The 458, not as quick as I was expecting.....

[Streetrod]

Hi folks check this out from our friends over on the GT Board. Make sure you watch the 3 races. Is it just me that was expecting the 458 to be a lot faster than a Gallardo???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv_YApsenG8

[AndrewW-G]

Far too many variables for a true comparative test

Love the whacky 458 dashboard

[Streetrod]

AndrewW-G said:

Far too many variables for a true comparative test

Love the whacky 458 dashboard

True, but once they are rolling if both drivers are giving it the full beans would you have expected a different result?

[justin220]

What a noise! Prefer the Lambo though I think, strangely

[edo]

amazing gear changes from that box

[Mario149]

Interesting. I agree, I would have expected the 458 to walk away from the Gallardo consistently from a rolling start. I know power/acceleration isn't everything, but it still seems a little bit of a poor show on Maranello's part

All that said, I'll have the 458 ta very much

[marcusjames]

I've driven both fairly hard. I can only assume the 458 driver is short-shifting (you can hear this in the 3rd race). I would put my money on the Ferrari winning every time.

[AndrewD]

marcusjames said:

I would put my money into an Audi R8

EFA

[RobM77]

I haven't driven either, so please enlighten me if you have, but I've just worked out the power to weight ratios as 333 for the 458, and 326 for the Balboni. The Balboni also has more power to counteract drag. Ergo I'd expect similar rolling start acceleration.

[Sarnie]

In all three vids neither car really pulls away from the other after the start, therefore the winner was decided by who got the jump on the other, not exactly an exact science on a definitive example of which car is better....

[EL77]

winning is winning regardless of by how far.

[Galsia]

Its still a nicer looking car than the Rocky Balboa... :P

[RobM77]

EL77 said:

winning is winning regardless of by how far.

Sarnie said:

In all three vids neither car really pulls away from the other after the start, therefore the winner was decided by who got the jump on the other, not exactly an exact science on a definitive example of which car is better....

Are these cars really about which is faster though, and is it a straight race which one or the other can "win", and therefore make the car "better"? They're road cars, and as such need to do a whole host of things well, and surely the primary entertainment for drivers on the road will be from how they feel to drive, not how quick they go. When two cars are this close (a 2% difference in power to weight ratios), surely this is even more true?

[andrew.]

RobM77 said:

...the primary entertainment for drivers on the road will be from how they feel to drive, not how quick they go.

close !
for me it's how they feel to drive and how quick they feel

numbers are for track days and top trumps

[Beefmeister]

I've passengered in a 458 around Fiorino, and done a lot of driving in an LP560/4.

In my experience, the 458 is the quicker car, but not by a great deal.

[pistolp]

Seriously who cares, there is going to be very little in it anyway - I bored of racing people at the lights a long time ago. I was beaten by a guy in a modded Capri once and easily. I was driving a 360 spider. Whose car would I rather have? Mine, exactly.

Drag races are for poofs, real drivers like corners

[RobM77]

andrew. said:

RobM77 said:

...the primary entertainment for drivers on the road will be from how they feel to drive, not how quick they go.

close !
for me it's how they feel to drive and how quick they feel

numbers are for track days and top trumps

Absolutely.

The other thing to consider is that any petrolhead with £150k-£200k at his disposal will obviously have some fairly serious motor racing available to him as an option. Such a person could probably afford to run an F3000 car or certainly an F3, which is hugely faster than a 458. Further down the scale I step from a Formula Renault into my Z4C and Elise regularly, and the Z4C and Elise really don't feel like they're accelerating or cornering at all - they feel like Micras in comparison; the same would be true of F3000 into a 458. I'm guessing that the 458 customer either has such a race car already (and can get his acceleration fix from that), or has discounted speed as a major factor in spending his £200k and is after something a bit different. I may be wrong on that one, but I know if I was spending £200k on a road car I'd want something that merely felt adequately fast - whether another car was 20% faster or slower wouldn't really concern me, provided the car made a nice noise and picked up speed in an impressive way; and most of my attention would be on the build quality, handling, feedback, looks etc. A few years ago I was considering saving up £50k for a 550, 360 or 996TT, and I don't think I even looked at the acceleration figures, as they were all fast enough for me for the public road. I'm sure the same would be true if I was on a bigger budget and buying such a car new.

[WCZ]

RobM77 said:

andrew. said:

RobM77 said:

...the primary entertainment for drivers on the road will be from how they feel to drive, not how quick they go.

close !
for me it's how they feel to drive and how quick they feel

numbers are for track days and top trumps

Absolutely.

The other thing to consider is that any petrolhead with £150k-£200k at his disposal will obviously have some fairly serious motor racing available to him as an option. Such a person could probably afford to run an F3000 car or certainly an F3, which is hugely faster than a 458. Further down the scale I step from a Formula Renault into my Z4C and Elise regularly, and the Z4C and Elise really don't feel like they're accelerating or cornering at all - they feel like Micras in comparison; the same would be true of F3000 into a 458. I'm guessing that the 458 customer either has such a race car already (and can get his acceleration fix from that), or has discounted speed as a major factor in spending his £200k and is after something a bit different.

Not Necessarily! there's people like myself who just don't want to buy, store and trailer a road-illegal track day car.

[RobM77]

WCZ said:

RobM77 said:

andrew. said:

RobM77 said:

...the primary entertainment for drivers on the road will be from how they feel to drive, not how quick they go.

close !
for me it's how they feel to drive and how quick they feel

numbers are for track days and top trumps

Absolutely.

The other thing to consider is that any petrolhead with £150k-£200k at his disposal will obviously have some fairly serious motor racing available to him as an option. Such a person could probably afford to run an F3000 car or certainly an F3, which is hugely faster than a 458. Further down the scale I step from a Formula Renault into my Z4C and Elise regularly, and the Z4C and Elise really don't feel like they're accelerating or cornering at all - they feel like Micras in comparison; the same would be true of F3000 into a 458. I'm guessing that the 458 customer either has such a race car already (and can get his acceleration fix from that), or has discounted speed as a major factor in spending his £200k and is after something a bit different.

Not Necessarily! there's people like myself who just don't want to buy, store and trailer a road-illegal track day car.

Most people (like me) pay someone else to do that. You wouldn't be looking after an F3000 car yourself in your garage after work each day That's what I was imagining when I said that someone with £175k to spend on a supercar could afford that. I earn a fairly average salary and can afford to race an old Formula Renault that's owned, stored, transported, and supported by a professional team, so someone earning several times my salary could easily afford to do it for a quicker race car like an F3 or F3000. You just turn up, pop your helmet on, drive the car, then drive home afterwards. That was the basis of my statement that someone that well off could afford a seriously quick race car so would be interested in other things from a road car - I know I would, but maybe I'm in a minority?