458 - I wanted to share my 2015 458 White Spider now that she's lowered! | FerrariChat

458 I wanted to share my 2015 458 White Spider now that she's lowered!

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by s4play, Apr 29, 2020.

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  1. s4play

    s4play Karting

    Oct 25, 2006
    170
    So I took the car in for a post-purchase checkup at the local Silicon Valley Ferrari dealer and cannot be happier with the white glove VIP treatment. The Service Manager Ricardo took very good care of me and even provided a fun little loaner car for a few days....

    I asked them to check things out, and while the car was there to have it lowered using the stock coiler setup. My car is a fully loaded $330k+ sticker car so it does have the front lifter. From what I read online, the car can't be as low as the cars without the lifter which is true. According to my tech he said he was able to get 15mm lower up front and the rear can go much lower but he wanted to balance it out so we settled for 15mm front and rear.

    Still relatively new to the Ferrari brand but I came from a Huracan, 2017 NSX and quite a few R8 v10's because I loved shifting my own gears (all the R8's were 6MT). My first impressions is the NSX is much more comfortable and roomy for taller guys like myself. I hated the Huracan having to slouch :(

    We did the Forza exhaust valve controller mod on the car and now it always sounds proper, you can watch the video of our DIY here:




    First impressions around town is this car is very daily drivable! I still can't get over how large the front trunk space is that I can literally crawl in and fit in the massive space. The gear shifts on this car is very fast which makes the LED shift lights almost mandatory. I never liked it before but on this car it's amazing. Even with the valves open all the time, I feel this car can be louder. What do you guys run for exhaust systems that are bolt on and SMOG legal? In CA it's pretty strict so it must be something street legal.

    The original plan was to keep this car for a couple years and move to a Speciale, you guys think it's worth the difference or just jump to something faster like a Pista?

    Anyways, going to keep this short but I love all cars in general and hope to meet some of you after all of this craziness with the Covid-19 is over. If you guys have suggestions for mods or more carbon fiber parts, I'm all ears, share some pics of your modded ride!

    My plan is to get some BBS LM's next and I have some carbo aero pieces going on the car next month.


    thanks!

    this is before it was lowered, in stock form:
    [​IMG]

    A big reason I got this 458 Spider is because of the color spec matches my NSX:
    [​IMG]

    Up on the lift:
    [​IMG]

    Lowered 15mm all around:
    [​IMG]

    Loving the new stance, can't wait for the BBS wheels:
    [​IMG]

    At home with my other toys:
    [​IMG]
     
    DefunctNeurons, Dr. K and IloveGT like this.
  2. Ianjoub

    Ianjoub Formula Junior

    Dec 22, 2019
    899
    Homosassa, FL USA
    Full Name:
    Ian Joubert
    That tag is going to make people think Honda makes cars with character and soul! :D

    Congrats!
     
    s4play likes this.
  3. veilstylez

    veilstylez Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 12, 2005
    756
    SoCal
    nice looks good
     
    s4play likes this.
  4. v35

    v35 Karting

    May 15, 2013
    190
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Aaron
    What's the significance of the plate since it's neither a v10 nor an NSX
     
  5. white out

    white out Formula 3

    Mar 3, 2010
    1,228
    Great spec! Lowering and adding spacers really cleans up the 458.
     
    Rory breaker likes this.
  6. AlfistaPortoghese

    AlfistaPortoghese Moderator
    Lifetime Rossa

    Mar 18, 2014
    3,778
    Europe, but not by much.
    Full Name:
    Nuno
    A 458 lowered with taste. Two thumbs up!

    Kind regards,

    Nuno.
     
    F12london and s4play like this.
  7. Carnut

    Carnut F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 3, 2003
    3,797
    Gladwyne PA
    Full Name:
    Morrie
    I have never been a fan (nor do I understand the purpose) of lowering cars simply for looks (and please don't start telling me that it makes the car handle better because that is not always the case, if fact the opposite is usually the case), but I don't think that looks that bad. Please do not ruin such a beautiful car with carbon fiber decorations, if you want carbon fiber buy a 4C. I have a white 458 spider, and if you want to do something to it, call open flash, they can actually do something that makes the car drive better. Those ridiculously silly looking decorations will not. Good luck with your car.
     
    jomarti1 and s4play like this.
  8. Rory breaker

    Rory breaker Formula Junior

    Apr 17, 2017
    269
    Looks good keep it up. Stock 458 ride height is for retirees, looks like a 4x4. Suspension required. And this car would look great with tons of CF throughout. White/red/CF a timeless killer combination. Couldn’t disagree more. To each their own :)
     
    s4play likes this.
  9. DefunctNeurons

    DefunctNeurons Formula Junior

    May 15, 2018
    412
    Alpharetta, GA
    Full Name:
    Trevor
    Curious how long/billable time was required for the lowering? Makes me want to do mine. Did you add spacers as well or didn’t feel it needed them? Or I guess with the new BBS rims it doesn’t matter?


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
     
  10. Ianjoub

    Ianjoub Formula Junior

    Dec 22, 2019
    899
    Homosassa, FL USA
    Full Name:
    Ian Joubert
    I think it took me about 3.5 hours to take alignment and ride height measurements, then install the aftermarket springs. I guessed wrong on the spring length/compression though and didn't get the ride height I was looking for. I will be able to adjust this with the coil overs installed on the car now though then reset the alignment. I would guess that I will have 5 total hours in the job.

    I don't know what a shop would bill for hours though.
     
  11. s4play

    s4play Karting

    Oct 25, 2006
    170
    This plate was leftover from my 2017 NSX and still had registration left so figured why not! :) kinda funny to see the reactions


    Appreciate all the warm welcome and kind words. I'm way too old to be doing weird stuff. I'm going for subtle and tasteful these days.

    Will post more pics when the BBS wheels arrive. For now, perfectly happy just driving the car occasionally since we live in some crazy times right now with all the virus issues going around, especially in CA.

    Do you guys think custom stripes on the car would be cool? I'm not trying to copy the Speciale but I do like custom stripes on my cars......usually I have them custom designed for each car. Both my Huracan and NSX had them, also the R8's...

    Anyone else here put custom stripes on their 458? I'd love to see or get ideas. I'm thinking of something with the Italian flag to match my keychain :)

    [​IMG]
     
  12. s4play

    s4play Karting

    Oct 25, 2006
    170
    Dealer charged me around $1k which I felt was fair, but this didn't include the alignment which my local shop took care of separately. I thought about spacers but since I'm getting new wheels realty makes no point.

    thanks!
     
  13. Baptist

    Baptist Karting

    Mar 2, 2008
    78
    But its not your car its his car and he can do what he wants with it.
    Each to their own.
    Personally I think the factory 4x4 off road stance looks ridiculous. Glad I lowered and spaced mine, with proper geo, handles better than it did standard.
     
    s4play and Rory breaker like this.
  14. s4play

    s4play Karting

    Oct 25, 2006
    170
    Frankly the 458 is NOT that low even with 15mm drop. I can barely notice and the car still sits WAY higher than my NSX.....

    We live in an area with a lot of hills and I got the car with the front lift just to be safe but thus far I have not used it once, even after the car is lowered!

    I used to scrap in my 2017 NSX for sure if I did not go at an extreme 45 degree angle and my white NSX has no chance of making it up the driveway so I finally gave up and leave it at my office....argh
     

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