Saturday, October 16, 2010

Ferrari 458 Italia by Oakley


That’s not the Oakley sunglass mob, but rather, the British Porsche tuning crowd who have turned their hands to the wonderful looking Ferrari 458 Italia and added quite a few of their own ‘go fast’ bits to the standard factory package.

Meet the 458 Italia by Oakley Design, and if you like what you see, then you better be quick. Only five such turnkey cars will be built by the company although, customers who miss out on one of these five cars, can purchase individual enhancements to their 458 Italia.


Each car will bear a unique build number plaque and will include aerodynamic modifications, new engine mapping, and various cosmetic changes.

While the improved power and torque outputs of 461 kW and 567 Nm aren’t earth shattering, they are however, significant when married to the other Oakley Design features.

That said having shed 65 kilograms, this particular 458 now accelerates from 0-100km/h in a blistering 3.0 seconds, and top speed rises to over 330km/h.

The exotic titanium exhaust system with no bypass valves and its triple outlet pipes, saves a whopping 30 kilograms from the stock unit, and that’s before you add up the additional weight loss from the various carbon fibre bits.

Not only that, wind tunnel testing has confirmed that the carbon-fibre front splitter makes 45 kilograms of downforce to the front end at a speed of 241 km/h. That’s good news, given there isn’t a lot of weight up front in the mid-engine Ferrari.

Oakley has added a rear spoiler with a Gurney flap, which also adds 25 kilograms of downforce at the rear and at the same speed.