Prof, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Arguing over aesthetics is meaningless. I am more interested in your take regarding the aero features of said design.
Excuse my butting in, but the vent from the front fender, for example, is just a vent, though a useful, functional one, that could have been "styled" a hundred ways, especially downstream into the doors. The way they chose to do it is not nice (in my opinion) but worse, the surfacing is very amateur and this is evidenced in any picture showing the undefined reflections of the paint.
To bring the thread back on topic while still discussing "styling", just some thoughts on the styling of the 488 VS. It's obvious that while one of the objectives of the design is to provide good aero numbers by leveraging the lessons learned and influence on this car from the Challenge and GTE/GT3 cars, you will notice that it doesn't exactly look like any of the card mentioned above. While some of this is for cost and functionality reasons, also included is the reality that the aero features have been "styled" for the very important visual impact factor. Though maybe some ultimate performance percentage points will have been lost, this is ultimately a consumer product and not a race car so the differences will be imperceptible to the user. But the looks will not.
So Ferrari built the first GTO and it has the motor in the front. Then the 1984 GTO came along with the motor in the back. Next up the GTO got the motor in the front again. Now the next GTO should have the motor behind the driver again. Cue the 488 VS 2019 edition or something more special beyond that model?
FWIW I think the 812 is a far "nicer" design than the F12 (which I find "too simple"). Having driven the 812 they are worlds apart and the 812 is simply stupendous. So as a package Ferrari have done a tremendous job. I have the benefit of being a laggard in terms of design and form and function in which case my view is purely subjective. On the 16th we are going to debate the c*ap out of the 488VS design but again i will either like or dislike it
Not quite sure why we’re debating 812 on the GTO thread, but personally I loved the 812 the first time I saw it at the customer reveal. The design is balanced, has great stance and interesting surfaces - complicated but meld into one theme across the whole car. Tortured doors? Far too strong an adjective for me. There is a band within which differing opinions seem reasonable. To say it is the most beautiful car Ferrari ever built is too far, to say it is ‘tortured’ is equally over the top IMV. And whether you agree with me or not, your view is only as valid as mine. It works for you. As does mine for me. So I ordered one.
As someone as yourself who is very good at car renditions, here is the 488 VS. Not sure what is left to the imagination.
Not much left to the imagination yes (WYSIWYG, I wrote already) but as you noted the rear is not fully revealed. When seen as a whole and fully revealed with a most likely lowered stance compared to the regular 488, I think it will be very nice.
The rear looks pretty revealed to me and was described sufficiently in other posts. The wing not like the LaF, connected in the middle, open gaps off center and towards the ends. Other rear shots from my notes are on posts 2680, 2390, 2679, 2905 and 3401. I agree the VS is WYSIWYG and looks better than the other versions of the 488 which I was not fond of especially the rear. I think the stance is self evident with wheels filling the wells more than standard 488 as all recent VS versions. For me its time to start wondering what the LE will bring besides more boost and updated interior with numbered plaque.
He fortunately seemed to have softened his opinion by the time his last car was launched, another little mid V8 turbo masterpiece if my memory serves me right
I think in the picture is the "old" 488 steering wheel....my guess is that it should have the one of the 812, Lusso and Portofino
