A car this special demands an exceptional engine. Two figures sum up just how extraordinary the 458 Speciale’s mid-rear 4.497 cc V8 really is: its ability to punch out 605 cv at 9000 rpm makes it the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 ever built at Maranello while its specific power output of 135 cv/l is a world record for a road-going naturally aspirated engine. Honing of the entire car also resulted in an exceptional weight-power ratio of 2.13 kg/cv and the kind of performance that makes it worthy of the Speciale moniker: 0 to100 km/h acceleration in 3” (9”1 0 to 200 km/h) and a record 1’23”5 lap time at Fiorano.
To achieve these results, Maranello’s engineers maximised the 458’s V8 potential, carrying out detailed refinements to all the components, optimising combustion, volumetric and mechanical efficiency. Ambitious targets set at the design phase included boosting torque across the entire power curve by increasing the compression ratio to 14:1, once again a record for an engine of this layout.
Ferrari drew heavily on its extensive F1 knowledge at the design, process and control stages. The engine is produced in the factory’s in-house foundry using the same processes and machinery employed by the F1 team to deliver complex components with the necessary extreme structural and dimensional characteristics.
Optimised combustion chamber fluid-dynamics, new intake geometries, and a new cam profile are just some of the adjustments that allowed the designers meet their targets. Other significant factors were the revision of various engine components: new materials for the pistons and the con-rod bushings, for example. The crankshaft geometry was also redesigned as was the intake system, the latter cutting engine weight by eight kg.
This very special engine has an equally unique soundtrack that is seductive and uncompromising both inside and outside the car, thanks to the position of the tailpipes, the silencer configuration and a redesigned inlet tract.
