My dealer told me that the car car for the previews is not quite finished yet. He saw it yesterday. No further details.
There is a 'fake' panel covering the door with an opening in the front of the door for air circulation to the 'real' air intake in the back. This is to hide the the real scoop in front of the rear wheel that will be, probably, the most distinctive feature of the new car.
The side air intake mimics that of the LaFerrari, but they have tried to make it somewhat less distinctive. The rear is similar to the F12. Regarding the name; I have not heard anything official, but I know Ferrari is keener on cars having worded names rather than a longer numbered designation and a name (marketing etc. etc.). The 458M will probably receive a combination of both (599 Fiorano became F12 berlinetta, 612 Scaglietti became FF). I doubt it will be named merely "398 T" or "458 M". It's definitely not "458 T", as that is technically incorrect. We shall see, their latest naming efforts haven't exactly been a home run (Speciale A, FXX K....)
I think we can anticipate a non numerical name, if for no other reason that any numerical designation will be a step downward. Italia T?
Were not allowed to see the interior? Not a good sign when it was posted that it is Cali-like. To me that means big rectangular LCD screen in the center of the dash - just like about 25 million other cars. Worse if it has a row of knobs on each side. Not what a Ferrari should look like and will be dated instantly. Hope its not.
You cannot see the interior because the cars seen by the select few at the "pre-previews" are 1:1 clay mock ups. I have a picture somewhere of the "F12" that was shown to my dealer in Maranello prior to unveil.
Also hope it's not. OK maybe for California and FF as they are different use. Not sports cars. In the same vein my problem with the 991 GT3 is that the interior is too Panamera-like.
Besides the turbo engine, I'm looking forward to hearing more about the gearbox. The Getrag 7DCL750 has max rating of 750 NM which is what the Cali T puts down. In theory, they will need a new unit if they want to surpass that torque figure - or magically cap the torque while increasing HP. Could make for a very interesting power curve, if possible...
Indeed! Lately there have been FChat discussion of failures of the DCT which were not apparent when I purchased my car. Maybe a little off topic but is the DCT the same reliability in both the 458's and the F12? Just wondering if Ferrari uses same/similar DCTs and failures are across all fitments. This goes to long term reliability and whether to keep or sell - potentially a big issue for most.
FWIW a technically oriented fellow at my dealer explained that the Cali T actually puts down close to 1000 NM but only in high gears and moderate RPM. I have no idea what boost that corresponds to but if it's true it would account for why the car seems to behave more "turbo-like" in the higher gears with muffled sound and lag. I guess the point is that they may very well tune the boost and therefore the torque curves differently in different gears.
One thing we should be able to say for certain is that regardless of the sound, it will be an interesting car to study from an engineering pov.
FWIW it's been a few years since DCT failures were a big issue. I can't recall a single failure recently. IIRC the techs at my dealer explained the failures were related to a sensor failing inside the gearbox, and since it's a sealed unit they can't replace the faulty sensor. I've noticed some dealers in the US offer DCT refurbishments, but that is not commonplace elsewhere as per my knowledge. Ferrari use the 7DCL750 on all models, from Cali T to LaFerrari. You may notice the LaFerrari has a higher torque rating, but that is because of the electric motor which drives directly, thus not running through the gearbox.
