Ferrari Speciale vs Pista - feeling/performance/grip?!

Oh gawd...this should be interesting!

This will be tangential, but I can predict where this thread will go....

I haven’t driven the Pista, but have thousands of miles in my Speciale, 16M, 458 Spider, Italia, and F12. So I can speak to the way different Ferrari’s can be used on public roads in the US.
I do a lot of driving, and just wrapped up 5 days around Georgia, Alabama, NC, SC and FL in 458 Spider.
I do not care what people say about HP and torque numbers, yes I know numerically 720>605, but that isn’t the issue in real life driving.
I am a very aggressive driver, and have track time with professional instruction.
All of these cars far exceed what can be considered sane aggressive driving on back country’s roads.
How a car connects with you emotionally is the key, and how much of its bandwidth can be used is what allows the full expression of a car’s dynamic personality.
I liken it to alcohol: a beautiful glass of wine offers a very nuanced experience, imagine how that would decrease if you got drunk after one sip?
I believe one can “use” more of the Speciale experience on public roads than a higher HP/torque car.
For that reason I turned down my Pista allocation, but can see adding a second Speciale to my stable.
Again, my apologies for not directly addressing your question.

 

Just added my third.

 

The Speciale is great, the Pista is "more" Speciale....

 

Likewise, I just recently turned down a Pista, as I feel the Speciale suits my aesthetic, acoustic, and driving preferences better than any other modern mid-engine Ferrari.

 

The difference for me...the Pista is Turbo and the Speciale is NA...I do not favor Turbo cars regardless of the minimized lag. Besides I think the Speciale has better cleaner lines and isn’t gaudy where the Pista is trending in that direction and that hood...uggg


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I have both, yes speciale is more suitable for public road. The pista, could get your license suspended if you try to enjoy its performance.

To handling, pista is a level up, throttle, steering, specially the brake. But it is just too powerful for road use. Same as TdF vs 599GTO, Tdf is way too powerful for road as well.

 

I dare you to feel the difference between the two ....turbo lag is completely non existent in the Pista. Have you seen the Pista in person? Because once you do you will realize it is far, far prettier than the Speciale.

 

Thats cause you are in Hong Kong and don't have some good East Texas empty back roads.... (sorry).

 

Amen to that...i'll include some roads west and south of DFW

 

I would be hesitant to call the Pista "pretty". It is more race car, track focussed in appearance yet tastefully accomplished. It looks like it means business. And I like that.

 

It shouldn’t need stating, but I will because of your comment...for the thousandth time on FChat...beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
For me, the Speciale is far prettier than the Pista. I think the bonnet nose dive and fat front wing effect are inelegant to put it mildly.

 

I have seen several Pistas here in Scottsdale and I even setup a Pista Tech session for the Desert Region of the FCA. So Yes I have seen a Pista up close and it is a good looking car. However before I even bought my Speciale I had studied and detailed the Pista and my opinion (and that is all it is) it appears to trend in an aesthetic direction that I am not comfortable with (as I had mentioned before) and I don’t believe it “moves the bar” or has long term value (I.e like last NA V8, most powerful NA V8, and last Pininfarina design etc) that the Speciale has. Also a personal choice of mine is I don’t care about nor would I be able to leverage any performance differences. You might track harder than me and therefore the performance bump is a plus for you so the Pista is your logical choice based on preferences and priorities. I value your opinion...but I love the Speciale more <g>.


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I thought I would have escaped these type of debates from Rennlist/Porsche, I guess no car manufacturer is immune!!

Wouldn't kick either out of bed, likely subjective personal preference if you already have one of the two

 

Wow pic!


Sent from my 16M

 

My buddy’s Pista when we attended the Peterson event in L.A. He has owned many, many Ferrari’s, including a grail. I didn’t get a chance to drive it but he said that is essentially “faster” in all respects than the Speciale.
I’m of the camp others have stated that love the clean Speciale lines, as the Pista has much more angular aggressive lines. Interestingly, when the Speciale came out, I loved (and still love) the sleeker lines of my 16M (seen on right) and thought that the Speciale was too aggressive I’ve grown to love the Speciale and may gravitate towards the Pista some day.

I will say that when driving to the Peterson event we had a blast driving to it. Pista is fastttt. Buttttt my exhaust note was pure symphony vs the Pista, which sounded rather quiet at WOT.

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Sent from my 16M

 

Done some miles on both. I tried to compare them but they are not the same, can't really put them in comparison.

 

Other 2 are US spec, this one is Euro spec. Dealer delivery photo:

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The Speciale is a very nice car; almost everything you could ask for in a sports car, (relatively) light, nimble, more than quick enough, beautiful (to my eyes at least) and with a decent sounding engine. I do not consider the naturally aspirated Ferrari V8 a melodious engine, it is too “boomy” for my taste, but it is not an unpleasant sound. A Ferrari V12 is infinitely better.
The Pista on the other hand is a better car than the Speciale in objective terms. It is a monster on track, faster, grippier, superior in gearbox and brakes, the handling is unreal and -again to my eyes- the best looking Ferrari V8 since the 355. The engine note is terrible, the only car that disappointed me more was the Porsche 718 2.0 litre which sounds like a washing machine.
If I had to choose between the two I would pick the Pista, no question about it. Neither car is a classic, for me at least. My old Scuderia is a classic, the Challenge Stradale is a classic, those two aren’t even though a Speciale is more valuable that either of the two older cars.
So given that I don’t see any collectability in either car, I will stick to the usual “the best Ferrari is the next one”...Drive the two side by side on a track and you will see what I mean


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To me that top picture of your’s says it all.
The left is prettiest with clean rounded flowing curves, the middle still very pretty but more aggressive, the Pista on the right even less so with chopped up lines, add ons and silly swoops.

 

Hoarding the wealth, are ya?! [emoji857] or just saving these for when one of us get lucky enough to afford one? Beautiful car!


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Highlights the need and importance of aero in design as cars become more powerful and faster..........'silly swoops' being what helps keeps you on the road as opposed to in a tree

 

I’d agree except power isn’t the issue, speed thru air is. The top speed for Speciale is just over 200mph IIRC, and thus the aero requirements for Pista aren’t that much different.
I think it is chiefly a style thing; Manzoni reading the “tea leaves” for making cars younger people find exciting and fresh.