What is up with the door handles on the 488?

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+458

By the way, I don't like the 488 air scoops (side view of the 458 is better look) and i don't like turbo engines

458 is a keeper

About the door handles of the 488, i see the demo car of my dealer, the door handles hurt the paint of the door. It is a design problem. Don't push the handle when you close the door

 

I realize that this is a thread about the 488's door handles, but some posters have mentioned the side vents. I agree that the 458 is an outlier, in that it lacks side vents. I wondered, when the 458 was introduced, why they had been omitted from the body design. It does not bother me aesthetically, but I think that Ferrari could have added low side vents to the 458, under the lower body side crease, just ahead of the rear wheels, as on the 360 and F430. The downward curve of the crease would have been a natural frame for such a vent. If this type of side vent had been used, the clean flanks of the 458 would have been preserved, and some amount of additional cooling would have been realized. This solution would probably not yield the type of airflow necessitated by the 488's forced induction, but, in my opinion, Ferrari went a bit overboard with the side vents it ultimately chose to include in the doors and rear quarters. Fred

 

the reason the vents are the size they are is that they are more than just air intake and intercooler cooling. What they provide is a "tunnel" to the rear of the car which creates a significant reduction in drag, so similar to the door handles... it's a lot due to aerodynamics.

Another great example of the 488's focus on Function over Form....

 

Beauty in the eye of the beholder but having seen them side by side and sitting in both the 458 and 488; Ferrari was able to take a car that many consider to be the ultimate mid-engined V8 and improve on it enough to make me want a new one over the outgoing 458.

 

function over form is a truly hollow point for 99% of the use of these cars. They are not track / competition cars. To ignore form so blatantly with the 488 is going to impact numbers. the true test will be sales. Ferrari will lose quite a few people to lambo / mclaren / other - but the bottom line is sales - will be interested in how the buying public votes past the initial surge.

 

Yes there is subjectivity here. FWIW I much prefer the clean flowing lines of the 458, which seems like the pinnacle of mid engined sports car design. Having said that there are segments of the 488 that appeal to me -- the rear design (except the engine bay) is especially well executed.

 

You make my point (made several posts ago) that the 488 is function over form. Incidentally, I have seen the car in person and walked away feeling the way I do about red 488 pictured in this thread, as though some giant weight was placed on the top and pushed the rest of the car down. Still a nice looking car, but no aesthetic improvement over the 458, imo. Best

 

Yea I think that is because of the huge side vents. I think if those get cleaned up a bit you will lose that flattened appearance.

 

This is AWESOME! .. and isn't this what it's all about? Passion!! Regardless of all our variances in taste it's fantastic that we muster the energy to engage in discussions around this. That can only come from Passion and I love that!

FWIW.... I'm a sucker for technology and innovation... deeply engaged in racing and F1 and when I see the impact initiatives can have (good or bad) on performance I'm humbled by the progress and innovation racing drives for all of us.

Even in F1, aesthetics became an element in one of the recent updates of rules.... engineers and designers in F1 will always take rules to the nth degree to save that 1/100s of a second per lap...

It's the battle between Form and Function.... what other great examples have you seen where one wins over the other? Fisker?

 

One big problem is that the 458 roof was grafted unchanged on to the 488. It does not work well.

 

Yea it doesn't work as smooth or sleek in my opinion. But I guess smooth and sleek appears "more dated" for other people.

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...no right or wrong.

If you see a car and say wow...that's the car for you. If not, wait until you find a wow.

Best

 

The door handles were Luca's last little joke -- after the name "LaFerrari" of course.

 

Function? Even on a fast, long track what do people think they improve in terms of lap times?

 

It is really for directing air flow to improve cooling function but aero also benefits...

 

who knows... it may even prevent some wind noise and turbulence as it directs the air....

 

I think the door handles look fine , growing on me.

 

I think color has a lot of how "much" you see the handles. I've seen black and it tends to pull it all together. Yellow, not so much.

 

+1!

 

I prefer the looks of the 458 to the 488 much like I preferred the looks of the 360 to the 430. When I saw the 360 and 458 I instantly loved them. The door handles on the 488 are functional and in certain color do not stand out nearly as much. In regards to a turbo motor versus a NA motor, there is no doubt the 458 sounds better. The turbo is pretty amazing though. The hp and torque numbers are impressive. I would imagine Ferrari's with new modern turbo V8 will continue to improve in sound, driving dynamics much like McLarens have begun to improve with their turbo motors.

All that being said the 458 is an incredible car. It is the best car I have ever driven. If I had to choose between a low mileage 458 or a 488 I would pick the 458. It is just the perfect car... For me anyways. It's gorgeous, sounds great, very rewarding to drive, makes you appear to be a much better driver than you are, etc... Sure the 488 will be faster but the 458 is quick enough for me

 

+1

 

++1

 

Indeed !