Let's not be silly. Of course the 296 is faster than the Pista from getting from Point A to Point B. But the question is how does it make you feel getting from Point A to Point B? The 296 and Pista are different in how they achieve that. Not saying one is better than the other, just really depends on which you prefer. I know for now which I prefer.
I wasn’t talking about feel. I was simply talking about objective performance. The 296 outperforms the Pista similarly to how the GT2RS outperforms the GT3RS. But yes, they both have a different feel to them, which is a purely subjective matter.
Wow, what a great thread and thank you all for such honest feedback on initial ownership experience(s). After 2.3 yrs of waiting since the dealership took my $10k deposit, it is nearly here (Naples, FL, USA) . Maybe next week. Coming from a 360, 430 & 458 I was reluctant to give up my big carbon footprint and jump into the hybrid world; and a V6 engine. But I figured if the overall car was spectacular, I could be at peace with a V6 sitting behind me as 820hp surely helps dismiss reservations with a V6 (ha-ha). Gents, I can tell all of you I am damn EXCITED now after reading all your comments. PS: I did fly over to Italy for a "Factory Collection" which was fantastic, so I got to see it in person which was great. And make sure the spec was correct. Unfortunately, all the spots were taken for Corso Pitota at Fiorano, so I'll have to return in the spring. Don't think that will be to hard a decision. Great thread, pictures to follow Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have had mine for about a month and have been playing around with all the modes and such. I have been enjoying it far more than expected and really appreciate the versatility that it offers. Driving it back after collection I was able to squeeze out 481 miles out of the tank from full till my stop. Highway speeds and indicated one line left. Just wanted to make sure there was good fuel in it. Absolutely a joy to drive. Huge boot space so I was able to fit 2 duffel bags and the cover, charge cable, and travel bag with no issues. It is surprisingly capable in the wet despite the power. Did a bunch of twisties in the backwoods and it the handling is unbelievable. It gives just enough slip to rotate the car and I found it to be very predictable. Even went grocery shopping afterwards and it all fit in the boot. All the tech is a little slow. The car seems to take a minute to 2 to figure out where it is and get the car play running. Haptics are also slow, but once I had all my setting dialed in I don’t really mess with it. This is my first tech Ferrari, coming from a Scuderia, so getting used to the steering wheels controls has been a learning curve. I find them useful since pretty much everything I need is at my fingertips. Post break in I had a chance to ring it out a little and the engine is pure dynamite. Such accessible power that it lays down so well. Once the tires are warm that short wheelbase is easy to hustle along and easy to place. Lots of electric assist at low rpm’s but once you get it going into the upper reva the sound and performance is epic. Even on backroads with bumpy road mode on the car is planted. I have found the hybrid system a bit strange. Forgot to plug it in for about 10 days while on a trip and when I started it I got an everything has failed lights. Engine still started but then after a few minutes of driving all of it seemed to clear out. I have just kept it plugged in when not in use after that. The looks are just stunning. I do find it annoying that the car beeps at every little thing and it is quite annoying. My driver side mirror shakes so much it is hard to see…..purchasing dealer said that was normal. Called another dealer and they said to bring it in and they will fix it, easy fix and common….the trunk is very hard to close and requires probably 10x the force of any other Ferrari. Several times the charge flap opened while driving. I think it also requires some force to be closed because then it does not do so. Image Unavailable, Please Login
nice review thanks Had issues with the hybrid system too I agree... its very hard to close the trunk !
I forgot to say I also love the sneak out out the neighborhood quietly mode. Truly effective at 5am. The Scuderia was not popular roaring through the neighborhood at 0500. Especially not with the valves open all the time.
As a fun update, I have added another 550 miles on the car in a mix of wet and dry weather. So far it has just been good. I do notice that if the battery is low the electronics seem to take a solid 1-2 minutes to get going. The GPS also seems to take forever to get started. I have found it preferable to turn the engine on when I am at a stop because when it kicks on at speed and is cold there seems to be some roughness. There was a comment made earlier, or in another thread that once you get used to the car you can modulate the downshifts by how hard you accelerate and brake. I have started to find the groove for this and find it quite fun. Some of the highway driving has made me re-think not getting the cruise control, but then the ugly square in the front is not a good add.
Do you have an update what they did with the driver side mirror? I have the same issue not only with this car but with all the line ups from 458 to this 296. Did they fix the vibration shake? Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I have the 296 GTB with the AF package and no side mirror issues. Your dealer should replace the whole mirror unit. I had strange plastic noises more or less everywhere in the cockpit, most of them have been fixed by putting some foam materiel pretty everywhere :
My frames of reference (and hence comparables in my mind and my expectations), are other Ferraris that I have recently owned or currently own. Mid-engine – 458, 458 Spider, F8 Spider, SF90 Spider. Front Engine – F12, 812 Superfast, 812 GTS, 812 Competizione. Overall, I am generally positive on the 296 GTS. I like the feeling of nimbleness. Steering sharpness reminds me of the 458. The transmission is the usual Ferrari excellent (best in the business) (but because of the turbo lag, not as sharp on downshifts as the normally aspirated 812). Sound is quite good. Much better than the F8 and SF90. Not as good as the 458 or the V12’s. Reminds me of a Porsche GT3. Has that gruff edge to it. For a turbo, I am impressed that you can still distinguish the individual explosions, as opposed to the slurring one often gets in turbo cars. Handling is excellent. Ride and comfort is excellent. I am amazed that they were able to achieve such a high level of handling, while having the car being so civilized. Extraordinarily stable. A downside of the stability, is that the car does not “feel” as quick to me as it obviously is. Not as scary as one would expect for such a fast car. Although not a fair comparison, the 812 “feels” as fast (even though it is not) because it is much more edgy, and traction is much harder to find. The 812 feels much more out of control compared to the relatively stable 296. I am a big fan of convertibles, and I always buy the convertible version whenever it is available. I have been without a mid-engine convertible since I traded my SF90. While I love the 812 GTS, I actually found myself missing the experience of the notionally smaller 296. I say notionally smaller because I am amazed when the cars are parked side by side, how big the 296 actually is. Very wide and not a huge amount shorter, but a lot lower of course. In any case, I am really enjoying the very different open air driving experience of the 296. It is more of a playful feeling compared to the more “serious” 812 GTS. A great deal has been written about the driver interface, and every bit of it is true – in fact it is worse than I imagined (acknowledging that it is the same as the SF 90 which I also did not like). For example, I need to fold the side mirrors to get into my garage, and the pad that does that in my car is totally unresponsive. Every time I come home, I have to hold my breath worrying that I may need to leave the car outside if I cannot get the mirrors to fold. It takes me 10-15 attempts to finally get the mirrors to fold. A bit snug to get into it, with the shorter wheelbase and the reduced seat travel due to the folding top and possibly the battery. (I am 5ft 10, but getting on in terms of flexibility ). Overall, a very nice job (again) by Ferrari – a fun, nimble, fast, comfortable, exploitable car. Also feels much more rigid/solid than the 458 (and 812 GTS), in terms of flex and cowl shake. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just spent the day driving a 296 GTS. The steering wheel controls are horrendous. I have a tendency to rest my thumbs right beneath the signal buttons. My right thumb accidentally brushes the directional pad, and next thing I know, my digital dash display completely changes or voice command turns on. The steering wheel seriously has to go. Aside from that, the car is amazing! It's so tame and comfortable when you want it to be, and in a instant, it can activate beast mode! The sound is incredible! One of the best sounding cars I've ever driven. How they pulled it off with a V6 hybrid is a marvel in itself. The car isn't as raw as previous Ferraris, and you can definitely tell that there is a lot of technology keeping the car stable and keeping you from spinning off the road. I did not try driving it with TC off. After watching several YouTube reviews, I expected the car to be scary fast. However, the computers made sure it didn't feel that way. Don't let that fool you. It's VERY FAST! One concern I had was if all the technology would tone down the car, make it less visceral and feel soul-less, but it didn't. Maybe it's the incredible sound that triggers an emotional response like no other. Driving this car will put a smile on your face no matter what kind of day you're having. It's that good! Now the steering wheel though....
Re- the steering wheel controls- there is a setting for the controls to go off after a second or two, so if you accidentally brush them, they will not respond. You should enable this mode. To wake up the controls you have to double tap the control pad. Another useful trick is if you cycle to the CarPlay screen to get a message or perhaps to use nav software such as Waze, if you hold down the home button, it will go back to the main screen. If you use maps, you can get the turn by turn arrow directions on the little nav “slice” on the main screen. It doesn’t do it for Google or Waze, Im guessing this is a software rights/ control/ thing. Re- turbo lag downshifts- the car will sometimes ever so slightly delay a downshift - but you are still having system torque- this is the computer system thinking it would be better to hold the downshift for a second- but its using the electric motor to fill in system torque. Chris Harris mentions this in his review. When you drive a 458, 488, F8 and wonder where do they go next- it’s here. The 296 is really a fantastic car. You can manage to come to terms with the interface, which definitely has a lot of room for improvement. But the car itself is really wonderful. I would like a little more steering feel. Final thought- the AF pack is really for those who want to make the car a bit better controlled, shaper, more dialed in. So there is no need for an after market suspension swap. If thats you, you should do the AF pack. Ive not yet had a problem with scraping and driving a non AF car, I was very glad I got the AF. The non car feels like you’d expect, softer, less locked in, just less controllable and it just feels like the suspension is a few milliseconds behind the power of the car. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
I had that feature enabled as I always had to double tap the directional pad to activate the menu buttons and other stuff. I think my issue was that my right thumb would accidentally "double tap" the pad while driving. Perhaps I need to work on my driving ergonomics, but one shouldn't have to think about this kind of thing when driving a performance sports car. At least the directional pad isn't an eject or self destruct button. [emoji1787]
I still don't get it from an engineering point of view. The downshift is not inhibited by the engine air intake pressure; that's what the blow off valve is for anyway. I don't doubt the delay, I just question the reason attributed to the turbocharger.
We drove our 296 GTS for about an hour today. Still in break in so we were mostly cruising. Past cars: Pista, Lusso, Port, 812, 458s, Scuderia and others. Observations: - Very easy to drive. Instantly gelled with the car. Car feels small (which I love). I had zero sense of all the electronic witchcraft whirling around. The car feels intimate, like and old friend. (I drove a sf90 and did not feel this way. Owned and sold a 992 Touring that also missed the mark). - There is a very classy almost romantic appeal to the overall design and feel of the car. This car is objectively one of the most beautiful car designs in the last 5o years. The rear 3/4 is perfect. Sorry for this, but the car looks like a perfect size 0 or 2 Italian woman from the back 3/4. Classic Italian perfection. Unlike other previous Ferraris that appeared overly edgy this car just flows. No flicks or added 'race car' tack ons. The more time I spend with the 296 (and Roma) the more I fall in love with the designs. They emote aspirational, sensual vibes where the previous generation designs did not (for both my wife and myself). La Dolce Vita at its best with the 296 GTS. Our car is Imola Rossa and that certainly helps. OMG what a color. - The design of the interior (how it looks and feels) is incredible. Sport seats with Daytona inserts truly work on this car. (Maybe similar to the Dinos that are 'chairs and flairs'). Setting aside the haptics the overall look and feel of the interior feels intimate and spacious at the same time. Both of us felt comfortable, cosseted and secure. Wheels and tires make or break a car. This is the first Ferrari in memory where the wheels don't look undersized or the wheel gaps too large. - Ride comfort really is shockingly good. Easily could be a daily. Bumpy road setting makes no sense how good it is. - Zero body roll. We didn't drive it hard, but for the roundabouts we didn't slow too much and the car was flat. - Engine sound is perfect. Interesting note for those of you with GTS's. The exhaust noise is noticeably louder with the top UP and the back window down. - Brakes are perfect. - We didn't drive it too hard as its in break in. So nothing to report other than its obviously blindingly fast. All the manatino settings will be a brilliant challenge to master. - Trunk closing is an acquired skill that I am working on. Truly strange how how it is to close the trunk. Does the SF 90 Trunk require this level of effort to engage? - The old school rear engine lid glass cover prop is strange. Its sort of funny and quaint at the same time. - The interior controls are a huge step on from previous cars. Lots to learn and master. I can completely understand how folks dislike the haptic controls. Once you have the car set to your desires you can avoid the haptics. The overall design is very beautiful. The way Ferrari designed the controls and overall visual experience immediately makes the car feel like its something special. I did notice that people less than maybe 35 loved the haptics and instantly felt comfortable. I had a brother of a current F1 driver check out the car yesterday and he thought the steering wheel was one of the cars best features. He is 27. - Pricing. Well, its not cheap. FYI, Ferrari is RAISING prices for 2024 by $25k+ base msrp. We will post pics and more feedback over time, but for now I can honestly say this is my/ our dream sports car. I have no clue what a super car vs hyper car is but there is zero chance I will ever need 800+ HP. At this point with only 48 hours of ownership I can honestly report that the the 296 GTS could easily be anyones peak lifetime car. Ferrari will announce the VS version of this car in 24 months or less. Does a hard core version of this car ruin the recipe? PS I reread this long post. I made note of how many times I used emotional words to describe the car. For me, that tells the whole story. i feel connected emotionally. We have a few Porsches and emotional words never lead the description. A emotional, connected feeling is the hardest thing to create when designing anything. Something that allows an almost spiritual escape for a moment or two is the highest form of design. Art. That is what any truly special products are all about. Love is too strong of a word, but at our core that is what we all want to feel. Ferrari clearly understands that in way that I have never experienced from ANY product.
Great post! I very much miss my 296 GTB, but when my SF90 arrived it was a good time to part with it based on the market. I am, however, patiently waiting for my 296 GTS to arrive, which is a more expensive spec than the GTB was. Your post just increased my excitement for it even more, so thank you!
The throttle response is much sharper in a NA engine, hence on downshifts, the blip of the engine is that much quicker on the V12 compared to the turbo cars - especially in Race mode. A RACE mode downshift in the Competizione really sounds like a gunshot- it is that quick and sharp. The 296, and the other turbo cars, is amazingly quick to downshift, but just not as sharp. I should have clarified that the actual downshift time may be equivalent, but the sound and sensation of the downshift on the NA cars give you the impression that the shift happened faster.
I gave my impressions of the car on post 38. Coincidentally, my son wrote up his impressions at the same time. Similar sentiments as mine, just expressed differently. He owns 3 Porsches hence the similar reference to the GT3 sound. Had my first drive in the 296. The quick summary is I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. A hybrid turbo V6 Ferrari doesn't really get the blood flowing when you talk about it but they did a pretty good job with it. In the comfort area, it's a little bit hard to get in and out of, but once you are sitting in it, the seat is actually very comfortable. Not a ton of space inside for big guys, I was driving with the seat almost all the way back. Visibility is pretty decent for a Ferrari. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was the thickness of the a-pillar. Ergonomically it's a complete mess, haptic buttons everywhere, super busy steering wheel, the dash itself is super busy and hard to glance at quickly to get a read on any of the gauges you want. Basically if you want to change any setting you pretty much need to pull over. And half the time the buttons don't even recognize that you pressed them. On the road I'm always impressed with how smooth these modern supercars are. The ride is great, the engine is super smooth and silky, the chassis finally stiff enough that there's no cowl shake with the top down, plus you have the full electric mode now you for getting out of neighborhoods and that sort of thing. The first surprise for me is that I really like the sound of the V6. I honestly didn't think I would. But then again I was never a huge fan of the naturally aspirated V8 sound from Ferrari either. This has a bit more of a gruff sound at lower RPM - not unlike a GT3 and then as you rev it out it has a pretty smooth sweet sounding V6 howl that kind of sounds like a Nissan GTR with a nice aftermarket exhaust. It's an impressively quick car as you would expect but doesn't quite feel as fast as it actually is. It's pretty composed and Ferrari's amazing traction system keeps it pretty planted. The SF90 gives you more of a "holy crap" factor when talking about straight acceleration, especially at mid-range. But this car is definitely more engaging than the SF90 or the couple previous generations of this car. Finally got back to feeling more like the 458. Transmission as always with Ferrari is great. Although it could be a little bit sharper in sport mode. This car has the carbon shift paddles but oddly both of us prefer the feel of aluminum shift paddles. Aluminum ones just feel a bit more robust and solid to me. Steering is very direct but lacking a lot of feel, but still gives you good confidence going around the corner briskly. The engine and the whole drivetrain feels quite different from previous Ferraris, which I actually like. Gives this car a unique feel from what I'm used to. They don't hide the fact that it is turbocharged, you can hear the turbos and the wastegate and associated noises. And I wouldn't say you could tell it's hybrid either when driving along. Actually one of my few complaints about it was that I think they could actually boost the hybrid assist a little more to make the mid-range a little more snappy and give a still better throttle response. Definitely does not have the throttle response of the V12 or a GT3. The brakes themselves feel similar to other Ferraris to me. Very powerful but a little softer than I prefer personally. The engine is still breaking in so I didn't go full red line yet but Ferrari tunes the turbos so there's no let off in acceleration as you approach the red line so it does feel more naturally aspirated in that way. Overall I enjoyed my first drive. I think mostly because the car feels more sporty and engaging again while also having this new and interesting powertrain to make it feel different from what we're used to.
Ah, now you clarified it. The downshift itself is probably the same, the rev-match is slower though. That is not because of the turbocharging, but of the engine management. Technicalities aside, nothing fires like a N/A Ferrari V12!
Surprised to hear ferrari is going to raise pricing $25,000 for 24. Who told you that. Going to be frustrated costumers.
