I'm seriously considering and in the process of looking for and getting a (2013-2015) 458 italia. I drove one on track several years ago. I've recently joined ferrarichat to learn more. However, thought I'd ask here and see what the word is on comparison, likes and dislikes. Seems like a lot of dissing on the AMG GT cars over there. I take that as brand loyalty - lol.

 

The car is highly thought of on Rennlist; many posts stating the car is even better than the 488 due to it, (the 458) being an N/A engined car, and the fact that it can be purchased for decent money now. It would be a very expensive car to track on a regular basis; one reason why most Ferraris are C&C vehicles, and kept/sold with very low miles. High mileage can apparently markedly harm resale. One of my neighbours owns one and it's a gorgeous car with an exhaust note to die for. Good luck with your search!

Bish

 

PM SENT

jerry

 

Please test drive a gtr amg before you decide to take the wrong decision of buying a Ferrari 458.

you will thank me later trust me !

i will be glad to give you more details behind my thinking & the facts if necessary

 

I have a GTR. I'm def. interested in your opinions. If you'd rather PM me instead of posting - that's fine. When you get the time of course. Thank you.

 

I actually traded my 458 for the exact green gtr you have! 458 is nice but the build quality is no where near that of the gtr. And power is also lacking. I mean you are going from a virtually new car to (in my case 2011) am 8 year old car. The only area I felt the 458 was awesome was the sound..it’s little things like headlights are garbage, etc that made me trade it..but overall still an awesome car! Ha

 

I have been on ferrarichat for over 15 years (I'm carnut there, there is even a thread called Carnut's cars on there), and I do not think members there think that way about the GT cars, in fact I think the opposite . I am fortunate enough to live just a few miles from Algar Ferrari and I have probably bought at least a dozen cars from them in the last 23 years. I think the GT's are more like muscle cars than a midengined V8 Ferrari. Of course I think no car out of the box is perfect for me so I change them to suit my needs, even Ferrari's and Lamborghini's. There are not many Ferrari's I have not driven, from 512M's to hyper cars, and there are things about the AMG I like better than a 458 and visa versa, which is why I keep so many cars at once because I like certain things about different cars. I don't think you can go wrong with either car though, good luck.

 

There's a guy in the AMG GT Facebook group that has both. He's given some good feedback on both. I created a thread on that group which asks what other exotics AMG GT owners also own.

 

I had one in 2010 (ordered new) to replace my 2008 Scuderia.
I remember most of all how blown away I was by overall comfort and very compliant ride, totally unexpected from an aggressive mid engine sports car.
Car would happily rev forever, very quick and extremely agile and responsive, huge,huge fun and permanent smile on my face after every drive I took.
Easy to get in and out (I am 6'4", 225lbs), the only beef I had with the car was my own mistake of not ordering sport seats (like I had in the Scud).
Stock seats looked nice (covered in alcantara I have a weakness for) but had absolute ZERO lumbar support which I must have for my bad back.
Replaced it with a Carrera GT and 575 SA within a year of ownership.

 

I mean no insult (being the way I am I cannot be insulted so I am not very good a not sounding that way), but Ferrari, Lamborghini (and other exotics) ownership is not for everyone. They are not dealing with customers who also buy used C class's. Things generally take longer to fix, (it can be 7-10 days before your car even gets looked at), parts take longer, and they have owners of certain cars with massive maintenance costs, who gladly pay 30-40K just to keep their Ferrari's running smoothly. Most of their customer have multiple cars (I rarely miss when one of mine is in the shop), and do not freak out when it takes a month to get their car back. This is not about money or being a snob, this is about facts. There was an interview a few years ago with Aston Martins president, he said their average customer makes over 500K a year owns at least 4 cars and multiple homes. I have a neighbor that bought his first Ferrari (a 2013 FF it had a sticker of 405K) one year ago this month. He just renewed is warranty for one year (8K) and he has had his car picked up my Miller motors 5 times in that year, and has probably spent at least 12k for his year of ownership and the 1800 miles he has put on his car. Though he still enjoys his car, I can see the passion he one had for owning a Ferrari is not quite there anymore. I doubt he will ever own another one. I live so close to Algar Ferrari that my car does not even warm up when I drive there, and because of that I see (there is a LaFerrari in service now) more Ferrari's than I see AMG GT's and mine draws more attention than my Ferrari's (the 4C even more), because around here it is a lot more rare. Everyone has their reason for the cars they own (yours are none of my concern or my business), but when you start down the exotic road the tolls can get expensive, and for some unsatisfying.

 

 

I drove the 430, 458 and the GTs street and track, There is definitely a power and pull differential to be considered among the Ferrari's and the GTs for non-track driving.
As others have mentioned the handling is completely different on the 430/458 platform each has their personality.
I found the exhaust notes to be better on the Ferrari and the notoriety factor is definitely higher for the Ferrari - depends on what you want.
As the daily driver, I've been very happy with the GTs and its spirited driving is a LOT of fun.
The price point of a 2016 is a compelling factor for some, for $70-80K more you can get a 2014 458.
Is it worth it - only you can decide.

I will still eventually move to the 458 - its a childhood dream to own a Ferrari for me.