Ferrari 458 Italia facelift to offer a Turbocharged V8

If report from the Car UK is to be believed, the 458 Italia is all set to drop the naturally aspirated V8 and is going down the turbocharged way. It's heart-breaking! The facelifted Ferrari 458 Italia, which is most likely to hit streets next year, will sport a turbocharged V8 petrol motor as standard. Putting a turbocharged engine into the California T, plus the arrival of this news, suggests that the Italian sports carmaker will be implementing the same thing in its other models too.

According to the report, 458 Italia will be powered by the high-end version of the California T’s 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 motor. In the California T, the 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 produces 552hp and 754 Nm of peak torque, while under the hood of facelifted 458 Italia, the engine will be tuned to churn out 670hp. A total 100 bhp more than the current naturally-aspirated 4.5-liter V8. This new 458 could be named as 458M or 458T.

Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s CEO, said, “The 458M’s engine will rev higher and be larger than the California T’s. It’s also likely that the motor in the 458M will feature larger turbos and dry sump lubrication.” To maintain the natural aspirated V8 growl and to avoid that dull-typical turbocharged sound (which enthusiasts hate), Ferrari engineers are working on a complex mechanism, including the exhaust and the engine management chipset.

It won't be more than a heart transplant, states the report. Apart from some tit-bits inside-out, and the engine change, no major turn-around is expected. It certainly won’t be as drastic as California's transformation into the California T, where Ferrari changed everything they could.
 
If the speculations are found to be true, the Ferrari 458 will be another supercar to join a long lineup, that went the turbocharged engine way, instead of their major fan following been the natural aspirated lovers, seems like the demand of the hour!
“Just as importantly, the 458 is well known for its tail-happy character. With natural aspiration, the linear power delivery meant it was easy for the driver to modulate the power. Well, Ferrari will strive to bring the turbo’s behavior as close to this as possible. Spanners crossed.” AE quoted over this development.

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