Advice Needed: 458 v 488 v 650s v 720s

Hi All,

I have owned my 650s for several years now - and I love it. It has been reasonably reliable, fast, beautiful, and fun. It has been the perfect compliment to my 355GTS

However, I'm getting that itch... The 355 isn't going anywhere. I have 40k miles on it now and plan to put another 40k on it.

However, the 650 is at 19,500 - so likely a good time to consider next moves...

I recently drove 458 and 488 spiders back to back and I was really impressed with both. The sound of 458 is pretty wild. The lack of turbo lag in the 488 shocked me and I kept hitting the rev limiter.

I have also driven a 720s spider several times and it is quite the machine - though for some reason always feels bigger than the others to me.

I would love to hear other opinions on all this. My use case is heavy canyon drives, and occasional date night car - when parking feels "safe".

Thanks!

 

I'm guessing there's going to be some comparison opinions already in the 458/488 section - might be worth a look

 

Agree. Lots to review there.

 

For those hating turbos and valuing a NA engine noise, the 458 is an obvious choice; for those who don't care about turbos but appreciate better performance, the 488 is the way to go.
The main difference between the 458 and 488 is in the engine character - high revving but with less mid-range torque in the 458, flatter power curve (with lower rev limit) in the 488. And a significant power advantage for the 488, but depending on the use, it may not be a compelling advantage.
A 720S is another step up in performance (and wipes out the flex issues of a spider thanks to its carbon tub), but it's not a Ferrari and some question its dependability.
This is my summary, probably as good as any AI-generated one - as noted above, deep review of the many existing threads should provide more detailed insights.

 

really hard choice between the 720s and 458 imo as both are incredible

i'd base the decision on styling, noise and lastly power

 

I like a car with a good amount of torque so the 458 is out (for a number of reasons). You should really add a Lamborghini to your list, the later Huracans and Aventadors are quite good and more reliable than other choices.

 

+1 for the 458 - driving experience is hard to beat

 

Again!?!?

 

Having driven the 488 Pista and a 750S back to back. Id say the 488 for how special the car feels and looks and sounds. The 750S is on another planet for performance driving position and handling beats anything I have ever driven one caveat to that is its feels very clinical and almost boring. I would pick 488 all day, just feels very special still no slouch on performance.

 

@BuyHighSellLow How is your 720? Selling the F8 anytime soon now that you have it?

 

458 is the easy choice there, way better looking than the Macs and sounds amazing. Plus its got that 9,000 RPM redline.

 

I have a 488 coupe and a 720S performance spider, both are stock. The McLaren is (to me) just a bit better in many ways: the steering is more precise, there’s more power, the body styling is more attractive, there’s a useable rear view camera, the active aero adds fun drama, and the shifts provide more wha-BANG when you’re driving hard. The (standard) 488 exhaust on my car honestly has a little drone to it if kept around ~3k RPM.

Strengths of my 488 include fantastic race seats, significantly more legroom, and a really nicely done leather interior. It’s still quite quick, fun to drive, and a keeper! But if I had to choose only one, it’d be the 720S.

 

Actually no,quite the opposite--Still only drove it once for 40 miles- I don't like it. It's gonna go bye bye..disappointing but it's ok. I think my nighbor will buy it from me. I wasn't tryig to compare it to the F8 but I just can't get ANY enthusiasm for the 720 because the F8 is so much better. oh well, everything is a life experience.

 

You only drove it one time…?

 

lol yeah... no desire to drive it again-- spent almost two months detailing it to perfection, inside and out-- polished and shampooed and everything you can imagine -- it's close to perfect now but i got no love for it. I'm surprised and maybe. bit disappointed but nothing I can do.