Ferrari 458 - more pictures

New Ferrari 458 Italia pictures have been released, showing the new supercar on the road, plus its interior and exterior in detail.

Ferrari has already revealed that all the major controls on the 458, which will be unveiled at next month's Frankfurt motor show, will be far more responsive than those on the already sharp F430 it replaces.

See the Ferrari 458 picture gallery - from the early spy photos through to the latest official pictures

The 458’s high-revving 4498cc V8 is the highest-revving engine ever on a Ferrari road car. It has very light internal parts and tiny piston skirts, resulting in low rotation inertia and a 12.5:1 compression ratio. It puts out 562bhp at 9000rpm, 500rpm higher than the 430.

It means the 458 Italia will be ferociously fast; Ferrari claims it will sprint to 62mph in under 3.4sec on its way to a top speed of “over 200mph”.

While advanced engine electronics and lightweight parts underpin the extra performance, this will be the first mid-engined application of Ferrari’s direct injection fuel system, which appeared first on the front-engined California. It also runs Ferrari’s now-traditional flat-plane crankshaft.

The 458’s engine will be one of the most flexible in Ferrari’s history, too, with 398lb ft of torque arriving at 6000rpm. While that sounds peaky, it’s only two-thirds of the way through the 458’s rev range, and over 80 per cent (318lb ft) is available from 3250rpm.

The direct fuel injection has also helped cut CO2 emissions, producing a claimed 320g/km of CO2, even though it is faster and produces significantly more power than the 483bhp F430 and the 508bhp 430 Scuderia.

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