifications to adapt it for use on the track.
While the direct injection 4.5-liter V8 with an output of 570-horsepower at 9,000 rpm remains stock, Ferrari's engineers went ahead and made changes to the gear ratios and calibration of the dual-clutch F1 gearbox to improve torque at lower revs.
The owner of this Ferrari 458 Italia was in for a nasty surprise when his 570-horsepower Italian supercar started sending smoke signals from the engine compartment while he was driving on the streets of Paris. The cause of the fire remains a mystery but you can see the results in the photo gallery that was posted by a member of the Autogespot forums after the break.
Before you watch the following video, take a minute to ponder this: You are sitting behind the steering wheel of an exotic, brand new Italian supercar, getting ready to drag race a V10-powered Dodge Viper on the quarter mile strip in front of a crowd of 100, or perhaps even more people. But when the race begins you start rolling backwards� Oh yes, that�s right; the owner of the Ferrari 458 Italia that you�re about to see in the clip and who was pitted against a Dodge Viper at the ICAR motorsports complex situated just outside of Montreal in Canada, paddle shifted his car�s dual clutch auto transmission into reverse!
The bashed up 599 GTO we showed you yesterday wasn�t the only Ferrari to bite the dust at this past weekend's Trofeo Ferrari Club Italia event at the Vallelunga racetrack near Rome. The same fate awaited this red 458 Italia when its driver apparently lost control of the exotic supercar in a corner sending it straight onto the protective barriers. In a somewhat unfitting end for the Ferrari, a tractor had to be called in to carry away the car. Watch the incident unfold in the video after the jump.
The 458 Italia, Ferrari's V8 supercar, is the default choice in its category. Sexy, with a fabulous design and the latest in automotive technology, it is a pure driver�s car to be enjoyed by anyone who can afford it. Yet McLaren plans to spoil Ferrari�s party claiming that its own brand-new supercar, the MP4-12C, can beat it. On paper, little separates them. But the question for car fanatics remains: which one is better? To find out, Channel 5's Fifth Gear presenters Tiff Needell and Jason Plato decided to pit the Ferrari against its new challenger from Britain.
We�ve been patiently waiting for the new season of Top Gear to come to our screens, but the time is almost here as the first episode of the series will air on Sunday. Following last week�s release of the first teaser of season 17, BBC has now aired a second video highlighting the antics of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Among the other cars featured in the trailer are a McLaren MP4-12C taking on a Ferrari 458 Italia, a BMW 8-Series Coupe compared to a Mercedes CL, the rally version of the Mini Countryman and a Chevrolet Corvette from the early 1990s. You can check out the trailer for the new season of Top Gear after the break.
