It’s under the skin that the Italia really hits the 911 hard

It’s perhaps the fiercest rivalry in the world of performance cars: Ferrari versus Porsche, or more specifically Ferrari’s entry-level V8 versus Porsche’s most complete 911, the Turbo. It’s a battle that’s raged for decades, from early 911 Turbos trading blows with the 308 GTB through to the current F430 fighting the mk1 997 Turbo. But now, with the unveiling of an updated Turbo from Porsche and an all-new V8 supercar from Ferrari, it looks like the balance of power is about to shift emphatically.

That’s because Ferrari has upped its game substantially with the new 458 Italia. Just look at it for a start. It’s arguably the first genuinely beautiful Ferrari since the F355, its wind-tunnel honed shape simply stunning from just about any angle you choose. But it’s under the skin that the Italia really hits the 911 hard. The Rosso Corsa-topped eight-cylinder engine peeping through the rear window may look familiar, but it is in fact a brand new direct-injection 4.5-litre V8 that delivers 562bhp and 398lb ft, the former a whopping 79bhp more than the F430 and delivered at a screaming 9000rpm.

That power figure means the engine has 125bhp per litre – startling for a normally aspirated unit – and Ferrari claims it’s enough to get the 1380kg 458 from 0 to 100kph in under 3.4sec, and on to 325kph, making it the first 320kph+ entry-level Prancing Horse.

Porsche’s riposte is somewhat more conservative. Sub-4.0sec and 309kph-plus are the claims for the updated 997 Turbo, and that’s despite it sporting an all-new 3.8-litre flat-six which, in common with the rest of the 997 range, now has direct injection. The twin turbochargers remain variable turbine geometry items, resulting in a total output of 493bhp – an increase of 21bhp over the current 997 Turbo.

On the outside, the changes are very subtle, the differences between the mk1 and mk2 997 Turbos being nigh on undetectable. But if you wear a Porsche-branded anorak you might just spot the tweaked lights front and rear and a fresh set of alloys.

Perhaps the biggest change for the new Turbo is one that Porsche is possibly less keen to shout about. If you spec the optional PDK twin-clutch transmission you’ll now find two paddles attached to the back of the steering wheel, the left one for shifting down a gear, the right one for changing up.

It might not sound like a big deal, but it represents a backtrack from the unintuitive rocker switches that make up the PDK, and it should make the twin-clutch ’box much more enjoyable to use. It’s for Turbos only thus far, but Porsche admits that it wouldn’t be hard to transfer the technology to other models. Watch this space.

On the subject of gearboxes, the Italia will get the California’s impressive seven-speed dual-clutch ’box as standard, albeit with tweaked ratios to handle the more brutal power and torque it dishes up. There’s no word yet on whether a conventional manual shift will be offered as an option.

Both cars are packed with performance-enhancing technologies, and both feature brand new driver aids. The Ferrari introduces a braking aid called ‘prefill’, which moves the pads into contact with the discs as you lift off the throttle, cutting stopping distances. The Porsche is available with an option called PTV, or Porsche Torque Vectoring, which claims to increase agility and steering precision by variably adjusting the torque split across the rear axle. Both supercars will be shown at the Frankfurt motor show in September, the 911 Turbo going on sale two months later. Details on the 458 Italia are less firm, but expect deliveries by summer 2010 and a price in excess of $ 250,000.