Hi all, I thought I'd create a new thread to share a littler bit about my Pista experience. I've owned a number of Ferraris, including a new Stradale and a new Scuderia (but not a Speciale). As my dealer confirmed that I would be offered a Pista allocation, I was most excited about the car and of course, the fun of deciding how to spec it. I worked both with my local dealer and made a visit to the Ferrari Atelier in Manhattan to work through the design of the car. My objective for my Pista would be different than a lot of other owners. Rather than accentuate how racy the car is, I wanted to go with a more elegant spec, one that would be beautiful, highlight the design aesthetics, and be in a color that would add to the car's usability. I also wanted the car to be a bit unique - not a spec that would be seen often, if ever. As I discussed this objective with the Atelier, they suggested and then designed the car in green. While this wasn't a color that I would have thought of, as we played around with it, it really began to grow on me. Here are the renderings of the car we designed. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login One of my favorite aspects of the design was the interior, where we started with a full Cuoio spec, but then pared it back to where the seats were essentially the only interior elements in Cuoio. Image Unavailable, Please Login Note the Tricolore on the center bridge rings - a fabulous touch! Image Unavailable, Please Login Before leaving the Atelier, I asked to create a Plan B, knowing that it was possible I'd chicken out on the idea of doing the car in green. That led to us more or less designing the car from the inside out, keeping the Cuoio seated interior and then working through "safer" exterior colors. With that, we settled on Swaters Blu, a deep, rich blue that is a historical color and not as common as some of the other blues like TDF. Here are the renderings of that car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I do think it's worth pointing out that the Ferrari configurator is not great in how it renders some exterior colors. The configurator shows exterior colors as lighter in hue than they are in the real world. I found it's super important to have a look at actual color samples at a minimum, and to see a color on an actual car if at all possible.
I noodled on the two design ideas for a few weeks and solicited opinions from some people I trusted. I definitely heard resale concerns related to the green color, though that didn't really impact my thinking. In the end, I concluded that there was too great of a risk that I wouldn't like how the green car came out and while the Swaters Blu color may not be as unique, there was virtually no chance I wouldn't like the finished product. Soon thereafter, my dealer called and said that the factory was ready to accept my order, but to avoid a delay in production I'd have to give up the tricolore rings on the center bridge. This was a bummer as I thought it would be a super fun touch, but it was easy to let it go in order to speed up the production of the car. My Pista went into Stage 10 on about October 1, 2018 and finished production on about March 1, 2019. I passed on the opportunity to fly the car - what's another 5 weeks!
So, onto the delivery! I'm going to use the car so I had the dealer coordinate doing a full wrap of the car, with a double layer of PPF in some areas. This meant it was a full week from when the car arrived to when I saw it and took delivery. I'm happy to report that the paint was done to a very high level, with it needing paint correction on only one very small area. My dealership was recently renovated where they created a new configuration and delivery area. My car was in this area when I arrived but I waited to see it until we finished the paperwork. Tempting! Image Unavailable, Please Login And here it is - Swaters Blu.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The dash, doors, headliner are Blu Scuro alcantara, which is a great color for all sorts of configurations, especially on a blue car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Rockminster thank you for sharing the story of how your Pista arrived painted Swaters Blu! The interior adds to that elegance. Silver wheels and those stripes really stand out with the dark blue paint color. Do you recall the name of that shade of green the Ferrari Atelier suggested? Green like blue is a tricky color; some shades look better than others. Your Pista looks wonderful!
I've only logged about 150 spirited miles in the Pista, mostly mountain passes with some longish sweepers but some tight esses as well. I'm taking the car on a rally this weekend so that will give me time to get to know the car better and to get further into the break-in. I think my biggest early takeaway is that the car feels much more sophisticated than the prior special edition V8 cars. It’s incredibly fun but there’s a notable refinement to the whole car that makes it quite different than the others. I think a part of it is the turbo that doesn’t have the N.A. scream of the earlier cars but I think that adds to the Pista because the experience isn’t overwhelmed by the exhaust note. I don't have the sense that I'm driving with my hair on fire. I do like how it sounds, its purposeful, just not overwhelming or one dimensional. This turbo exhaust note was the one area where I was most concerned about the Pista and while I wouldn't say the sound of the car is a reason to buy a Pista (as it was with the CS/Scud/Speciale), it's not a reason to pass on the Pista. The torque of the turbo is a nice change, as you don’t have to wring the car’s neck to be up in the power band. There is truly zero turbo-lag in the Pista - it's remarkable that way. The Pista feels like it gives more time in the rev band, not spinning up to redline as quickly as the 488 - this makes the Pista more fun, especially when paddle shifting the car. I had a 720S and I do feel like the McLaren leaped forward with more urgency but the Pista feels more linear and with that, is more manageable. I love the chassis, the car handles flat but the bumpy mode eats up road imperfections. The steering is a tad heavier that the 488, another nice change as I found the 488's steering to be a tad too light and harder to modulate either at turn-in or mid corner. Of course, there are a few annoyances. My primary complaint deals with the seating position. I like to get my butt as low as it will go and with that I often bring the steering wheel near it's lowest height adjustment. This configuration renders the top part of the dash binnacle completely obscured by the top of the steering wheel, meaning I can't see the rev counter nor the turn signal indicators. The shift lights help with the rev reading issue, but I'm sure I'll drive for miles annoying people behind me by having left my blinker on Other challenges are the super clunky 488 carryover infotainment, a lack of interior storage and a back up camera that has a lens that's so low it's more disorienting and unhelpful than it is a parking aid. Looking forward to logging more miles and getting to know the car.
I think TDF is a tad brighter than Swaters. In the pic below I was trying to capture the difference b/w TDF (on the Lusso) and Swaters. Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for sharing. You made some great choices and look forward to hearing more. I am Stage 90 on my Pista and can’t wait to get it so I can experience it first hand. Only a few more weeks!
Beautiful spec! They don't do Blu Scuro leather anymore apparently on the "Airbag areas", glad you could get this in Alcantara as Blu Scuro does fit blue cars interior much better than black.
Totally agree. There was a Blu Scuro leather option at the time but it was a lot brighter blue. In fact, I was surprised how different the leather and alcantara versions of Blu Scuro are. I’m not a huge fan of the horizontal piping that separates the upper and lower dash. This made it easy for me to choose Nero for my seat stripe since that made the dash element blend in as opposed to pop out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Great write up. Very positive but not gushing so most believable. I like the honesty that the sound is not something you would buy the car for but also not something to deter buying it either. Much has been written and many concerned about that and you explained it well. Seating position is what it is. Those that favor a low seat have to compromise with tach visibility. Seems placing the gauge up another inch would be perfect if done in coordination with seat design. Please let us know your impressions after the rally and break-in. Best.
Did you get the race seat lifter? Wondering if that is part of the problem. As a tall guy, been there, done that with the blinker ! Thx for the writeup! t t
I do have the seat lifter. I recall we discussed whether it would impact how low the seat will go and was told it wouldn't, but I should sit in a car without the lifter and see.
congrats on your new ride I also have Blu Swaters on my 812 but for Pista went with Azzuro Dino wanted a different shade