Based on your driving and car preferences you should consider a Pista. I dont think the F8 will do too much for you.
This is subjective, I believe the 488 sounds just fine. I can't comment on the F8 as the videos rarely do a car's sound justice. Porsche does this as well even with the GT cars and it works for them. My understanding is the GPF is a hardware system fitted to a car so I assume that it is always working just like a CAT but I could be wrong.
It will come soon enough and I expect the difference to be negligible for anyone but a pro driver on a track. This has pretty much been the same with the past models - 458 to Speciale, 430 to scud, 360 to CS. Most can exploit the differences.
Dynamically, I think that contest would be decided by driver ability. Aesthetically (and maybe aurally), I still prefer the Pista - thankfully after doing TM. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My concern in the difference between the Pista and F8 has little to do with a faster track time of a fraction of a second. It’s all about the drive and the excitement it engenders.
I think Pista will sound more aggressive due to lack of GPF and Pista looks more aggressive to me- which I like. Other than that I bet they are similar with regards to performance.
@Coincid , I see we look for the same thing in a car. Big fan of the look of the pista. While the F8 and Pista might be very similar in performance I would imagine the pista will deliver a more thrilling drive. I understand that different people appreciate different aspects of a car. And that will be evident in the way they view / review a car. For some it’s purely on the performance results and the fastest car provides the most thrills for them. For some like myself and @Coincid from what I have read into his posts the sound , feel and sensations that the car delivers is just as important as how fast the car goes. While I enjoy watching a good car review, they don’t hold much value to me. Reviews from real people on forums such as this mean much more. But as we can see even real people have significantly different views of a car. Let’s keep in mind though that most of us are spoilt in that we have had the privilege of driving some of the best road cars available. This normally leads to a very high level of critique when comparing anything new. Whether the 458, 488 or F8 I think when your paying so much for a car you tend to have very high expectations. So sometimes we tend to get hung up on the smallest of weaknesses because we have set such a high bar, as you should when shelling out so much $$$. That’s how I see it anyway.
I honestly don't think the result will matter. Pista delivers the edgier and more visceral experience which essentially is what Ferrari is - or should I say was - all about. I'm sure the F8 will be a great car for what it is, but on all accounts to date it sounds uncharacteristically quiet and very un-Ferrari from the outside....and sadly that part is going to be very hard to fix. 488 has the presence/sound of a Ferrari to the outside world and still has similar wow factor with enough power for what most will ever use anyway. So yeah 488 will be an absolute bargain in comparison to F8 initially.
Some of the biggest "rah-rah" cheerleaders on this forum for all things Ferrari including the latest and greatest have never owned a Ferrari and prolly don't even have an exotic in their garage. Was thinking the same thing. Based on Coincid's posts/critiques and the fact that he traded in a 1 year-old 2018 Performante to get a 2019 Performante shows his committment to the more visceral driving experience. For some owners Emotion>Objective performance. I daily my exotics and rarely track so I would fall into this category as well. Got a text from my friend in his car this past weekend who heard my Huracan with Sports Exhaust in passing under an elevated freeway at 7000 rpm and complimented how good it sounded. Sure I could get synthetic and enhanced sound piped into the cabin like the F8 and "that's all that matters who cares how it sounds outside blah, blah" but truthfully my friend's text gave me a smile that lasted.
Reading the last two pages - the "connection" with the car comes from the special editions because they intentionally improve that but at the expense of making them less comfortable for the masses. Unsurprisingly, if you like very spirited driving , direct steering feel, pushing the limits, all of those special editions will be winners. I have a 488, 360 and a 610-4, I'd have gone more extreme with each of the choices, but my wife ain't having it and then I'm driving alone...and there ain't much alone driving time available. So, I'm going to but a single seater open wheel car and track it. That will give me the pointy front end, eargasmic sound...etc
