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2012 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider "Perfetto" by Wheelsandmore 
When you have a tuning program that’s being described as ’perfect’ the same way Wheelsandmore is calling the Ferrari 458 Italia Spider "Perfetto", then there’s some serious living up to do to justify that ’perfetto’ claim. The German tuner went to serious lengths to give the Italian supercar some serious modifications. On the outside, Wheelsandmore fitted the 458 Italia Spider with a plethora of new carbon fiber components on the rear diffuser, the fuel cap, the rear fog lamp frames, mirrors and spoiler fins. On top of that, the supercar’s interior, trunk and engine compartment were all refined, thanks to new side panels, a custom-fit trunk tray, and a final panel for the rear window trim. Even the wheel well and the entire lower floor can be refined to replace the autoclave produced high-performance carbon-fiber components with a matte finish. The addition of all these carbon fiber components resulted in a reduced weight of 30 kg. Rounding out the aesthetic upgrades are a new set of 21" 6Sporz ² forged rims wrapped in Hankook tires. Sounds pretty ’perfetto’ to us. For the performance upgrade, Wheelsandmore took the 458 Italia’s 4.5-liter V8 engine and added plenty of new modifications, including its newly developed Carbonairbox. Add in the installation of manifolds, the addition of a flip-controlled exhaust system, and software optimization, and you have an increased output of 647 horsepower and 468 lb/ft of torque, a drastic improvement from the standard model’s 570 horsepower and 400 lb/ft of torque numbers. Ferrari kicks off 2012 with impressive sales figures After Porsche recently released its sale and revenue figures for the first quarter of 2012, Ferrari has also joined in by proudly releasing its figures with all the crucial numbers going up also, suggesting that economies across the globe are beginning to make their way out of the Global Financial Crisis of late 2008 and 2009. In just the first three months of this year, Ferrari managed to deliver 1,733 new vehicles to its ever-expanding dealership network, and sales in the United Kingdom led the pack achieving a 31% rise of sales this time last year. In a similar vein, sales in the U.S. were up by 16%, Germany up by 12% and unsurprisingly sales in the Middle East also grew by 23%. What’s more exciting is the fact that all new cars ordered from Ferrari this year have all been completely custom, with buyers now offered the chance to personalize their machines to a whole new level with the Tailor Made programme. It’s important to note at this stage also, that the recently launched F12 Berlinetta played no role in this sale spikes as deliveries of it won’t begin until the second half of the year. In line with this impressive sale figures, Ferrari managed to rake in 42.1 million Euros of profit, a dramatic increase of 17.2% from last year prompting Ferrari’s chairman, Luca di Montezemolo to state, "After an extraordinary 2011, starting the year with all the economic indicators on the rise is very satisfying indeed. We have a complete new model range brimming with technological innovations, and which deliver significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions, down by 30 per cent on average." He continued: "At the end of the year, we’ll also be unveiling the new Enzo, a limited series model and our first ever hybrid car." Now have a look at that last sentence very closely. We already knew Ferrari was planning to unveil the new Enzo late this year, with new hybrid technology also being previewed, but as for the new ‘limited series model’, we simply have no idea what that could be. Perhaps the Ferrari 458 Scuderia will come earlier than expected? Ferrari accused of insulting Chinese culture; Company apologizes The last thing any automaker wants to do at this point in time is insult the fastest growing automotive market in the world, but this is exactly what Ferrari has achieved when it took its 458 Italia China Edition for a little joyride in China. You see, China is now a local distributor for the Italian firm, so Ferrari paid $12,000 for permission to drive the 458 Italia China Edition on the Zhonghua Gate Tower in Nanjing, a 600-year-old historical site. This would have been acceptable, except for the fact that a dealer employee - not a Ferrari official - was caught doing ’doughnuts’ and wheel spinning on the ramparts during the night. And it was filmed. China takes its culture and tradition very seriously, so these acts were entirely unacceptable on such a monument. Ferrari was quick to apologize for this daring and disrespectful act, and the culprit was disciplined by the dealership. Ferrari even took it a step further by promising to work with authorities and local officials to repair any damage. "Ferrari is fully at the disposal of the local authority to solve the situation. At the same time Ferrari has asked the dealer to take immediate action with the employee who had such regrettable behavior," said the company. Hit the jump to see the car doing the dirty deed in China. Full story
Ferrari recalls 206 458 Italia and California models worldwide Back in 2010, the Ferrari 458 Italia faced some serious fire problems leading to an eventual recall and some groans from potential owners. Thankfully, the Italian automaker resolved the issue and the sports cars were sent back onto the road. Everything seemingly went back to normal, but now British magazine AutoCar is reporting that Ferrari is recalling a number of 458 Italia and California due to an incorrect finish to the crankshafts in question. If the crankshaft is not replaced, it can cause unwanted vibrations which can damage the engine. A total of 206 units are said to have this problem from 13,000 units that were built. Ferrari is now asking all customers affected to take their cars back to the dealers to have the problem solved: "We are writing to all clients affected now, asking them to return the car to a dealer for the work to be done," said a Ferrari spokesman. We are not sure about the number of units number affected specifically on the US market, but in the UK there are 16 cars affected, 10 California models and six 458 Italia models.
2012 Ferrari 458 Italia Emozione by Evolution 2 Motorsport
Every so often, a tuning firm comes out of the woodwork to present a program that takes your breath away. Evolution 2 Motorsport isn’t what you’d consider a household name in the tuning world, but when they came out with the Ferrari 458 Italia Emozione, we couldn’t help but stop and take notice. On the visual front, Evolution 2 Motorsport dressed up the Italian supercar with plenty of carbon fiber components, including a new front splitter, a rear spoiler lip, mirror shrouds, a new double rear diffuser, and engine bay surrounds on both the front and sides. In addition, the tuning company also added a chrome-effect mesh, custom alloy pedals, and a new set of 21" alloy wheels. Under the hood, the Ferrari 458 Italia’s 4.5-liter V8 engine was given its own upgrade, thanks to the inclusion of a new large-volume carbon fiber airbox, a titanium exhaust with blue end tips, and a re-programmed ECU unit. All these changes offer a significant bump in output for the Italian supercar, from the standard 562 horsepower all the way up to 602 horsepower. 2012 Ferrari 458 Spider by Novitec Rosso
The Ferrari 458 Italia has already received two upgrade programs from Novitec Rosso: a "standard" one and a second one called "Twins." And now the tuner is turning their attention to the 458 Spyder. Just like with the coupe version, the roadster has also received a carbon aero kit, superlight forged wheels, an engine increase to 609 HP and a top speed of 201 mph. The standard 458 Spyder delivers a total of 570 HP, but Novitec Rosso has added a special carbon-fiber air box with modified air routing and a high-performance exhaust system. As a result the car delivers a total of 609 HP at 9,100 rpm and a peak torque of 419 lbs-ft at 5,400 rpm. For the exterior the tuner is offering a new front fascia upgraded with a two-piece front spoiler and side flaps, new sill skirts and a new rear spoiler lip or a rear wing. All these elements are made in carbon fiber. The car sits on a new set of 22" forged wheels combined with a hydraulic suspension system that can raise the car’s ride by 40 mm or lower it by 35 mm. Hit the jump to read more about the new Ferrari 458 Spider by Novitec Rosso. Full story Video: Ferrari celebrates 8 million fans by doing a 458 Italia burnout
There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that Ferrari is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. In today’s world of social media, the Italian automaker has taken advantage of its worldwide popularity to draw in a ridiculous amount of fans on its Facebook page, proving without question that pretty much everybody and their mothers know what the Prancing Horse badge is. Recently, Ferrari celebrated a pretty significant Facebook milestone after earning 8 million fans on Facebook. So what did they do to earmark this occasion? They decided to bring a Ferrari 458 Italia to an empty road and let the mighty Ferrari supercar drift to its heart’s content. But more than just the burning rubber and the smoking tires, the drift stunt itself carried its own significant message, one that will be revealed at the tail end of the video? What exactly is this message? Well, stop waiting for answers and just watch the video. Ferrari 458 Italia looks great with HRE Wheels
If you were to pick one of the latest Ferrari models that we like the best, the 458 Italia will be our choice. And we are 100% sure of that! But we have never imagined how cool that car can get when you add a new set of wheels, and more importantly the right photographer to take the pictures. Do you know those moments when you discover another great look on the person you love, just because she or he sits in a different light? Well, this is exactly what Michael Burroughs from StanceWorks did with the 458 Italia. And, after watching his images over and over again, we came up to a conclusion: the 458 Italia is not just a car to drive, it is also a car to love! Do you think we exaggerate? We don’t! While about the 458 Italia you know everything you need to know, lets offer you some details about the new elements on the car: a new set of HRE Wheels 505 Vintage in Satin Bronze alloys. The wheels are made in aerospace-grade 6061-T6 forged aluminum for high strength-to-weight ratio and they are offered with ARP high strength stainless-steel fasteners.
2012 Ferrari 458 Italia China Special Edition
Ferrari is celebrating its 20th anniversary on the Chinese market with the introduction of a special edition 458 Italia. This new edition will be limited to only 20 units and since it will be exclusively offered in China, will be characterized by unique Chinese elements. The 458 Italia will be finished in a brand new color called Marco Polo Red specially developed for this exclusive car. Since this is the "Year of the Dragon," the car’s livery was inspired by the longma theme which is an old Chinese idiom which means "the vigor and spirit of the legendary dragon-horse." These elements include a golden dragon on the front bonnet, which is offset by gold and black livery stripes symbolizing a racing track. The golden dragon is combined with a gold finish for the rims and the aeroelastic winglets. On the interior, this special edition adds gold embroidery on the car’s head rests, while the engine start button on each of the 20 cars is inscribed with the simplified Chinese characters for "start." Each unit will also receive a "20th Anniversary Special Edition" plaque in the dash. UPDATE 06/19/12: For a super car that costs over $200,000 in standard guise, people will have to pay quite a premium in order to get hands on the 458 Italia China Special Edition. How much, you ask? Try 5.588 million yuan. When converted, that’s around $880,000 or €700,000 based on current exchange rates. Yikes. $1.5 Million in Luxury Cars Seized by U.S. Customs
There are a lot of new car scams in the world and most of them are initiated by the new car dealer, not the buyer. A group of buyers flipped the script on several Los Angeles dealerships, by using fake identities to purchase 20 cars and were shipping them to Hong Kong and Vietnam to sell them for two to three times their U.S. value. It was a laundry list of luxury vehicles, such as a $280,000 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia, an Audi Quattro, 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, along with several Mercedes, Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW SUVs among others. For some reason, the thieves even threw in a Toyota Tundra. The one that got these fraudsters busted was the Ferrari 458 Italia, as Ferrari fitted the supercar with a GPS system as standard, which Ferrari used to track the car once they found out they were defrauded. This led U.S. Customs and the California highway Patrol to conduct a full investigation and find the cars on a ship that had already pulled away from the port. Needless to say, that ship was forced to come back and all but four of the cars were recovered. The four non-recovered cars are due to be shipped back by Vietnamese Customs. According to the report, had the fraudsters not gone after the Ferrari, chances are they would have gotten away with this scam and made a ton of money in the process. The total amount of the vehicles seized by U.S. customs is estimated at $1.5 million, which would have pulled in around $3 million in Hong Kong and Vietnam. We are still trying to figure out what in the world a Toyota Tundra was doing in the mix with all of these high-end luxury cars. We also wonder which thief drew the short straw and was stuck going to the Toyota dealership to pick this thing up?
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