Ferrari 458 Black Carbon Edition by Anderson Germany Goes to the Dark Side

Challenging the notion that a true Ferrari has to be red, Anderson Germany has whipped up a murdered out 458 Italia with both styling and mechanical upgrades. Starting with the visible modifications, Anderson Germany's Ferrari 458 is finished in a black color and features a carbon fiber package that includes a pair of vents on the front hood, spoiler lips, rear diffuser and exterior mirrors. The German tuner also tinted the Italian supercar’s windows, headlamps and taillights.

The exterior look is rounded off with a new set of 21-inch alloy wheels in a carbon finish that are shod in tires size 245 up front and 345 at the rear, and brake calipers finished in a contrasting yellow color.

The carbon fiber theme is continued inside with the lightweight material making its appearance on the air vents, center console, door handles, door sills, steering wheel, instrument panel, shift paddles, and even the seat adjustment handles. The tuner also dressed the seats and the door panels in mixture of black carbon leather and black alcantara with diamond seams. A high-end entertainment system completes the interior upgrades.

Few will complain about the 570 ponies and 540Nm offered up by Ferrari’s run-of-the-mill 4.5-liter V8 engine, but for those that do, Anderson Germany offers a performance programme that includes an ECU optimization and a custom exhaust system with special manifolds and Rennkats boosting output to 623HP and 636Nm (469 lb-ft).

The German tuner did not release pricing information on the 458 Italia Black Carbon package.

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Knitted Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel Takes Dominant Australian Grand Prix Win

Sebastian Vettel won the inagural race of the 2011 F1 season after a dominating performance in Melbourne. The German driver made full use of his pole-position and lead the race from start to finish, taking his 11th Formula 1 win. Vettel adopted a two-stop pit strategy and finished with a 22.2-second advantage over second ranked Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who had to race with a detached floor after running wide on lap 33.

Third place went to Russian Vitaly Petrov, the big surprise of the Australian GP, who got off to an excellent start. The Renault driver went from sixth to fourth immediately after the green light, taking advantage of Button and Alonso both running wide in the first corner. Petrov gained another position after the first round of pitstops and kept it until the end of the race, scoring his first ever Formula 1 podium finish.

Fourth-placed Fernando Alonso had a tougher time on the track, with the Spaniard having to deal with a three-stop strategy and a poor start that sent him from fifth to ninth before the first corner of the race. The Ferrari driver then quickly started recovering lost positions, managing to finish fourth. Mark Webber and Jenson Button finished the race fifth and sixth respectively, while Ferrari's Massa had to settle for ninth, behind the Ferrari-powered Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.

However, the two Sauber drivers were disqualified after the race for rear-wing infringements, so Massa got seventh place eventually.

Mercedes GP had a poor race, as both Schumacher and Rosberg failing to finish the Australian GP. The former quit on lap 19 for technical reasons, after suffering a puncture on lap 1, while the latter had to stop after being hit by Barrichello on lap 22. Overall, it was an enjoyable race to watch, although significant rule changes like the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the reintroduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) didn't seem to have a decisive effect on overtaking.

By Dan Miahalascu

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VIDEO: Car Magazine’s ‘Oh F…’ Moment when Journo Breaks Ferrari FF

Automobile accidents can and will always happen, but it’s one thing denting your personal ride and another when you smash a £227,026 [equal to about US$367,000 or €260,000] loaner car from Ferrari. And that’s exactly what happened to Car Magazine’s reviewer Jethro Bovingdon during a test drive with the brand new Ferrari FF when he came in contact with a kerb.
Here’s what the British magazine had to say about the incident: “Car had a small altercation with the scenery when we drove the new Ferrari FF.” As you can see in the video after the break, Bovingdon, who was taping himself at the time of the mishap, used a far more expressive language [NSFW, mind you].
Unfortunately, up until now, we don’t have any photos or a video showing the damage to the Ferrari FF.

Source: Car Magazine via Jalopnik

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Ferrari Shows us How it Made the FF Promotional Video

The impressive video of the Ferrari FF has garnered close to 750,000 views on YouTube in one month, thanks to its spicy ingredients such as a new Ferrari model, spectacular scenes shot in scenic parts of the world and a majestic soundtrack.
Now Ferrari released another video that gives us a behind the scenes look at how the promotional footage was made. So if you've ever wondered how did they did it, now’s the chance to find out. After watching the video, we believe some Hollywood movies might have been cheaper to make than the FF short film. Check out the ‘Making of’ video along with two more official clips of the FF right after the break.

By Dan Miahlascu

VIDEOS

Dr. Dre Tweets About Totaling Ferrari 360 for "I Need a Doctor" (with Video)

The one and only Dr. Dre recently tweeted a little about a Ferrari 360 getting absolutely totaled for his latest video. Below is a behind-the-scenes shot from the music clip for "I Need a Doctor", the latest confirmed track on Dr. Dre's highly anticipated album, Detox.

Enjoy (or condemn) the video after the break, as it's not every day you get to see a snazzy blue Ferrari get tossed along a hillside road like a plastic bag. Add to that Dre's priceless reaction, and you've got yourself about seventeen seconds of entertainment.

By Phil Alex

VIDEOS

VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 ALMS Ad Belittles BMW, Ferrari and Porsche, but Ends up Losing to M3s in Sebring…

Just before the season opener of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida this past weekend, GM aired an aggressive commercial touting its 638-horsepower-strong Corvette ZR1. The ad claims that the firm’s engineers had to reduce the stock ZR1’s LS9 engine output by 168HP in order to compete in the race and “just to be fair against Porsche, Ferrari and BMW”.
For one, the Corvette ALMS racers are actually powered by a V8 loosely based on the Z06’s LS7 engine (see the second video after the jump). Perhaps most importantly, the Corvettes finished third and fourth in the GT class in Sebring behind two BMW M3 GTs… Videos follow after the break.

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It Came from eBay Hell: Toyota Celica-Based Ferrari F430 Replica

There are probably more Pontiac Fiero-based imitations in the world than real Ferraris. Today, though, we have something a little different. No, it is not a Pontiac Fiero-based Lamborghini Miura (we have already had one of them), it is a Toyota Celica that has been transformed into a passable F430 replica.

Did I say passable? Well, only just. From the front, it looks okay, with the hood, headlights and A-pillar being sufficiently F430-like. As you move back, however, it all starts to unwind. The awkward side window treatment, slab-sided rear flanks and the shape of the rear windscreen just seem wrong. Though you can’t expect much from trying to transform a front-engined, front wheel drive Japanese coupe in a mid engine, rear wheel drive Italian exotic.

Things only get worse inside; the interior is essentially stock seventh-gen Celica with stick on parts that are supposed to give the impression of a Ferrari interior. Suffice to say, it does not work. The seller is asking US$45,000 for a car that nominally pulls around $7,500 on the used market, a frankly ridiculous price. You can check out our gallery (if you dare) and leave your bit in the comments section below.

By Tristan Hankins

Link: eBay

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Ferrari’s Website Celebrates Italy’s 150th Anniversary with Special Wallpaper

Internet users visiting Ferrari’s official website today were greeted by a modified home page with a special wallpaper featuring a green FF, a white 458 Italia and this year’s F1 race car in red, which combine to make a motoring version of the Italian flag. This is Ferrari’s online way of celebrating the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification. In addition, the automaker said that the window displays in the forty Ferrari Stores spread around the globe were decked out in the colors of the Italian flag.

“Representing Italy on the race tracks and the car markets around the world is a reason for all the men and women who work at Ferrari to feel proud,” commented Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. “We chose to dedicate the name of our Formula 1 car, the 150° Italia to this anniversary and this makes all of us feel even more motivated as we go about our daily work. We hope that everyone in our country is living through today in the same spirit.”

Link: Ferrari

1965 Shelby Cobra 427 vs 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia in a $400,000 ¼ Mile Race Bet; Can You Guess Who Wins?

A no-nonsense, classic American muscle car from the 1960s going head to head with a high-tech, thoroughbred Italian supercar in the ultimate quarter mile race. What more could you ask to make this battle more interesting? Well, how about a $400,000 wager?

The story has it that Dan Bilzerian, owner of a ‘tricked-out’ 1965 427 Shelby Cobra, placed a bet that his American muscle car can beat his friend Tom Goldstein's 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia in a quarter mile race.

On March 9, 2011, the two men brought their cars down to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway racetrack and put their money where their mouth is. And no, we won’t spoil the surprise by telling you who won the bet. Video follows after the break.

Link: Clubcobra

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