F8 “Too fast for the Road”

If it can get to 210mph it might take a month or so. Its really not very fast by today's standards. Pretty but no too fast. Fast enough is subjective.

 

Top speed for the 458 is 202, F8 211.

 

It's all subjective.

 

In my experience it’s more that the 458 platform lacks the grip compared to the more modern cars, creating a little less comfort and certainty.

 

as much as i liked the 458, Cali T HS was getting there much faster and going even more.

F8 is a beast on a different level than both. However, I didn't have a chance to max it out. Still, it felt crazy fast.

 

Yes I defy anyone to get out of a 458 and say ''well...this is a bit slow''. Unless all you're doing is straightline stuff, a 458 is all the performance you really need on the road...

 

I never got out of one and said its too fast. I get the same feeling from a GT3 but the Porsche does many things better such as brakes, grip, etc. 458 has its perks as well of course.

 

The 991.2 GT3, especially in manual, has got to be one of the best most entertaining and involving sports cars of the last 10 years.

 

I’ve pushed the 458 pretty hard in very twisty conditions on new Michelins and agree more front grip would be welcome. What I don’t understand is how the F8 could do any better, given the front tire size is the same. Unless weight distribution or suspension setup is different.

 

Same way race cars in a series with same tires and size specs do it... car set up. This is suspension set up, geometry and so forth.

 

I sure hope my F8 spider is “too fast for the road!”

 

I have to admit I am in the camp of certain levels
of performance are getting silly for road cars...

If you drive it on track.....

If you are tracking a street F8, you probably don’t have a proper “race” car; which likely means you probably don’t have great track skills. Given its weight and lack of fuel cell; fire system; race belts; etc a periodic “lapper” is probably asking for trouble. I stay away from track sessions when street cars are present. I will
Also admit I am a bit of a hypocrite as I have lapped the mclaren F1; the Enzo; the Veyron, etc.

If you drive it on street.....
It is very very hard not to push the limits occasionally, which opens the risk of an accident or ticket. Limits in this car are dramatically above the limits of just 5 years ago, not to mention 10.
Personally I have decided to stay pretty conservative on the street; If I injured some one (including myself) I would harbor major guilt.

I am fortunate to have access/own proper race cars (prototype sports cars), spend about 3 days a month lapping and racing and despite over 150
Races to date, I still engage ongoing pro tutelage. I get the speed out of my system and then get back to the street. I recognize this is a luxury not available to all, but a 3 day Skip Barber school is available to many and a lot smarter than beating a 3500+ pound street car.

On the street I increasingly favor older (but still modern gen—abs, air bag, crumple zone) cars.
I enjoy the feel of a first gen NSX, a gated 550, or Z8 to a new McLaren or Ferrari. At modest speeds they are still total fun. I err to the car that feels fast when driving slowly; rather than the car that feels slow when driving fast.

I wish fun and safe driving to the car lovers fortunate enough to have an F8 or similar; just putting one view (no better than anyone else’s) on the table.

 

Agree with the sentiment, though I tend to like the even more modern so I am skipping
the mid engine format and my philosophy lately is to go for the sportier GT type car that sounds great- 812, Aston V12 Vantage. Felt the 488/Perf I couldn’t enjoy on the street. Have 458 Challenge for the track. Don’t love the older cars, except the analog hypercars!

 

“A man’s gotta know his limitations”—Dirty Harry

 

You make good points, however alot of us can't afford or have the room for a dedicated track car. So for those of us who might do 1 or 2 track events per year we can take our F8 or whatever street car to the track and enjoy the performance without worry of getting a ticket. If you are new to tracking you get put in the beginner group with an instructor and you will learn alot. Even those of us who are advanced can still learn from others.

 

Car manufacturers generally - not just supercar manufacturers - are facing the same problem as the makers of other once cutting-edge technologies, the law of diminishing returns.

Remember when the iPhone first arrived, everybody wanted one, and when the updated one arrived there was great excitement and desire. But now it's near perfection the excitement of the latest model has gone, and people are quite happy to hang on to their existing one.

It's the same with computers. I can well remember the thrill of unboxing a new PC that was several times more powerful than the old one, and marvelling at what it could do. Now they're just a boring necessity like soap powder, and even a cheap one does everything that 95% of users want, so they're not even a topic of conversation any more.

Supercars have hit the same wall. In an attempt to attract new buyers they have been made insanely powerful. No road driver can ever realistically use more than around 500-600 bhp yet cars are being produced with 800-1,000 bhp engines. The irony is that the buyers are paying tens or hundreds of thousands more for the power and then being forced to pay even more money for software that prevents them ever using that power and killing themselves or others!

Supercars have now evolved as far as they really can, and the manufacturers are rapidly running out of ideas as to how to persuade people to upgrade. Combined with the general public / governmental swing against ICE cars it's difficult to see much future for them as a species.

On the face of it this might seem rather sad, but in practice it really isn't. I suspect that the vast majority of the top end supercars - the hypercars - are bought by posers rather than enthusiasts , and who gives a flying f*** about them? For the rest of us there are any number of brilliant cars that have been made over the past 10-20 years to enjoy.

 

Every modern super car has reached exalted levels of performance and capabilities. Yet they are all uniquely differentiated by their differing driving dynamics and individual personalities as well as their distinct design aesthetics. It is these very differences that compel car enthusiasts to desire the latest model. Simply adding another 40 HP to a 700 HP super car will not ignite passions. But a more beautiful and intriguing design with enhanced driver engagement will assuredly arouse temptation. To reduce super cars to objective capabilities is to deny
the myriad of subjective elements that are responsible for creating the allure these wondrous machines of rolling art engender amongst the cognoscenti.

 

There will always be people like us who want the latest and greatest, supercar makers have nothing to fear.

 

Equating smart phones and computers to super cars is a reductionist observation that fails to acknowledge the emotional stimuli highly prevalent in the latter and completely absent in the former. A phone and a PC both serve a technical, cognitive function. Their success is predicated on how accurately and conveniently it fullfils its raison d'être. A super car appeals to all human senses and both lobes of the brain- the left being dominated by analytical and methological thought while the right brain is associated with being artistic and creative. Afficionados are enticed by the subjective qualities of the car as much as the objective performance parameters. The appearance is as exciting as a masterpiece work of art. The tactile feel of the interior and the scent of the upholstery creates an aura of occasion. The emotional exhiliration that stimulates all the senses when taking your prized possession on a spirited outing and puts a huge ear to ear smile on your face with goose bumps trickling down your spine, is what makes super car ownership so irresistible. I am assured that no human has had all those emotions engendered by the ownership of the latest generation PC.

 

In 126 words, you could have just said, " New Car Smell" What I'm leading on is if a Hooker wearing black leather hotpants, incredible thighs, was riding shotgun, smoking a cigarette, and flicking the ashes all over the carpet, it would have ruined the entire guest experience for you.

 

Our motto when instructing new Ferrari Owners,who are older or newer guys (And other quick cars 992 GT3/GT2 etc),is "We teach you to go very Fast,slowly."
Nothing changes,just the Cars have gotten considerably quicker. I drive quick road cars,(C63 640 BHp,+ 997 Porsche) and I ride a Bike, (Z1000 which can eat most anything), and after 40 years or more Racing (inc F355 Ch,F360 Ch.Porsche Cup,Lola T70 + Lola T610 Le Mans) that the correct line to the "Apex" is your most important aspect of the Road and the Track and "Slow In,Fast Out" is the golden rule. Whether it be Bathurst,or Nurburgring, those Rules do not change, and I've Raced many times at those and many other Aussie & European Circuits.

So, if I may add my 2c's worth to this discussion,Harry is right and so are most of the Contributors. I find it disturbing reading about a lot of Ferrari Owners using their extremely quick Ferrari's on twisty tight backroads,when they don't ever know what could be around any corner. Bike,Truck,other quick Ferrari.

So,just as a suggestion,use your Road car to as "fast as you can see". If you can't see it,don't do it. But the most value in my notes is use your Ferrari,as it is intended and designed to be used, on a Circuit. Get some lessons,and go for it. It is a fast,safe environment to test yourself AND your Car against like minded Drivers. I can't stress that enough. Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That reminds me of a review that the great Phil Hill did of the 288 GTO back in '87 for a special Ferrari edition of R&T. He said something to the effect of, and I'm paraphrasing off of memory here, "...as for personally owning a GTO in the States, forget it for me...God didn't put me on this Earth to ***** foot around in Ferraris that can go from 0-60 in five seconds...it would have me in jail in no time..."

I would absolutely love to read what Phil would have written about the new F8!!!

 

So Harry has for a couple of reviews since the F8

Next came a review about a new Porsche.. That 911 turbo was even faster than the Ferrari but he did not seem to admonish us that the German sports car was too fast. Faster yes. But not too fast.

Then came a somewhat incoherent episode about a new Lamborghini. The elephant in the room or rather Harry’s Garage was the fact that the car wore the most horrid shade of touquoise paint. Perhaps Harry should have deemed the Lamborghini too ugly for the road. I would have to concur.

Aren’t Hurricans meant to be bright metallic orange or purple or at least yellow?
Oh well I guess Lady Gaga or Paris Hilton needs to have a color to pick.

Oh and the very clever Lamborghini wasn’t too fast either. Harry said that the F8 was tram lining all over the road. So the Ferrari F8 was just a bad handling sports car at speed. Not too fast Just bad .
(I hope Harry doesn’t read these threads on FChat if he is thin skinned)

 

The Corvette C8 vs the Pista

0- 60 about the same, 0-100 a second or two off, 100-180 mph NINETEEN seconds off.

I'm impressed that the Pista goes from 100 to 180 nineteen seconds faster, but in the real world - who the hell cares?

 

I stop at the Ugly SF90 and the V6 turbo toaster