Any many of you are aware I pondered replacing my much loved MC Shift (2009) with an MC Stradale or maybe even an MC Cabrio. I drove both the Strad and the Cabrio - both were just as fascinating as each other but not different enough for me to justify the upgrade to them. The convertible felt a tad more special with the roof down and the sound was just out of this world. I also sat in a Centinnial edition car at the dealer however spending £100k + on a car with an interior which was 90% the same as my £45k car just did not make sense to me.
My daily driver is a Range Rover Sport so I then wondered what it would be like to trade in the GTS and the Range Rover Sport and get a beast of a car called the Range Rover SVR! For those who don't know - this is the flagship RRS which was created by Range Rover's special vehicle operations (SVO) and houses the engine from the F Type Jaguar R. This is a £100k+ beast but is probably the only car that sounds better than an MC Shift - if you don't believe me have a look at some you tube videos on the SVR - it sounds insane! The car's output is 542BHP with 0-60 coming up in 4.5 seconds! That's Porsche 911 territory in a car that can carry your kids and their friends and their parents too! So I went and drove one and after spending an hour in one on various roads I was smitten but wondered what the depreciation would be like on a 5 litre petrol Range Rover and I quickly bought myself to reality and decided to be a bit more sensible.
Aha - sensible - now you must be thinking I'm mad as buying an F car can't be sensible!? You are right to an extent
It was my 40th birthday last month and I wanted to treat myself to something special. I looked at the Porsche 991 Turbo S loved everything about it - again took it on an hours drive with a Porsche Silverstone Instructor fell in love with it BUT something told me it wasn't for me - £140k for a Porsche hmmm again I walked away.
On the way back from Porsche Reading I saw a black 458 on the M4 and the next morning I started my search on the F car used approved website.
A nice one happened to be at Dick Lovetts in Swindon so I drove up to take a look/drive. The whole F treatment was just way different from any other marque I had experienced. After being shown the car which was under showroom lights and behind at least another 12 cars they agreed for me to take it for a drive. Whilst they organised the car to be taken out of the showroom rather than sit me down in a waiting area with magazines and a coffee machine(!) I was taken around the showroom, given historical information on the brand, shown some uber expensive special edition cars that were sold (458 Aperta (premiums of around £200k!!), an F12 TDF - premiums of around £150k!) a Maserati MC 12 Corsa (£2m!!) and some really nice classics like the Dino etc. I was also taken in to the service area where the floor was so clean I could have eaten my food off it! Was nice to see the Maserati's share the same space as these lovely machines - there were many Maserati's in the service area too.
Once the car was ready I was taken out with the sales guy who was not pushy at all - he drove for the first 15 mins showing me various settings on the car etc and then we pulled in to a golf club where we changed over. The manettino on the steering wheel (knob to control drive functions!) has a few settings - Wet, Sport, Race, TC off and Death mode (everything off!).
He advised that I start off with Wet (all electronic aids are on) and so we drove away. There is a suspension button on the steering wheel - in Wet Mode this is always on soft setting but you can make the car softer in any other mode too - something I really missed with the Skyhook set up on my GTS - when in sport the GTS was always harsh but no noise(!!) - in non sport / mcs mode the car was nice and comfortable. Maserati should really sort this out on the next model.
Upon driving away I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the 458 was! This car in wet mode can easily be a daily driver. I even started to wonder that my wife would like the way this thing was driving. The soft suspension setting made the car feel a but like my old M6 very comfortable indeed. In Wet mode the exhaust note is very quite from the inside until around 3500 RPM but is apparently louder for those outside (head still turn when driving by).
I then turned the manettino setting to sport and put my foot down - what came next is something I had not experienced in any car before - they way the road ahead was eaten by this absolute weapon of a machine was just disgraceful - it was bloody quick. The exhaust valves opened from 3000 RPM now and the howl was just incredible. The car felt bumpy and I could feel the road the way one was meant to in a sports car but I then pressed the suspension button and it all became fast and comfortable. After 15 mins on twisting country B roads I decided it was time to go to Race mode. Sweet Jesus - the exhaust valves opened up immediately and the car became a roaring Lion! The Suspension became tighter and the gear changes resembled a much quicker and smoother version of my MC shift gearbox! Every gear change catapulted me faster in to the horizon with the LED lights on the steering wheel lighting up to tell me exactly when to change gears (My car has the Carbon Driving Zone which includes this optional extra (£5k+ when new). Before I knew it I was well over the speed limit - I won't even mention how fast here ;-)
Drove back to the showroom, they looked at my MC shift - gave me a price, we haggled and haggled and in the end I got the deal I wanted. The guys at DL were very easy to deal with and wanted to do a deal (was month end!!).
I have had the car for over a month now and absolutely love every minute of time I spend in it - I still pinch myself sometimes to believe that I bought a car that was a thing of dreams when I was a kid! There are a few niggles that need to be sorted out and the car will be collected on a closed trailer next week to have these sorted out at DL.
Coming back to being sensible - The F430s and 599s have all jumped substantially in value over the last two years and with the arrival of the 488 GTB I can only see the prices of the 458 being sustained or maybe even creeping up slightly. There are currently only 3 RHD 488s on the market on auto trader all with premiums of over £50k list price so it will take some time for these to come down in price. Right now these are £240-280k at least £100k over the cheapest 458s from a main dealer. Worst case scenario - even if they were to drop by £10-20k over the next two years it would still be less than I would have lost on a £100k SVR Range rover and I have scratched that Ferrari itch yay!
The interior of the 458 is pure quality - the leather, the stitching and the Navigation screen graphics etc are a few light years ahead than those on my GTS (and the Centinnial I sat in!). The ride is way better too. Performance there is no comparison at all as you can expect. the one thing I really miss though is the sound of my MC shift - its a much better sounding car than the 458 in all modes. In Race mode the 458 sounds insane but the exhaust note is more F1 race than the lovely burble I had on my GTS. There are also no pop and crackles on the downshift and this is something I miss so much!
The gear changes with the double clutch box are very smooth (except in brutal race mode where the car seems to drop a clutch somewhere!) - Make the MC shift gear changes seem ancient in comparison. The 458 is bloody smooth is auto mode too - it is very smooth indeed - you can only feel a very slight jerk when the gears change but excellent for occasional use nevertheless.
Overall reactions to the car have been positive with people letting me out at junctions etc - I think the subtlety (if there can every be that sort of thing with a Ferrari!?) of the black over say a red of yellow car helps.
As you can imagine the 458 is a better car than my previous GTS MC shift in all aspects apart from the ability to carry 4 passengers and the sound of that exhaust note! Whether it is worth 3 times the value is subjective and in my case the heart ruled over my head!
I am happy to answer any specific questions you may have on the 458 Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
My daily driver is a Range Rover Sport so I then wondered what it would be like to trade in the GTS and the Range Rover Sport and get a beast of a car called the Range Rover SVR! For those who don't know - this is the flagship RRS which was created by Range Rover's special vehicle operations (SVO) and houses the engine from the F Type Jaguar R. This is a £100k+ beast but is probably the only car that sounds better than an MC Shift - if you don't believe me have a look at some you tube videos on the SVR - it sounds insane! The car's output is 542BHP with 0-60 coming up in 4.5 seconds! That's Porsche 911 territory in a car that can carry your kids and their friends and their parents too! So I went and drove one and after spending an hour in one on various roads I was smitten but wondered what the depreciation would be like on a 5 litre petrol Range Rover and I quickly bought myself to reality and decided to be a bit more sensible.
Aha - sensible - now you must be thinking I'm mad as buying an F car can't be sensible!? You are right to an extent
It was my 40th birthday last month and I wanted to treat myself to something special. I looked at the Porsche 991 Turbo S loved everything about it - again took it on an hours drive with a Porsche Silverstone Instructor fell in love with it BUT something told me it wasn't for me - £140k for a Porsche hmmm again I walked away.
On the way back from Porsche Reading I saw a black 458 on the M4 and the next morning I started my search on the F car used approved website.
A nice one happened to be at Dick Lovetts in Swindon so I drove up to take a look/drive. The whole F treatment was just way different from any other marque I had experienced. After being shown the car which was under showroom lights and behind at least another 12 cars they agreed for me to take it for a drive. Whilst they organised the car to be taken out of the showroom rather than sit me down in a waiting area with magazines and a coffee machine(!) I was taken around the showroom, given historical information on the brand, shown some uber expensive special edition cars that were sold (458 Aperta (premiums of around £200k!!), an F12 TDF - premiums of around £150k!) a Maserati MC 12 Corsa (£2m!!) and some really nice classics like the Dino etc. I was also taken in to the service area where the floor was so clean I could have eaten my food off it! Was nice to see the Maserati's share the same space as these lovely machines - there were many Maserati's in the service area too.
Once the car was ready I was taken out with the sales guy who was not pushy at all - he drove for the first 15 mins showing me various settings on the car etc and then we pulled in to a golf club where we changed over. The manettino on the steering wheel (knob to control drive functions!) has a few settings - Wet, Sport, Race, TC off and Death mode (everything off!).
He advised that I start off with Wet (all electronic aids are on) and so we drove away. There is a suspension button on the steering wheel - in Wet Mode this is always on soft setting but you can make the car softer in any other mode too - something I really missed with the Skyhook set up on my GTS - when in sport the GTS was always harsh but no noise(!!) - in non sport / mcs mode the car was nice and comfortable. Maserati should really sort this out on the next model.
Upon driving away I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the 458 was! This car in wet mode can easily be a daily driver. I even started to wonder that my wife would like the way this thing was driving. The soft suspension setting made the car feel a but like my old M6 very comfortable indeed. In Wet mode the exhaust note is very quite from the inside until around 3500 RPM but is apparently louder for those outside (head still turn when driving by).
I then turned the manettino setting to sport and put my foot down - what came next is something I had not experienced in any car before - they way the road ahead was eaten by this absolute weapon of a machine was just disgraceful - it was bloody quick. The exhaust valves opened from 3000 RPM now and the howl was just incredible. The car felt bumpy and I could feel the road the way one was meant to in a sports car but I then pressed the suspension button and it all became fast and comfortable. After 15 mins on twisting country B roads I decided it was time to go to Race mode. Sweet Jesus - the exhaust valves opened up immediately and the car became a roaring Lion! The Suspension became tighter and the gear changes resembled a much quicker and smoother version of my MC shift gearbox! Every gear change catapulted me faster in to the horizon with the LED lights on the steering wheel lighting up to tell me exactly when to change gears (My car has the Carbon Driving Zone which includes this optional extra (£5k+ when new). Before I knew it I was well over the speed limit - I won't even mention how fast here ;-)
Drove back to the showroom, they looked at my MC shift - gave me a price, we haggled and haggled and in the end I got the deal I wanted. The guys at DL were very easy to deal with and wanted to do a deal (was month end!!).
I have had the car for over a month now and absolutely love every minute of time I spend in it - I still pinch myself sometimes to believe that I bought a car that was a thing of dreams when I was a kid! There are a few niggles that need to be sorted out and the car will be collected on a closed trailer next week to have these sorted out at DL.
Coming back to being sensible
- The F430s and 599s have all jumped substantially in value over the last two years and with the arrival of the 488 GTB I can only see the prices of the 458 being sustained or maybe even creeping up slightly. There are currently only 3 RHD 488s on the market on auto trader all with premiums of over £50k list price so it will take some time for these to come down in price. Right now these are £240-280k at least £100k over the cheapest 458s from a main dealer. Worst case scenario - even if they were to drop by £10-20k over the next two years it would still be less than I would have lost on a £100k SVR Range rover and I have scratched that Ferrari itch yay!The interior of the 458 is pure quality - the leather, the stitching and the Navigation screen graphics etc are a few light years ahead than those on my GTS (and the Centinnial I sat in!). The ride is way better too. Performance there is no comparison at all as you can expect. the one thing I really miss though is the sound of my MC shift - its a much better sounding car than the 458 in all modes. In Race mode the 458 sounds insane but the exhaust note is more F1 race than the lovely burble I had on my GTS. There are also no pop and crackles on the downshift and this is something I miss so much!
The gear changes with the double clutch box are very smooth (except in brutal race mode where the car seems to drop a clutch somewhere!) - Make the MC shift gear changes seem ancient in comparison. The 458 is bloody smooth is auto mode too - it is very smooth indeed - you can only feel a very slight jerk when the gears change but excellent for occasional use nevertheless.
Overall reactions to the car have been positive with people letting me out at junctions etc - I think the subtlety (if there can every be that sort of thing with a Ferrari!?) of the black over say a red of yellow car helps.
As you can imagine the 458 is a better car than my previous GTS MC shift in all aspects apart from the ability to carry 4 passengers and the sound of that exhaust note! Whether it is worth 3 times the value is subjective and in my case the heart ruled over my head!
I am happy to answer any specific questions you may have on the 458
Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
