488 GTB (458 replacement)

Don't forget, there was a loud chorus of disapproval when the 458 sound was previewed before the car was unveiled. Now everyone thinks it sounds like the best thing since the unwrapping of sliced bread.

 

And this year the GT 350 is getting a flat plane crank! So the "other car with a horse" will sound more like a Ferrari than a Ferrari!

 

Excited to see the updated car, but I'm thinking my Italia means so much more right now being 4.5 NA V8. I love seeing it swing to 9000rpms! I own several other turbo cars and can safely say that nothing sounds like a naturally aspirated v8/v12

 

8000 is really low. I was expecting a redline of 8500rpms. And I am sure they could've gotten that done.

 

+458. Not to mention the looks. Everyone and their mother is an expert on design when a new Ferrari model comes out. Always disgusted at first and later becomes the greatest of all time when its replacement comes out.

 

I don't know about "waaay" faster, but the performance is very comparable. If you get the non-S version with sport chrono (0-60 in 3.0 sec) you get about 90% of the Turbo S's performance for around $150k, or about 25% less than the S. Of course, they look about like every 911 made in the last 50 years, but if you DD it, that's actually an advantage. The AWD is also a plus, since that allows for excellent acceleration traction.

The problem is that every performance car has increased performance over the last decade, so much so that the stratospheric performance levels of the the best of them are pretty much irrelevant in street driving, and even lesser cars have a reasonable ability to keep up on streets and public roads in all but really crazy driving. And then where to go with more performance, even faster 0-60 or 0-100? Even the current 458 is race car fast in a way that's too much for many drivers to handle. You find that out when you see them on YouTube having crashed after owners turned off the driving aids.

 

This was CRUCIAL advantage of 458 over almost every other car in sports-car category. You can feel brutal exhilaration, shifting, and intoxicating sound at pretty low speed!

Almost every owner of 991 TTS is claiming that car is amazing, but compared to 458 you must push it much higher to feel any exhilaration, and that leads you into braking every single road limit.

As time passes, seems that 458 Italia could be expensive car to get on market Not because of speed, not because of limited production, because it isnt. It could be very appreciated because it can deliver insane amount of driving joy at reasonable speed!

 

The fact that it's an evolution of the 458, they were able to test all the mechanical bits in 458 mules.

Frankly I'm surprised they showed so much on the prototypes before it was unveiled:

1: Headlights and grille opening edges;
2: Cooling (or flow management) vents in the hood;
3: Tail-lights and vents on the side of backlight and;
4: Rear bumper and an obvious shut-line (engine cover/ rear fender ?);
5: Side skirts and lower quarter (very Cali-t);
6: Scoop-less rear quarter window and scalloped door and rear fender for side scoop;
7: Active-aero (?) flaps behind grille:
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I agree. The older 430s and 360s are very fun to drive, too. Not as fast or as easy to go fast as the 458, but still fun. As for the 911 Turbos, at least the 991 variants, they are still pretty fun to drive at mostly legal speeds. Their off the line acceleration is staggering due to AWD. Their grip in turns is amazing. The sport chrono telemetry showed a max 1.32g lateral grip on a recent back roads drive.

 

Possible influences are these F150 (LaF) design studies for side scoop and rear.

I expect side scoops to kind of be either of the red-lines, but always surprised by their creativity, so anxiously awaiting the reveal.

(BTW, all due credit to WorldCarFans.com for spy shoots.)
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Great discussion - my money is on F8T for the name.

 

Thank you for that informative and insightful analysis ingegere.

 

Is it only me or anyone else F8T = FART ?

Apologies, I just can't unsee it. Hopefully thet settle for something else... Wouldn't mind 398T, however if they want to designate the car a number + T and then a name, I'm not so sure. Either it's a simple "T" or a name. Not both.

 

I see Fat, not Fart.
After Fxx K, I wouldnt even be surprised.

 

You're very welcome.

If you can tolerate one more indulgence, final idea for side scoop. Not obvious as a 2D line drawing, but could work:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

What time is the unveiling tomorrow?

 

Agreed - especially the Speciale. ~ 600 HP from NA V8 will be unheard of in a few years (or even months). Not to mention its killer looks and performance.

 

After looking a bit closer at the headlights, it looks like the main beam cluster is new? It almost looks like an LED cube array (see Audi A6, Merc CLS) to me, as opposed to a Xenon unit.

What do you think?

 

Do you think they will allude to the relative performance of this new car versus the last mid-engine V8, the F40?

Also, as the engine size could be rounded up to a 4.0... nah, they wouldn't.

Has F48t been mentioned? Nearly 4.0, 8 cylinder and t to distance it from the F40. Also, avoids comparison between new model's lower numerically 390 or 400 vs. outgoing car's 458.

 

Haven't studied it closely, but appeared different at first glance.

Mostly noticed the change in shape of headlight ass'y, with now a straight inboard edge - like F12 vs FF.

 

Yes, noticed that too. Surprised by how little camouflage was covering them, considering headlights are quite a telling part of a car's straight-ahead profile.

Interesting on the name, as you mention 398 would be going downwards which would break the trend. However, Porsche went from 997 to 991. Perhaps something similar to 599 -> F12b is on order. As discussed a few pages back, Ferrari prefers less numbers and more words these days.

 

Is it too much to see a quick sketch from you?

I've always been a big fan of your work.

 

Thanks, appreciate it.

LOL, probably easier to drive it over (snow and all) than fire up my clunky scanner.

I already posted something real rough a few pages back, but only good match might be the little tab on side of front spoiler.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

My guess on the name would be possibly one of these

F380T
F8 Berlinetta
380(Italian town)
380(Italian racetrack)

 

I see F8T = "Fate"