My New 296gts

I recently took delivery of my 296gts. I have been driving it a fair amount but not fully hammering on it because I was told to take it easy for the first 500 miles.

For background, my daily is a manual 2006 911s. I also have a 458 and F12 and a 2023 Lambo Evo. I am not a purist but have really enjoyed the N/A engines. I say this because with the 296gts I knew it would be “better in every way” than prior models, and especially my dear old 458, but I did not know if it would have the same heart and soul. Or any heart and soul. Sure it would be fast, but would it be fun to drive?

I went on a couple test drives beforehand, but my questions were largely left unanswered. I understood the 296 to be crisp and fast but the drives were mostly civil street drives. I fretted for months over whether I made a good decision. Turns out I did. The 296 is better than I could imagine and is unmistakenly Ferrari in every way. You’ve heard it all before by now but here’s my take:

Exterior

Car looks great in person. Sits very low and wide. They nailed the back with the side vents and curve of the wheel wells and glass on the engine bay. The aero bridge behind the seats is very cool. The front end has some awkward angles but most likely because I have a flat paint that does not always show as well depending on the lighting.

Interior

Extremely well done. Leather is impeccable and smells like a saddle shop. Leather floor mats are a ridiculous idea but adds to the charm. I went matt carbon for the interior and it gives it a nice sleek look.

Sport seats sit very low in the car and, unless you are good at limbo, you have to plop down in them (but you can’t cheat and slide on the side bolster because its lined with carbon). The seats are not super comfortable but they are supportive.

The steering wheel shape fits nicely in your hand. The metal reverse, A/M, PS buttons are a nice touch. They give off a little streak of light when you hit them.

The key holder is more ridiculousness but looks super cool. The passenger display of the RPMS, gear speed, g force, is over the top (like my wife cares what gear we are in) but I love it.

The heads-up display is distracting and needless in my opinion. I just have the speed up now but I read you can get a set up where it shows you the difficulty and distance to the next corner so I might try that out.

Haptics

Haptics get their own section. I generally hate the idea because the plastic on the steering wheel is not going to age well. Tactile buttons are much more luxurious and timeless in my opinion. I also worry about smudging and constantly having to clean them (when my kids borrow my ipad and return it I almost puke because of all the nasty smears on it but that could just be my kids). I read the countless horror stories on haptics so I did not expect much.

That said, I don’t mind them at all. I’ve had zero issues with them. The main display with the rev counter is a bit busy and probably has too much information but I tend to just look at the RPMs. I hate to say it, and this is my hot take, I might actually like the haptics. TBD though as I only have a few hundred miles in the car and still in the honeymoon phase.

Sound

The sound is outstanding. It is not as historic, epic and legendary as a free breathing 12 cylinder or screaming V8. However, in my opinion, it is the next best thing. I was really, really, worried about the sound being boring (again, I didn’t get to rev it out on the test drive). It’s not. The engine has its own howl and also a turbo whine as well as this cool whoosing sound when you hit the gas hard and then let up.

If you have the roof off and side windows up you can hear it very well (with side windows down you get a ton of wind noise). Also, with the roof up and the back window down you can really hear the engine. Very impressive what they have done here.

Brakes

I was also worried about the weight of the car. I believe its 3,800 pounds whereas my other rear mid-engine cars are closer to 3,000 pounds. My F12 was 3,400 pounds and I tracked it and you could really feel the weight moving around and the brakes got long at the end of the day but it’s a GT car and that is forgiven (and it was a kick in the pants to track). However, I expected more from a proper sports car and again I was not disappointed.

With the combination of the CCBs, electric engine brake and active rear spoiler, the car gets down in a hurry. Almost rips at your guts frankly. No real detectable weight transfer either. It’s like the entire car stops at the same time. Insane. I cannot tell that its brake by wire. TBD how the brake feel changes, if it does, after a long day on the track or what feedback on brake fade is transmitted through the pedal if any.

Acceleration

The car packs in unbelievable punch. Available at any time in any situation. Raw acceleration is probably less special these days with all the electric cars out there. That said, how this car builds power is special. The best way I can describe it is if you took the best of a V12 and spread it across the entire rev range. Like if you made a V12 more responsive and more powerful and had it available full blast at all times. Blows my mind how this car can lay so much power down on just the real wheels. If you got in this car knowing nothing about how it was powered you would not guess that it was a V6. Or at least I wouldn’t. Incredible achievement here.

Transmission

Extremely smooth and extremely fast. You get a nice change in exhaust note on the upshifts and a lovely bark on downshifts. You do not get the drama that you get when you shift in a 458 in that the car doesn’t hammer you a bit. It’s just incredibly smooth and never appears to be upset no matter if you shift incorrectly. You never seem to lose torque at any point either. The gears are short enough you can rip through several without risking going to jail or at least not risking a lengthy sentence.

Handling

The car goes exactly where you tell it to go about a millisecond after steering input. No body roll, no weight transfer, no anything, just boom makes it happen. The grip is spectacular and you would have to turn off stability control and purposely do something stupid to spin it.

Steering feel

This was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t get much of a sense of this at the test drive but the first thing I noticed more than anything else was that I was getting quite a bit of feedback. I had thought the 296gts was electric steering like the Lambo which, frankly, is a bit dead feeling (or, at best, artificial). Turns out the 296gts still has a hydraulic connection to the steering rack and its just electrically assisted. I believe this is the reason you get so much feedback. I’m not positive on that but I am positive its got a very nice feel.

So, is it fun to drive? Does it have soul?

Yes, yes and more yes. This car is lively, on point, commutative and has a personality and character of its own. As stated, it is unmistakenly a Ferrari. Whatever it is that we love about Ferrari, that passion that cannot be described, is present here. And in no small amount. The market for these things could not be better for buyers at the moment so if you are even thinking about it do yourself a favor and pick one up at a steep discount. You won’t regret it.
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Thank you kindly!

 

This was new purchase. I wish I could have bought used and saved a ton of money but I was locked in. Thus is life.

 

Yes, I'm the guy standing next to the car with the doofy grin on my face. The other guy in the suit is the sales guy. The other guy is my brother in law. I had to leave work, pick the car up, and go back to work. Hard to concentrate.

The had a guy taking pictures for us which was cool. They have a video of the unveiling as well which was fun. I was going to say something like "What? I ordered a yellow one!" or something funny but I just just froze up. Missed opportunity.

 

Thanks! I would say buy used. The deals are crazy and the newness wears off soon. I like to think used prices will go up once people figure out how great this car is. You could save $150k buying used and then not even worry about racking up miles. Plus, I'm not sure if order books are open now.

 

Thank you kindly!

 

thank you!

 

Thank you so much. Yes, I just could not pull myself away from red on tan. Maybe down the road.

 

Thank you kindly. Sometimes if its not broke don't fix it.

I've never had a convertible so this is all very new to me. The weather is starting to turn here but we had some really nice fall evenings and driving on country roads with everything down is something special. Not quite the same with roof up and widows down. The nice thing about the gts is you can go roof up and the back window down to let all the sound in. You can especially hear the whoosh when you let off the gas much better.