296 VS

took my GTS and my friends near identical HTB to a track in south of Spain last summer spent half a day lapping at temperatures over 40 def Celsius. Neither cars missed a beat. On track they were significantly faster in the straights than the 992 GT3RS with us but obviously couldn’t match it in the corners. Body roll was not noticeable. [] Then drove them 1 hr back to hotel in Granada and 1,000 miles over a week mainly fast mountain roads in Sierra Nevada. No issues throughout and both cars have been pretty reliable since new 18+ months. My friend with the GTB has done several track days in his and I know of a fewer other UK owners that track theirs fairly often. Again no issues as far as am aware.

 

The car is solid at the track but suffers a bit at a track that's tight and heavy on tires and brakes as there's not enough air vents to cool it down fast enough. I hope the VS improves on this.

This is a road car that is fun on a track but by no means is a great track car. The Porsche GT3RS will out drive it with all the aero it has but I think there no point to compare an awesome road car that is fun on a track vs a solid road car that awesome on the track. I'm expecting the VS to bridge the gap to the GT3 RS at the track but I'd be surprised if it'll be better. As a reference, on a 4.95km track, my 296 GTS is 10sec slower than my 296 Challenge, but it's still fun to drive occasionally at the track. Where it excels is through the windy hilly roads. The VS is going to be amazing!

Here's a video of the 296GTS at a tracknin Australia.. I think it shows how well it handles itself.

 

challenge cars not a great comparison, sleeks and insane aero. Wondering what the lap time delta is for 992 GT3RS vs 296Gtb there.

PS I have a 2025 296GTB now and GTS imminent and a 2024 GT3RS. I finished corso pilota a couple of years back but it was ahead of 296 challenge (raced the 488 variant).

 

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Anybody else hearing corroborating things from credible sources about the "3-4 F vehicles in the garage" requirement to get an allocation?

So far seems like only one data point on that, unless I'm missing others who have independently heard the same from different sources (or perhaps one other? I'm going from memory here)

 

i heard it’s 3 car garage for spider. 1 car for coupe from my dealer

 

Thanks Faider, so it sounds like you and Sushistar have heard similar things independently (wonder if you two have different dealers as well). If any other folks are hearing the same or otherwise either from dealers or from the corporate rumor mill, would be really interested to know!

 

This is indeed correct. Deposits in two stages.

 

I can’t believe there’s zero leaks of the actual car

 

On the same track, the 992 GT3RS was 2 sec faster. But the driver is better (ie. bigger balls) than me so not entirely a fair comparison.

 

Did you hear 296 + 3 more (4) for the GTS or was it 3 currently held total?

 

It doesn’t really work like that , there are many factors that Ferrari takes into account, but it also depends on the demand. That’s why dealers first contact potential buyers to gauge interest , then they report back to the factory , once factory knows the amount of interest there is in a specific car, they set the final price for the car ( if high interest than higher price ) and the requirements for buyers ( like how many cars or which models one must own ) . But these requirements are not set in stone , they’re actually pretty flexible. However from what I understand if you meet the requirements the dealer can sell you the car immediately, but if you don’t then the dealer needs prior approval from the factory before they can sell you the car. So basically if you don’t meet the requirements you ( your dealer ) can defend your case and argue why they should sell you the car anyway, of course you’ll need good arguments like for example your participation to official Ferrari events , previously purchased Ferrari, future purchase plans, ….. That’s pretty much how the dealer explained it to me.

 

296 vs GT3RS depends on the driver and track (duh!) The GT3RS is faster in the corners indeed, but the 296 blasts on the straights.I would say that to makenthe GT3RS go faster then the 296 you need to be a better driver (and take more risks).
The 296 is so easy to drive fast, due to the massive extra power and the impressive ride feedback.
Put an average driver in both cars and the 296 will easy win.
Howeevr it's almost an apples vs pears comparisson as the GT3rs is all about downforce and the track whilst the 296 is a comfy road car.
Plenty of my friends decided to sell their GT3RS as it was just to loud and uncomfortable for normal use.

 

No requirement for current or past 296. 1 car purchased in the last two years and currently owned qualifies for coupe. 3 in the last two years and currently owned qualifies for spider.

 

Yeah it was obvious they were cooking at Corso, and why they only let us do 2-3 hot laps at a time. I'll admit in the back of my mind I kept wondering if the car can really only handle 4 minutes of hard driving without smoking the brakes.

 

It can handle a spirited drive and several laps on the track(several; not 10 hot laps). However if you drive for 30 minutes on public roads like you are on rack, that's a whole nother conversation someone should have...!

 

Hear the same from 2 northeast delaerships

 

Actually, the best version to get in this case would be the Piloti.

 

The GTB is used in the Corso Pilota Programme so it spends a lot of time on the track and many many rounds. I haven't heard of any issues there fwiw.

 

I've heard this requirement from (3) different dealers I work with, along with the VIP requirement for the GTS Version.

Of course, depending on how well they're received this could change and they could open up allocation slots like they did for the 12cilindri, etc.

 

This 100%

 

And just a short break for lunch,
The cars were on track all daylong ,,,
Tam

 

Don't forget you need to hold the car(s) till the VS delivery.

 

Monday the 12th of May is a presentation with dinner in Modena of the 296VS, I will try to attend.

 

You should get 'bonus points' for a VS allocation for all the miles (kilometers?) you have driven your 296!