Ferrari 458 Italia catches fire

By Brett Davis | July 19th, 2010

It seems it’s not only Lamborghini that suffers from bouts of spontaneous combustion, other Italian supercars also like heating up. Seen here in the streets of Paris, this Ferrari 458 Italia is one hot supercar.

Recently reported by Autogespot, the owner was said to have noticed smoke coming into the cabin whilst driving. He then jumped from the car to see where the smoke was coming from and was surprised by the sight of big flames coming out from under the 458′s engine compartment.

A passerby ‘happened’ to have a fire extinguisher on the ready and gained control of the fire.

Although the incident did leave a very nasty hole in the 458′s hip, the owner is lucky the fire didn’t engulf the entire car, like recent Lamborghini incidents.

It’s unknown as to what caused the fire in the first place, we’ll have to wait and see if this turns into an ongoing problem for the marque.

Flying High

well, that’s one way to do a burn out….
5%

Ha hmmmm, I bet that guy could really do with some salt right now….
Ben xr6

Hope he has insurance, thats all i can say.

Mikey_94

A passerby ‘happened’ to have a fire extinguisher on the ready and gained control of the fire.

By the sounds of it, it was probably torched on purpose for an insurance pay-out. Anyone else get that?

Dollar

im sure you just misinterpreted that. most cars now days have a fire extinguisher in their boot even my dad’s car has one. im sure they just trying to say luckily there was some one nearby with one.

ox

She’ll be right, that’ll patch right up
Jabba the Hut

Hot car.
yowza

If this was Toyota, it would be 100+ post already on how unreliable they’ve become.

“Mistakes” or “situations” can occur to anyone… even hand-made, intricately assembled and engineered Ferraris.

Shak

There is a difference between a mistake and a complete lack of quality control. 10 million Toyota vehicles being recalled, compared to a single Ferrari catching fire are very different stories.

yowza

lol

a recall starts from 1-2 vehicles..

Recall is a protocol that \\\”confirms\\\” that there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

A recall originates from the field… field as in costumer usage.

1 vehicle may not be enough to do a recall… but it is noted down, if Ferrari determines that the cause of the problem is likely to re-occur… even if it hasnt… but a risk that it will re-occur, then they recall..

I would know, as I’m in the automotive design/engineering industry, its one of the post-design activities in my profession…. “problem solving” of part failures on the field.
yowza

And just another tidbit shak…

japanese manufacturers are KNOWN for strict quality inspections.

Its a running joke in the industry, regarding the level or engineering drawing/process inspection differences between Americans and Japanese. Not so sure about Euros, but American based engineering drawings were usually labelled as less accurate and mistake prone compared to Japanese engineering drawings…. automotive wise anyways.

And the most strictest out of the Japanese is Toyota…common knowledge among the industry also.

In all honesty, MOST if not close to 99% of Toyota vehicle problems can be linked to supplier poor quality. Toyota \”manufactured\” parts tend to be on the \”ok\” side. So its not unusual to have a supplier use Company \”X\”s quality standard to make Company \”Y\”s part…. which is a HUGE liability problem for the supplier, as they sign contracts worth millions that supposed to meet a client\’s requirements.
Baddass

I’ve explained this before but I’ll say it again. The reason Toyota has to recall so many vehicles is because it produced many of the same vehicle with a serious fault. Recalling 10 million cars with the same fault is hardly worse than Ferraris and Lambo’s spontaneously erupting in flames. Since Ferrari doesn’t produce as many cars as Toyota, it makes this look like an isolated case. By the way, which would you prefer, the company recalling your car to replace a faulty floormat, or your car bursting into flames and in all likelihood killing you?

Shane

Nothing unusual about this. Ferraris have always been prone to catching fire.
Vibe

That’ll buff out.
Karl Krankschaft

Can you smell barbecue?
Al Juraj

It’s a shame you pay house & lot money for something that may potentially cremate you.
Patrick

Overheated. All big engines are require some cool air to cool off the engine. meaning the car has to be driven continuously. Not just stop in traffic.
enzo

There are plenty of engines on U.S. SUVs and cars that are bigger but don’t catch on fire. I’m sure the size of the engine had less to do with it.
Stick

Unfortunately these “Super Car” companies, are already aware of these malfunctions. It is only a matter of time until someone gets hurt, or killed, and just maybe these companies will fix their defects, so these occurances no longer happen. Who knows how true it is, that ALL cars envolved self destructed. All I know, is until they get down to the bottom of these problems, I would be very cautious in parking one of these cars in my garage after a long drive. However, they still are very beautiful cars. Just some hot tempered women.