When Ferrari ->ke252 unveiled the 458 Speciale at the 2013 Frankfurt International Motor Show in September, we instantly fell in love with the 458 all over again, despite never seeing it in action. Well, it didn't take too long to see someone push it to its limits, as Autocar got the first crack at the higher-performance 458.

Steve Sutcliffe was the lucky man who got to find out if Ferrari is correct in thinking the 458 Speciale is "more fun than a Ferrari F40->ke434." Those are pretty strong words from a company with this strong of a reputation.

The 458 Speciale retains the 4.5-liter, V-8 engine from the base 458 Italia->ke3479, but Ferrari tweaked the output to 596 horsepower at 9,000 rpm and 398 pound-feet of torque at 6,000 rpm -- an increase of 34 horsepower over the base 458. This makes it the most powerful naturally aspirated V-8 that Ferrari has ever built.

With the potent V-8 in tow, this supercar sprints from 0 to 60 mph only three seconds and from 0 to 124 mph in just 9.1 seconds. Top speed exceeds 202 mph.

.