Whether you're a fan of leaked photos or not, one thing that they almost always do is catch a maelstrom of attention, especially if these said leaked images are of the Ferrari 458 Spider kind.

The highly anticipated launch of the open-top version of the 458 Italia is scheduled for the Frankfurt Motor Show, but there appears to be a preemptive strike on the release with leaked images from the Cheers and Gears forum. If you're to believe what they're showing you, then you just might be looking at the new Ferrari 458 Italia Spider. Granted, leaked images have a way of expediting the process of a manufacturer releasing the official batch of photos, but it's unlikely that Ferrari will be doing this anytime soon.

The Ferrari 458 Italia Spider will be powered by the same 4,499 cc V8 engine mated to an F1 dual-clutch gearbox delivering the same 570 HP at 9,000 rpm and 398 lb-ft of torque at 6000 rpm as the coupe. The engine delivers an outstanding power output of 127 HP/liter and 120 Nm/liter and only 307 g/km of CO2 with a fuel consumption of just 13.3 l/100 km. As with any other convertible model, the Ferrari 458 Italia Spyder will gain some weight due to the hardtop which will make performance suffer just a bit. The sprint from 0-60 mph will take a tad longer than 3.4 seconds while top speed will sit below 201 mph.

We aren't sure whether we believe these images are the official shots of the Ferrari 458 Italia Spyder, but if they are, then Ferrari has taken a more aggressive approach in the exterior design of the model. Take a good look and let us know what you think. Either way, we'll be feasting our eyes on the 458 Italia Spyder soon enough when the vehicle debuts at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show next month.

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