The Ferrari 458 Italia has outdriven 10 of the word's most renowned cars, Audi to Mercedes-Benz, Lotus to Porsche, according to Motor Trend.
The automotive magazine named the Ferrari 458 Italia as the "2011 Best Driver's Car" after the 11-lap racetrack drag race and racetrack hot-lapping.
Motor Trend drafted a crew of 25 editors, photographers, video producers, championship-winning race driver Randy Pobst and Le Mans class winner/TV host Justin Bell, to test, review and film the cars in the competition's history over six days.
The competition required daily driving, hot lapping on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, plus the full battery of Motor Trend performance tests.
"The 458 Italia is easily the best mid-engined Ferrari road car yet," said Angus MacKenzie, Editor-in-Chief of Motor Trend. "It's an artful mix of race-bred high technology and pure Italian passion that is easily accessible and yet utterly engages the driver. It delivers supercar performance and razor-sharp handling, but it's also remarkably comfortable and refined on the street. You could drive it all day, every day."
In addition to the 458 Italia, the 2011 Best Driver's Car competition included:
2012 Audi R8 GT, 2011 Lotus Evora S, 2011 BMW 1M, 2012 Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS, 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with Z07 Package, 2011 Nissan GT-R, 2012, Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca, 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2012 Lexus LFA
2011 Porsche Cayman R.
Article Last Updated: September 23, 2011.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.