They are stunning! Very elegant! Originally I wanted my Speciale ones...but I like it better on the white spider
The grey and white combo is beautiful!! You made the right choice there for sure black and white would have been a harsh contrast (in my opinion)
Agreed! I thought about doing the bottom half of the dash in red next time...thoughts? I like your sporty specs for sure...red is so classic
Mytoys that is a great garage with some beautiful iron. I even see a 599 GTO buried back there. I don't want the thread to go off topic, but just wondering out loud how your GTO compares to your other cars like the 488 Spider and 458 Speciale ?
Thanks Stephen, it took years and lots of grey hair to build the garage/house. The V12 sounds insane. Very different than the V8s. GTO feels bigger and pulls stronger as you gain velocity. You sit higher than the V8s and it handles like a front engine car, not bad but not as tight as the mid engine ones. Speciale screams as you rev and handles incredibly sharp, probably my favorite F car to drive. 488 spider is a nice cruiser, rides softer, doesn't handle as sharp as the speciale, has a lower pitch exhaust sound and lots of torque from the turbos. It can be a good every day car.
Thanks for the input. I agree 100% with the GTO/458 comments. I feel that my "old" 458 Italia (I sold it 2 years ago) was easy to rotate at speed through a turn but the GTO requires much more precision/skill on the same turn. The 458 is easy to drive fast and just doesn't require a heavy skill set to perform. On the other hand, the GTO is an absolute terror at the limit, but is truly much faster than 458 after 120 or sound and I strongly believe with equal drivers the GTO would beat the 458 on most tracks. In the right hands (not mine) the GTO is a razor-like scalpel that pulls like a bull or steroids. While I haven't driven the 488 yet I have heard several of them run through the gears. While I was unfortunately a bit disappointed with the 488 sound I have to say that the sound of the GTO is simply unparalleled. For me the GTO sound makes it the best modern day car in the World (at least at its price point). I'm sorry I sold my 458 Italia. Thinking about the 488 Spider now as I was locked out of getting a TDF. I'm just not sold on the 488 sound even though it does sound significantly better than my 997.2 TTS Cab. One thing for sure is that the 488 has an amazing performance envelope. I also see you have a 991.1 GT3RS. Business tough ? LOL. Good for you. Thats one heck of a garage !
Have you driven a 458 speciale? If you like the Italia, you will love the speciale. You should definitely drive one and see how you like it comparing to the 488. Each V8 generation sounds different. 355 screams, 430 has a lower pitch sound than 360, etc. 488 sounds quite nice in my opinion, especially if you open up the rear wind deflector. But if you use the GTO as the standard, you will not be happy with the 488. simply can't compare the V8s to the GTO. That wouldn't be a fair comparison. Sorry you won't get a TDF. That's a hell of a car. Many guys including some dealer principals told me they prefer the TDF over a LaF.
Drove a Speciale once and only very briefly and candidly didn't think it demonstrated better street performance over the Italia in a way that I could measure (intellectually/emotionally). IMHO my 13 Italia was that good and made even a mediocre driver (me) feel like Michael Schumacher. I also didn't think the Speciale sounded any better than my Italia. That being said, my impression of the Speciale is really useless as I don't have any real seat time in her. I wish I could drive my GTO daily but its just to valuable now to place daily on NY/LI roads. If I could bottle the sound of the GTO and mass market it I'd be a billionaire ! The TDF would have been spectacular if I could have purchased same at MSRP.
Indeed the Italia is a good car as I had 2 of them and 2 spiders and spent some time with the coupes on the track. You need to spend more time with a speciale to get a better assessment. It is at another level in my view.
Let us know if you end up getting a 488 or if driving a speciale changed your mind. Also hope you find a TDF at a reasonable price. If you like your GTO, you will LOVE the TDF.
Beautiful cars! How do you compare in terms of stiffness the 488 spider and your previous 458 spider? Any noticeable cowl shake? Thanks
Thank you! 488 spider stiffness is definitely a ton better, you don't hear it or feel it during bumps, turns and speedy turns. Still a bit less than the Speciale. Much faster than the Speciale through the gears; power is readily available...
