Ferrari 458 Italia

The Ferrari 458 Italia was chosen from an initial entry list of fourteen new cars from all over the world to finally be crowned 2011 Performance Car of the Year. The Ferrari 458 Italia piped the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and the Porsche 911 Turbo, which were also considered amongst the top three finalists for this coveted award.“Our goal in engineering the 458 Italia was to match the technology and extreme performance developed for our racing activities with the demands of our drivers, who wish to enjoy their cars on the road and experience the unique emotions that only a Ferrari can provide" said Marco Mattiacci, President and CEO, Ferrari North America.  “Today's award as 2011 World Performance Car makes us very proud and confident that we achieved our goals” concluded Mattiacci. 

Voicing their opinion, the jurors on board for this year’s World Car Awards stated that the 458 just happens to be brilliant both on and off the track. It’s 570 metric horsepower engine is far superior to the competiting V8 engines and considering all the technology on board, the 458 Italia is one of the finest thoroughbred GTs to roll out of the Ferrari Factory. It’s a car that takes motoring to a whole new limit and all this is coupled with a very beautiful sounding engine!Candidates for the World Performance Car award must demonstrate a specific and overt sports/performance orientation while satisfying the same availability criteria as for the overall World Car of the Year award.  Candidates may be chosen from the World Car of the Year list of eligible vehicles, or they may be newly introduced variants that satisfy the same criteria, but are derived from existing rather than brand-new models. In all cases, they must have a minimum annual production rate of five-hundred  vehicles.Previous World Performance Car winners were the Audi R8 V10 in 2010, the Nissan GT-R in 2009, the Audi R8 in 2008, the Audi RS4 in 2007 and the Porsche Cayman S in 2006.

Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of sixty-six top-level automotive journalists, including our very own ZigWheels Editor-in-Chief Adil Jal Darukhanawala. Each juror was appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence.  Each juror typically drives and evaluates new vehicles on a regular basis as part of their professional work.   Through their respective outlets they collectively reach an audience of many millions world-wide.