Another debutant will make its first appearance at the upcoming 2011 Frankfurt auto show, but before that event officially kicks off, Ferrari has released the first official photos of the 2012 458 Spider, the roofless iteration of the mid-engine 458 Italia.
Aside from Ferrari chopping the top off the 458 and giving the 2012 a retractable hard top, Ferrari also chose to alter the car’s throttle mapping, suspension tuning and “engine soundtrack”. Italian engineering and elegance doesn’t stop there, the Ferrari 458 also features a 4.5 liter V8 producing 562 hp, Ferrari’s dual-clutchF1 paddle-shift transmission, and high performance ABS. Ferrari claims the Spider will run to 62 mph from a standstill in less than 3.5 seconds before reaching a top speed in excess of 198 mph.
The final price of the new 458 Spider has yet to be confirmed, but other than the price and listed features expect it to be largely identical to its coupe counterpart.
