458Speciale difference to 458Italia

Hey all,

Very new member here, just subscribed after I experienced a 458 for a whole weekend a few days ago.
I have driven lots of cars, from all manufacturer lot of Ferrari also but more V12 front engine and stopped at the 360 for berlinetta's.
Fast forward I was truly blow away by the 458, low mileage very tidy car, but i got down of my 997.2 GT3RS and step in the Ferrari I felt I was in a video game but a very nice one. The engine, the box, the chassis, the brakes ! Except the over sensitive steering and the ****ty driving position ( i am 6`2 ) I loved all the rest, the cars feels like a modern iteration of my beloved 92 NSX-R.

My question is the following, what are the true hardware difference between the cars ?

I kept reading about the 458S being the best car ever made according to Evo Magazine ( my 3.8RS being the second ). And reading a bit everywhere that a 458S is actually a good cut above a 458 but would it be possible to replicate some of the 458S attributes to a normal 458 ?

- Engine power, just headers could do a bit, the rest is too complicated but I guess that's half the way.
- Weight ? Tossing 90kg doesn't seams like a big deal i am sure i can achieve that for not a lot fo money.
- But the chassis and steering ? I can't find any information on that. Is the steering rack different ? Is the geo set up different ? arms ? kinematics ? I kept reading that the Speciale give this extra layer of feedback because of a much nicer steering feel, more natural.

My meaning is, i was gonna buy a 991.2 GT3, but was so blown away by the 458 i want to go to this platform now.
Speciale reviews make me hesitate to sell my GT3RS or my NSX-R in order to jump from a 458 to a 458S because the price is really simple to double. But only if it really is very complicated to replicate a 458S driving experience on a 458.

Otherwise i would really love to have that trio and slowly mod a high mileage 458 and try to come closer to a 458S driving experience.

Thanks all !
Have a great day !

 

Thanks for the few answers, i tried to find a few posts regarding to difference but couldn't find a lot.

Well at least they have a similar engine, GT3 really has a totally different engine to a 911 but good comparaison nonetheless even if i would more have thought the difference will be like a GT3 to a GT3RS but i guess it is a bigger step than I thought !

I will keep digging, price difference is such massive and i love the versality of my cars that a high mileage 458 with mods might be a good first step into the F world.

 

I have dig a bit deeper on the difference hardware wise and it seams that a lot of the parts are carry over.
Front upper and lower wishbones, rear lower wishbones, rear upper also. Only very few variable parts number difference between the two.
Steering column is same also, but steering rack is a different part so maybe a bit of difference comes from here.

From my reading also the software is different and brings quite some changes to how the car drives flat out on the limit.
90kg off is an easy thing to do, some different suspension also, steering rack is more work though but from the hardware point of view comparing diagrams of spare parts it doesn't seam to be quite that different !