This much we know: the Ferrari 458 Italia isn’t having the year it was expected to have. With all the separate incidents involving burning 458 Italias all over the world, the supercar that was supposed to set Ferrari apart from its competitors has had to battle some pretty serious reliability issues, which, in the process, has tainted its standing as one of the pre-eminent supercars in recent memory.
Apparently, though, one British car magazine seems to think that the 458’s recent bout of “fire-itis” wasn’t enough reason for them not to pick the Ferrari supercar as this year’s Performance Car of the Year. The decision, short of saying, is a little questionable as far as we’re concerned. But since this is their award and they have free say over it, they can pretty much choose whatever car they deem as the best.
The field was particularly tough this year and was spread out to include cars from different segments. There were hot hatches, hybrids, sports cars, and supercars all in Auto Express’ ballot. Among the vehicles in the short list included the Skoda Fabia VRS, the Porsche GT3 RS, the BMW M3 Competition, the Mercedes SLS AMG, the Peugeot RCZ and the Audi R8 V10 Spyder.
In the end, one car stood above everybody else similar to how the stallion on its badge seems to tower over its competition. The Ferrari 458 Italia is Auto Express’ 2011 Performance Car of the Year, even if the choice was a curious one at best.
Check out how the 20 cars ended up in the standings after the jump.
20. Subaru Cosworth Impreza STI
16. Honda CR-Z
15. [Bentley Continental Supersports
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14. [Volkswagen Golf R
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13. [Jaguar XJ Supersport
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12. Lotus Elise
11. Audi RS5
8. [Porsche 911 GT3 RS
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