Texas shop plans to swap manual transmissions into 458 Italias

[Grumpy Old Man]

Citing demand from Ferrari enthusiasts, European Auto Group is planning to full transmission swap for a limited number of Ferrari 458 Italias

The Ferrari 458 Italia may have been born and bred in Maranello, Italy, but a select few are going to be spending some time being retrained at a small stable in San Antonio, Texas.

European Auto Group (EAG) has announced its plans to be the first tuner to fit the Ferrari 458 Italia with a gated six-speed manual transmission.

The 458’s naturally aspirated 4.5-litre V8 making 562 horsepower and just shy of 400 lb.-ft. of torque has always been commanded by the brand’s dual-clutch F1 tranny—until now.

Carbuzz spoke with the shop’s owner, Art Bartosik, about the project.

“People are screaming for a manual 458 and 488. If the demand wasn’t there, we wouldn’t do it” he said.

It won’t be easy, even if EAG’s portfolio includes a Ferrari F430 it converted into a manual, because the F430 already had a factory manual option available to work with. The 458 does not.

This time around, Bartosik says, the “transmission in the 458 needs to be swapped out for a six-speed because it came with a dual-clutch.” The video above features the prototype, which is still in development. Bartosik says the company plans to convert “around 10 or 11 of them.”

“We’ve already got a list but people should start lining up out the door,” he said. “It’s going to be exclusive.”

Deposits are being collected now, and these purist machines surely won’t be long on the market. Bartosik says that there are more swaps to come once they’re done with the 458s.

“The Lamborghini Huracan is definitely on the list.”

[NickyC]

6MT for life.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Pay for it ... And make it slower ?

[Darth One]

i like this plan

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Pay for it ... And make it slower ?

If a 458 is all about speed, it's pretty bad at it. But they do have a glorious sounding motor, kind of makes sense to me to convert it to something more entertaining.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

If a 458 is all about speed, it's pretty bad at it. But they do have a glorious sounding motor, kind of makes sense to me to convert it to something more entertaining.

A 458 is not a Fiat Panda . Ferrari was and is always built in the matter of speed ,and so also the dual-clutch 7-speed Getrag gearbox.

[gatorfast]

lol the 458 will still be plenty fast with a manual. It will now be more unique and fun as well!

[Mandi90TT]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Pay for it ... And make it slower ?

And more fun.

[allinon72]

The thought of the reliability of an Italian sports car, coupled with a one off transmission from some random shop in Texas is not inspiring.

[Darth One]

It’s also somewhat confusing that the shop’s name is so similar to the name of the shop that likes to wildly overprice low mileage old BMW’s

[brad850csi]

Can you imagine an 812 manual? That would be my dream

[Bluer2]

they forgot to remove the paddle shifters

[Grumpy Old Man]

I realize a manual is a bit slower, it wasn't always that way but I think the point is that most drivers can't drive any car close to it's limits so the benefit of the automatic isn't really getting to use to its full potential. I'd rather drive a stick any day of the week, but I'm old school. I wouldn't buy any sports car that didn't have a manual, I won't even look at them. I'm not going to the track, but I do like a twisty road and I love rowing the gears.

[P1]

That is one silly video.

[yousefnjr]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Pay for it ... And make it slower ?

You know, some people are pretty good with a stick and actually enjoy it. This isn’t about milking every last tenth anyway.

[RM7]

I bought a quintessential "stick" car, a 1LE, but I realize once you are past a certain amount of HP and TQ it just slows you down more than it helps you do anything. It's fun rowing through gears, but IMO you have to match the car to the transmission. The WRX I had was a manual-only car. The 4EAT that subaru was using on the auto versions was absolutely horrid and anyone that bought that version simply had no clue what they were doing. But go to a modern 600hp car with traditional auto or DCT-auto and it'll do everything better.

The real problem is that autos have enabled the people playing with phones, which is likely a huge portion of the people on this site, just by demographics. I'd take back autos in a second to get rid of this problem, but it's not going away because people want to play on their phones much more than they want to drive, again, looking at demographics.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

I bought a quintessential "stick" car, a 1LE, but I realize once you are past a certain amount of HP and TQ it just slows you down more than it helps you do anything. It's fun rowing through gears, but IMO you have to match the car to the transmission. The WRX I had was a manual-only car. The 4EAT that subaru was using on the auto versions was absolutely horrid and anyone that bought that version simply had no clue what they were doing. But go to a modern 600hp car with traditional auto or DCT-auto and it'll do everything better.

The real problem is that autos have enabled the people playing with phones, which is likely a huge portion of the people on this site, just by demographics. I'd take back autos in a second to get rid of this problem, but it's not going away because people want to play on their phones much more than they want to drive, again, looking at demographics.

I mostly agree, but having only had manuals, yet acknowledging that flappy paddles have their place, I'd actually only concede that it's on modern flat torque curve motors that they're really ideal. A traditional, pre turbo Fezza motor that doesn't have a lot of low end torque but revs like crazy is ideal for a manual. Similar to the GT3 and the outcry when Porsche removed the manual option for the 991.1.

[Mandi90TT]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

I bought a quintessential "stick" car, a 1LE, but I realize once you are past a certain amount of HP and TQ it just slows you down more than it helps you do anything. It's fun rowing through gears, but IMO you have to match the car to the transmission. The WRX I had was a manual-only car. The 4EAT that subaru was using on the auto versions was absolutely horrid and anyone that bought that version simply had no clue what they were doing. But go to a modern 600hp car with traditional auto or DCT-auto and it'll do everything better.

The real problem is that autos have enabled the people playing with phones, which is likely a huge portion of the people on this site, just by demographics. I'd take back autos in a second to get rid of this problem, but it's not going away because people want to play on their phones much more than they want to drive, again, looking at demographics.

Having driven both a DCT F8x and a 6 MT F8x, you're absolutely right....and also why I own a 6MT F8x, is it is a lot more fun, to me, at least.

[BayE30]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

If a 458 is all about speed, it's pretty bad at it. But they do have a glorious sounding motor

HMMM, sounds like another car, just cant put my finger on it...

[m630]

Interesting..its the right thing to do but im sure it will affect value. Ferrari needs to wake up already and get back into the reality that enthusiasts want MT period. Porsche was very smart to acknowledge and take the lead for serious enthusiast driving offerings now that GT3 offers MT.

Wake up Ferrari and stop worrying about hollywood drivers

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by m630

Interesting..its the right thing to do but im sure it will affect value. Ferrari needs to wake up already and get back into the reality that enthusiasts want MT period. Porsche was very smart to acknowledge and take the lead for serious enthusiast driving offerings now that GT3 offers MT.

Wake up Ferrari and stop worrying about hollywood drivers

Just price a 575, 430 or especially 599 (of which only 7 were manuals) compared to their F1 version. Rumor for years has been that Ferrari was going to allow customers to pay a huge premium for a manual, but nothing has come of that, probably due to emissions testing requirements.

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

this video usually falls on deaf ears...but people who have driven a manual can resonate with it