Test Capristo Piggyback 488 GTB on Dyno

Did you upgrade the car's cooling as well? I think these sorts of tunes might yield good results for drag racing and street driving, but my experience is that it does nothing for track driving.

 

With this Capristo piggyback upgrade, how does your 488 now compare to your 720S in terms of acceleration?

 

The Pista has totally different cooling solutions: https://488pista.ferrari.com/en/homepage/aerodynamics/aerodynamic-load

 

Power increase has to be coming from something changed obviously so the only point I can see is that boost is increased ?

 

From past experiences with tunes I've arrived at the firm conclusion that once you feel your car is no longer fast enough its better to go buy a car that is.

That is why Pista has more than just a re map over GTB to reliably deliver the extra hp. To be able to warrant the engine with the additional hp Ferrari know this - along with other adjustments and upgrades which are all necessary to keep the car operating and driving as a sum of its parts.

 

My previous car was super stable on track. My guess is that the tune didn't work on the track because the car just retarded timing or boost or something to keep heat down. I could feel the extra 50hp on the street, with the seat of my pants, but on a track with telemetry software, the tune was worthless. Just my experience.

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I've never driven the 488 and thought, "Damn, I wish this thing had more horsepower. If only!"

Must be a "me" problem.

 

Btw does the tune do away with the throttle bounce? The car would drive so much better without that trait. If the tune got rid of it I would seriously consider it.

 

Throttle bounce ? Holding Idle ?

 

To explain it better for those who may not understand what I mean:
The throttle in the 488 is unnecessarily VERY twitchy and overly sensitive to any inputs. Lifting off or easing off throttle and you get an immediate re coil/back kick each time you ease or lift off.
I've found this works against the chassis balance on sporty corner entry and holding a set throttle position mid corner at speed. In general the condition just makes for an unnecessarily jerky feel between any on/off throttle movements. It becomes like an impossible balancing act, finding the peak point and feathering it between the on/off.

The bounce back or "recoil" is not hugely prevalent when the car is in auto mode due to the natural tendency of the g/box always hunting the higher gear into 7th where once in 7th the condition then becomes tamed. The intuitiveness of the gearbox is also not very good in auto vs say a Porsche 991 where it is just brilliant. Why is it that Ferrari with all its claimed brilliance cant get that right??? Like seriously? And some here like that???

I find the 488 gearbox is able to sense and develop the right intuitiveness when you get aggressive on the throttle but it won't stay for long before returning back to a lazy shift pattern hunting 7th. The 911 pdk for example is just so masterfully intuitive all the time in sports and even more so when it detects any form of sporty driving intent. It's amazing in comparison. Actually there is no comparison - the Porsche is brilliant and the Ferrari is crap in that area. Best leave it in manual and forget auto entirely unless you want to sleep in traffic.

Back to the throttle: In manual mode though, when you want to hold a gear (say 3rd or 4th, and then work the throttle off that gear to balance the chassis in a corner, it become a very jerky affair if you are not exercising all means to feather the throttle at the absolute precise peak point between throttle on and throttle off - which is nearly impossible to do the way the throttle sensitivity has been set up. You won't find this issue on any Porsche or Maclaren (nor any other supercar I am aware of). Tbh I was very surprised to find it in the 488. It's not a problem that I cant live with it and its not that its a deal breaker but it shouldn't be there in a car like this and I don't care what anyone says to the contrary.

Same situation with the paddles on the column. Stupid idea exacerbated further by the stock oem short paddles. Even Nissan with its GTR took them off the column and put them back on the steering wheel due to criticism. Show me one F1 car that doesn't paddle or button shift off the wheel. Again not that I can't live with it, but it is not an optimum situation to have on a car like this. I drive with hands at 9 and 3 using push pull. Get remotely crossed up in a corner (mid or exit) and try shift using these paddles. Impossible to shift without taking a hand off the steering wheel to find them. That's not good. The option longer paddles are better but again not optimum. They need to go back on the steering wheel.

 

Agree on the auto it finds 7th gear very fast

With regards to the rest haven't noticed that but then again only 700 kms on the car. But definitely have the foot on the accelerator whilst upshifting

 

Your 700 is still very fresh! You need to get it out in the hills more. I had 650 on mine after the first weekend away lol. Overall the 488 is a sensational car - plenty of power - handles like a dream - such a great car! The biggest dislike for me is the twitchy throttle but not a deal breaker - hope Pista doesn't have that though! That's why I was thinking if a tune cleared that issue up then I would entertain it even though it goes completely against my philosophy now.

 

I doubt a tune would address this. Generally they are just adding boost and changing timing (air/fuel) to gain more power. Your issue sounds like gearing.

 

I read your whole libel, being a bit apprehensive at first, trying to keep an open mind though. It is more than obvious that you are an avid Porschephile. I will give you one thing, Ferraris are not that good when it comes to their auto transmissions. Their shift manual times are the best though!!!

 

Agree it's unlikely the tune would fix it but was interested to see if there was any change there anyway. Gearing is not the problem. I truly believe it is solely to do with the throttle calibration settings in the ecu. The problem is not felt coming onto the throttle but coming off, where then you get that bounce back/recoil. I also heard the Car Guys commenting on the twitchy throttle on their recent comparison vid so it isn't just me. As I said, if you want to hold/maintain an exact speed in a corner in a set gear, it becomes an exercise in balancing the tipping point between off, and back on throttle. There is no buffer which allows you to settle the throttle at any given point or input so you will find that the cars chassis is left has to rock on and off that tipping point. Definitely needs resolution imo - was very surprised to find such a stupid deficiency on a car like this given it has such a brilliant engine and chassis.

 

It is true many of my years and driver training has been done with Porsche and, in Porsches' of varying models so I have a tendency to bench mark a car from that. Mind you a Porsche is a very good benchmark IMO and it would have to be a very worthy car for me to feel it is worth saying it's better than a Porsche in certain areas. Brand loyalty to any brand only goes so far (for me anyway) and I have no issue calling things for what they are even if I own the car. Some here on Fchat have expressed issues with that and are appear to me to be emotionally invested in the car they own to the point they take issue with anyone expressing an opinion which isn't to their exact liking. Essentially (for me) the car has to perform and deliver to my own set of expectations and the benchmark is set high unfortunately. Blame that on Porsche engineering. Actually I thank them for being so anal and precise in giving a product that just works everywhere.

I've owned my 488 for a bit over a year now and have done over 6000 in it now, all high quality sporty driving, so I have what I feel to be a fairly good understanding of the 488 and the Ferrari brand is about, its strong and weak points. I will undoubtedly learn even more when I get my Pista. Like all cars there is room for improvement and it would be great if Ferrari looked at the comments from the seemingly few owners who actually drive their cars in manner in which the car was actually designed for.

Re your comment on the Ferrari transmission, it didn't take long to figure out they are off the game vs Porsche in the area of the auto programming for the individual transmission settings. I find the 488 transmission is excellent in manual mode, but in auto not so at all. The 488 paddles also have a rather accentuated long travel and this can create the impression the shift activation is not as lightning fast as it could be. The 911 otoh excels with such precision in the paddle-shift operation and delivers immediacy of shifts, probably from having less paddle travel to activate the shift. I found that Maclaren also had a better paddle-shift arrangement than 488 having shorter and more precise feel to the paddles - on the steering wheel too, which is where they belong. I've since found the 2rs shift feels even further ahead again - the paddle shift operation so precise and immediate. It is sublime to use. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate the Ferrari 488 and its quirks but that's all they are - quirks which don't necessarily work in favor of the car esp when you compare today's competition. The 488 is amazing, love driving it, incredibly capable car, equally as good if not better than my Porsches is some ways, other ways not so, but 488 could be even better again with just a few simple adjustments, tweaks and re arrangements that would knock it out of the park. Just my 2 cents.