Redneck Ferrari
The Hennessey 458 is Texas’s take on Ferrari. Start with a
sonorous, elegant engine and make it brash and bombastic – loud enough to sound
like you’re strafing small villages and having a rootin’-tootin’ time while
doing it. This is a redneck Ferrari, y’all.
Sealy, Texas-based Hennessey Performance had its way with
Maranello’s normally aspirated V-8, adding twin turbochargers to increase
output from 562 to 738 hp. The upgrade (or, as Ferrari would surely call it,
defilement) costs $59,995.
Hennessey says 60
mph will come in 2.8 seconds without the use of launch control
The mid-engine bay was already a tight space, and the
turbos, waste gates, heat exchanger, and electric fans are discreetly hidden by
handsome carbon-fiber covers. The unit has max boost of 7 psi and will hold 6
psi to the 9000-rpm redline. Torque is up to 532 lb-ft from 398.
The unit has max
boost of 7 psi and will hold 6 psi to the 9000-rpm redline. Torque is up to 532
lb-ft from 398
The car we tested, a Spider, lacked mufflers, terminating in
straight pipes. So you get extra sound. Lots of it. With the top down, it’s a
whumping, sucking, blatting, crackling auditory assault. The regular 458’s
engine music, which crescendos to a vibrato at higher rpm, is now a raw roar;
less classical Verdi and more electro-thumping Deadmau5.
You can treat the gas pedal like a cathedral’s pipe organ,
tapping a bellicose tune by holding gears at redline and then crashing into the
next gear. Coupled with the attendant speed, it is a hilarious exercise,
guaranteed to elicit giggles right up to the point that your ears bleed. The
car we drove was Hennessey’s first modded Ferrari, built for a customer in
Arizona who apparently likes it that way. Silencers can (and probably should)
be added.
The car we drove
was Hennessey’s first modded Ferrari, built for a customer in Arizona who
apparently likes it that way
Hennessey says 60 mph will come in 2.8 seconds without the
use of launch control. From a stop, stomp on the gas pedal and there’s a blip
of dead space as the turbos spool – slight but noticeable – and then rubber
mashes into asphalt and you’re wildly, madly of.
Fortunately, the extra power is usable even on narrow,
winding roads. We found a stretch of traffic-free tarmac, and, abetted by
carbon-ceramic brakes, the 458 flew down straights and flicked through the
winding bits, losing none of its inherent silkiness. It can catch and lurch
slightly around town, but otherwise the extra might come on in a linear way, so
it doesn’t suddenly leap up and shark-bite you.
Would you actually want to do this to your carefully sourced
and very expensive Italian toy? In two circumstances, we imagine you might. The
first is the track, where you could power out of corners in a spectacular
fashion. The second is if you’re one of those folks who believe there is no
such thing as too much power, ever. (If so, your surname might be Cheney or
Kim.)
But the regular 458 Italia’s best traits are its overall
tractability and its gorgeous soundtrack. Few things in the automotive world
are as lovely as that natural V-8 treble.
