The car was based on the mid-engined Ferrari 458 Italia road car, which used a 4,497 cc naturally aspirated V8 of the Ferrari/Maserati F136 family producing 570 PS at 9,000 rpm in road form. For GTE competition under restrictor regulations, power was reduced to approximately 470 PS. The conventional inlet replaced the road car's flexible front splitter, with air exiting through louvres in the bonnet. The road car's high-revving character was substantially altered: the competition engine had a redline of only 6,250 rpm rather than the 9,000 rpm of the standard car, though torque output remained close to stock levels even with the power reduction. The road car's Getrag dual-clutch gearbox was replaced by a unit appropriate to competition use, though paddle-shifting was retained under the revised 2011 regulations.
A parallel GT3 variant was also produced by Michelotto for national and customer racing series, generating approximately 550 PS at a 9,000 rpm redline — more similar to the road car in character — with aerodynamics configured to different regulations from the GTE machine.
The 458 Italia GT2 debuted in the 2011 season and immediately delivered results. It won the GTE Manufacturers' and GTE Pro Team titles in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, alongside comparable honours in the Le Mans Series GTE categories and the International GT Open. The first of its two Petit Le Mans victories also came in 2011.
The 2012 season brought the car's first GTE class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and a second Petit Le Mans win. In the newly established FIA World Endurance Championship, the car secured the GTE Manufacturers' and GTE Pro Team titles. European Le Mans Series GTE Pro Team and Drivers' honours followed, along with International GT Open titles across multiple categories.
The 2013 season was the most comprehensive. The 458 Italia GT2 won the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Manufacturers', GTE Pro Team, GTE Drivers', and GTE AM Team titles simultaneously. The GTE Drivers' title had been newly instituted in 2013; the 458 won it in its inaugural year. European Le Mans Series GTE Team and Drivers' crowns, Asian Le Mans Series GTE Team and Drivers' honours, and International GT Open Overall, Super GT Manufacturers', and Drivers' titles completed the season.
A second Le Mans GTE victory and a third consecutive FIA WEC GTE Manufacturers' and GTE Pro Team title followed in 2014, along with a second GTE Drivers' crown and European Le Mans Series GTE Team and Drivers' titles for the fourth consecutive year.
The car continued in the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Tudor United SportsCar Championship through 2015 before being superseded by the turbocharged Ferrari 488 GTE for 2016.
The 458 Italia GT3 ran concurrently across national and international GT3 championships from 2011. It won the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps six times, the Gulf 12 Hours four times, the 2014 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama, the 2013 and 2014 12 Hours of Sepang, the 2014 and 2015 24 Hours of Dubai, and the 2014 24 Hours of Barcelona. In the Blancpain Endurance Series it took multiple Pro-Am and Gentlemen Trophy team and driver titles across 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. European Le Mans Series GTC Team and Drivers' titles were won in 2013 and 2014. The GT3 variant also achieved the 2011 FIA GT3 Drivers' title, multiple Asian GT3 championships, and titles in numerous national series including French GT, British GT, and Italian GT.
The 458 Italia GTE stands as one of the most successful GT racing cars of its era. Its championship harvest across four FIA World Endurance Championship seasons, two Le Mans GTE victories, and extraordinary breadth of GT3 titles placed it among the most decorated GT machines in modern endurance racing. The programme validated both the Ferrari-Michelotto partnership and the race-development potential of the naturally aspirated 4.5-litre V8 platform, before the turbocharged 488-series architecture took over from 2016.
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