Ferrari 458 new owner initial thoughts and ownership thread
Discussion
Apologies for restarting an old thread but need some advice and everyone seems to be talking around what I'm interested in.
458 is a dream car for a lot of us, recently test drove and put a deposit down. Didn't get to drive properly but the brakes were a little concerning and I plan to do some track days.
My "fun car" is to enjoy on road on track. I have had an F80 M3 that was my only car for both, an M5 with a 991.2 GT3/Exige and now Turbo S (wife convinced me as we just had a baby). I deeply miss a nice engine and always wanted a 458 plus want something that moves around a bit more than a 911.
The Porsches have been bullet proof on track with amazing brakes and other than tyres I never had to change anything and nothing went wrong.
I am concerned about the 458 brakes and also how it will stand up to track use. I really don't want to fork out for new CCBs, I don't expect the same flawless experience as the Porsches but if anyone has any advice with:
1) Brake upgrades if they are necessary. I've seen Pagid pads mentioned on some forums. I don't expect the stopping power of a lightweight lotus or the PCCBs but want them to be decent. Braking is probably the most important thing to me on track and where I generally save most time.
2) Anything else I should be weary of with regards to regular track use
Or should I just abandon the idea and stick to the Porsches/Lotuses?
Any help is greatly appreciated thanks!
458 is a dream car for a lot of us, recently test drove and put a deposit down. Didn't get to drive properly but the brakes were a little concerning and I plan to do some track days.
My "fun car" is to enjoy on road on track. I have had an F80 M3 that was my only car for both, an M5 with a 991.2 GT3/Exige and now Turbo S (wife convinced me as we just had a baby). I deeply miss a nice engine and always wanted a 458 plus want something that moves around a bit more than a 911.
The Porsches have been bullet proof on track with amazing brakes and other than tyres I never had to change anything and nothing went wrong.
I am concerned about the 458 brakes and also how it will stand up to track use. I really don't want to fork out for new CCBs, I don't expect the same flawless experience as the Porsches but if anyone has any advice with:
1) Brake upgrades if they are necessary. I've seen Pagid pads mentioned on some forums. I don't expect the stopping power of a lightweight lotus or the PCCBs but want them to be decent. Braking is probably the most important thing to me on track and where I generally save most time.
2) Anything else I should be weary of with regards to regular track use
Or should I just abandon the idea and stick to the Porsches/Lotuses?
Any help is greatly appreciated thanks!
Edited by Coby147 on Wednesday 5th June 00:28
There's another 458/488 thread where Gibbo talks about replacing his ceramics for steels and he seemed to think that the braking performance was much improved.
I never found my 458 brakes lacking, but I took out a pal who is/was a racing driver and after 20 miles of his 'spirited' use, he suggested the brakes were needing looked at. Horses for courses perhaps.
I never found my 458 brakes lacking, but I took out a pal who is/was a racing driver and after 20 miles of his 'spirited' use, he suggested the brakes were needing looked at. Horses for courses perhaps.
Yes gibbo put the giro discs on his that's got to be worth a look.
The 458 brakes are amazing on track they really do need heat in them to get the pad transfer going though it was a constant frustration in my ownership that the brakes glazed over often without warning. The technology has obviously moved on as my GT4 is brilliant right from cold to full attack on track as is my 600LT.
I'm currently trying to sell my 600 with a view to coming back to a 458 I really loved owning the Ferrari. Next time I think I'll be going a bit left field and fancy doing a bit of modifying with decent suspension and some fast road/track stuff. I really should have bought Gibbos car it was ideal but just bad timing! The 458 is superb on track though obviously most others aren't really into that side of things but you quickly realise that the 458 is a race car for the road it's really very capable.
The 458 brakes are amazing on track they really do need heat in them to get the pad transfer going though it was a constant frustration in my ownership that the brakes glazed over often without warning. The technology has obviously moved on as my GT4 is brilliant right from cold to full attack on track as is my 600LT.
I'm currently trying to sell my 600 with a view to coming back to a 458 I really loved owning the Ferrari. Next time I think I'll be going a bit left field and fancy doing a bit of modifying with decent suspension and some fast road/track stuff. I really should have bought Gibbos car it was ideal but just bad timing! The 458 is superb on track though obviously most others aren't really into that side of things but you quickly realise that the 458 is a race car for the road it's really very capable.
My brakes work fine but the squeeling is next level. Because of the prefill function they even squeel when you're coasting and not braking. I do plenty of fast road driving so it's not that the brakes aren't used. I've done a load of googling and the solution seems to be lots of heavy braking sessions but that's not really very practical a lot of the time. At the risk of derailing this thread has anyone come up with a solution? I'm tempted to change the disks for Surface Transforms (heard good things) as the tech has clearly improved, I have two newer cars with ceramic brakes with no issues.
NickyF said:
My brakes work fine but the squeeling is next level. Because of the prefill function they even squeel when you're coasting and not braking. I do plenty of fast road driving so it's not that the brakes aren't used. I've done a load of googling and the solution seems to be lots of heavy braking sessions but that's not really very practical a lot of the time. At the risk of derailing this thread has anyone come up with a solution? I'm tempted to change the disks for Surface Transforms (heard good things) as the tech has clearly improved, I have two newer cars with ceramic brakes with no issues.
My new ones will start to squeak a bit when I've not doing any decent braking for a while. But not as bad as the old ones. Yet. Eatpies99 said:
I've recently had to replace the front discs on my 458 (cracks). Not sure if its placebo effect but the new discs and pads certainly work better when not hot. And even better then before when hot. No scientific data to back it up though haha 
Were the cracks on the bells? I've just put a deposit down on a 458 and it's having 4 new CCM rotors as minor cracking around the bell bolts which are apparently common occurence on Ferraris of this vantage. I was surprised but also pleased the PPI pickled up on this.Babw said:
Eatpies99 said:
I've recently had to replace the front discs on my 458 (cracks). Not sure if its placebo effect but the new discs and pads certainly work better when not hot. And even better then before when hot. No scientific data to back it up though haha
Were the cracks on the bells? I've just put a deposit down on a 458 and it's having 4 new CCM rotors as minor cracking around the bell bolts which are apparently common occurence on Ferraris of this vantage. I was surprised but also pleased the PPI pickled up on this.willy wombat said:
The brakes on the 488 are significantly better than those on the 458 (as indeed are the brakes on my Portofino). I have no idea whether this is due to discs/pads/calipers/servos nor whether any of this could be retrofitted to a 458.
good question tbh - the difference is huge !Gassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff