Ferraris are just.. hot?
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:20 pm
Well at first they couldn't completely prove it was the car....
But now they are taking a more serious stance....The Ferrari 458 Italia is proving to be a hot commodity - quite literally.
In the past three months, ten vehicles have caught on fire. While six were involved in accidents that could have started the fire, three others have burst into flames for no apparent reason. The tenth vehicle was destroyed in a warehouse fire, but it remains unclear if the car started the blaze.
Speaking with the Telegraph, a Ferrari spokesperson stated "We are taking all the reports very seriously and are looking into them but we are treating them all as separate incidents."
If you're thinking the recent rash of spontaneous combustion will hurt 458 Italia sales, think again. There is currently a three-year waiting list for the 570 PS (562 hp / 419 kW) supercar.
Source: World Car Fans
additional info from BBC articleFerrari Fires Cause Recall
Ferrari Recalls 1200 458 Italia Sport Cars
The Ferrari 458 was considered by some to be a future classic, and then it caught on fire. Ferrari is recalling all of the 458 Italia’s it has sold this year.
According to the BBC, Ferrari engineers few all over the world to investigate the fires, which Ferrari reports as “thermal incidents,” and ultimately decided that it was best to recall 1200 or so Italia 458′s that have been purchased.
The five reported incidents were in California, Paris, Switzerland, China and one other unnamed location.
Ferrari says that the problem has to do with an adhesive used in the wheel-arch assemblies. On hot days, and after being driven for a while at high speeds, the glue can catch on fire.
Ferrari says that the fix will take less than half a day.
According to the Telegraph, 12,248 cars have been recalled in total. The 458 Italia typically costs about $260,000, and probably shouldn’t catch on fire.
Source: Telegraph/Indyposted
The 458 Italia typically costs about £170,000 ($260,000).
Ferrari said the problem had been traced to adhesive used in the wheel-arch assemblies.
In certain circumstances, the glue can begin to overheat, smoke and even catch fire, a spokesman told BBC News.
In extreme cases, the melting of the adhesive can lead the heat shield - the liner which protects the engine - to deform and move closer to the exhaust, causing the lining to catch fire.
The handful of owners who first reported the fires - and that were later confirmed to be due to this problem - will now receive a new model, Ferrari said.
For the rest, their cars will be modified to replace the adhesive with mechanical fasteners.
