NON 458/488 owners......which would you prefer and why?

Oh - and to answer your original question, I think it’s a tough choice on which one to buy. A naturally aspirated V8 that screams to 9,000 rpms or the deeper grunt of a significantly more powerful and newer 488. I don’t think you can really go wrong with one or the other. Drive both and see which one excites you more. After all, that really is the main reason to buy one.

I’ve also debated which one I may want to buy as my next F-car. As you said, you’ve got to pay to play. Meanwhile, I still love my F430 spider with carbon fiber sport seats, MASE engineering tune and Kreissieg exhaust.

 

I've owned them both. I don't own either now. So I'm a NON owner. Buy a 488. Period.


oh sorry, you also asked 'why'? I think I answered in this thread earlier but I'm too lazy to go check. But bottom line is the 488 performance, drivability and looks are so much better in all areas and the 458 just hasn't aged well at all aesthetically. It was never a good looking Ferrari to begin with but it's turned from bad to just embarrassing since newer car designs have come out. I know we are all supposed to be 'drivers' and care about that but I am definitely into aesthetics with exotics and the 458 is just hard to look at, from ALL angles.

 

I’d take a 458 over a 488 for weekend thrills. It has a proper Na engine. All V8 TTs feel more or less the same to me give or take a wedge of power. They lack soul and an animal nature.

But, 488 is a lot faster day to day. That’s not on paper numbers of no relevance, it’s just much quicker because of that V8 TR. it’s also a better daily as it’s newer.

458 is a bit more fun. But for fun on the road (as opposed to track) as a primary factor, I wouldn’t buy either. I’d go manual 430 (which I own) or Scud or another marque

 

You're forgetting that fact that the majority of guys here, in any Ferrari, have a long history of owning supercars from all brands. I'm only 41 but I've owned 7 now from Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren and Porsche. Theres guys here that have owned 20+ so nobody really cares to nut hang on a particular car just because they own it. We don't care that much. I can tell you issues I've had with all of them and those that had really nothing and my 488 has been 100%.

And asking NON owners of either which they prefer is well...not giving you any worthwhile metric to work from. You're getting opinions either way so you might as well ask owners and be specific with your line of questioning. Why do you prefer said car, etc? What issues have you had? If you can change something, what would it be. No car is perfect, some get close, they really do, but you'll always find a fault.

Test drive will be the tell. Watch some YouTube videos on both and wait it out until you're ready to test drive both back to back. It's really the only way.

 

I believe there is typically no "no bias analysis" regarding a choice between two different cars.
Each car has its specific features and a choice is based on what one values more, or likes more - which is not objective.
Owners are biased just like non owners; they made their choice based on what they thought was more important for them.
It's about personal preferences, no about "which car is better" because in the case of 458 and 488 both cars are really different (although they look similar to some extent) - it would make sense to claim the F8 is better than the 488 (even though one could argue about the styling or some minor details) because the F8 is designed as an improved version of the 488 (so it's really designed to be "better") while the 488 is a different car compared to the 458 (mainly due to the engine solution, smaller capacity with turbochargers vs NA higher capacity engine).
Objective metrics do exist, but they are not meaningful to decide which car to like more - it depends on what is expected as an experience.
The 458 reaches higher revs than the 488 - that's a fact; the 488 is faster than the 458 in all conditions - that's another fact.
The 458 has a NA engine; the 488 has a turbocharged engine - these are other facts.
Then there is the styling, whose appreciation is purely personal.
If one looks at the various 458 / 488 debates, there is not much more points than the few listed above - typically people argue about why they think the few distinctive characteristics of their prefered car make it the "better" one; in other words, they just elaborate on their personal biases.

 

Fwiw saw a red 488 spider in La Jolla and it had a lot of presence. First time I’ve really liked the looks.

 

"NON 458/488 owners......which would you prefer and why?"

Let me rephrase that.

"Non Playstation/XBOX owners....which would you prefer and why?"

How does this information help me? I'm not sure.

Good luck with your decision. Hopefully you drive the actual cars instead of listening to people on a forum. Later.

 

Completely agree.

 

I had a 458 for 15k miles and know too well of 488. Your response discourage me from sharing my sights that you asked for. I dislike feeding snowflakes.

 

You were the one asking for the opinions. But you ran your mouth to express your distain when the expressed opinions are different from what you expected and the way they were expressed are different from your expectations.

Internet etiquette and being courteous is one thing. But you should remember you are the one who asked for opinions. If you don't want to deal with any surprise and something potentially you don't like, then don't ask.

You made someone else's "problems" yours because your feelings took over your mouth. That to me is a snowflake because to them feelings is more important than facts.

Last post to you. It is your problem so carry on.

 

Not a 458 or 488 owner, but do routinely consider moving up to one from my 430. Not likely to ever happen as I LOVE the 430. BUT, I would go for the 458. It was the first Ferrari I drove and the first car I thought was perfect in every way (and I’ve driven a LOT of cars). I think it’s an easier DIY choice also, which is very important to me.

 

I'm a new 488 owner. I feel both owners defend their cars and look past the flaws while highlighting the others. I'll focus on the 488 flaws and my logic of why I still bought one. The biggest knocks on the 488 seem to be the "known" issues and the fact it's turbo. It seems the number 1 argument against the 488 is the oil leaks/turbos. From my research the actual number of failures relating to oil leaks and turbo failure is rather low (in comparison to total cars built) and ways to mitigate them/diagnosing the cause have been found. The aftermarket and indy shops have also made fixing the turbos and seals "affordable" in exotic car world terms. Repaired turbos or upgraded outside of Ferrari is around 5k and oil leak fixes can range from 2-5k. I mean a PDK from Porsche is over $27k for just the trans and the most common failure on a P car yet they are considered super low cost/reliable. Second biggest knock seems to be that the 488 is turbo which is wild. I was a diehard Porsche fan before this, it's mind blowing the amount of people who crave NA engines over turbo in the Ferrari world. I much prefer the power and power band of a turbo over a high revving NA for a weekend cruiser.

 

You should have kept it directed to non-owners.....as you found out, ownership bias brings out the worst in people.

Maybe now is the time to get that Diablo, the bestest car of all time*

*This message brought to you by the ownership bias administration

 

That’s forced induction for you

 

Actually it just left the shop after 10 weeks....The Texas Summer is the one season where I prefer the Ford GT so I always schedule shop visits in Summer. Come October the Diablo will get out more.

 

But to compare apples to apples, PDK repair (the prox sensor issue) is like $5k when done by a competent independent.
Don't forget, the top echelon of Porsches are NA as well
The turbo v. NA is never a rational argument. I upgraded from a Cali T to a Cali just because I didn't like the T engine. It just doesn't sound right, even though it's a better engine in every rational measurable way.