458 Speciale vs. CGT - Owner's impressions

I would prefer you trophy, hands down!!

 

Amazing review - Congrats Enjoy on good health

 

Brilliant write-up. Bravo!

 

Congrats. Sweet looking rig man. Enjoy in good health.

 

Welcome!

Thanks for the write up on two of my favorite cars!!

Send the text/link to evo!!!

 

I would have bet the farm that the second post stating "Trophy 2" was going to be followed by a photo of a woman...

 

Great write up. Thanks for posting.

-F

 

Brilliant write up and thoroughly enjoyed it. Really keen to hear your review once you have given the Spec a true blast.

 

Fantastic write up, Welcome to the forum..

 

Absolutely fantastic write up. Thank you very much. Welcome and congratulations on your new ride.

 

Thank you for the great write up! Enjoy the Speciale-

 

Even the "best" magazine reviews of any car can never quite grasp the nuances of a car. I have found that it isn't until you have had lived with the car - as well as paid for the pleasure (!) that you really understand its strengths and weaknesses.
Thank you so much for your insightful review/comparison.
Best

 

Interesting review - i own both and don't agree with much of what you've said about the GT. Sounds like you didn't get to grips with it. They compliment each other perfectly.

 

Would you care to share an in-depth review of the two? Would enjoy hearing your perspective, especially as it compares/contrasts with Gene's....

 

Fair play Gene-O, that's what i extracted from your post, which was a very interesting read!

Briefly:

I personally think the GT destroys the Speciale in terms of rawness, focus, driver skill required, sense of occassion etc...the Speciale has SO many electronic nannies (in race mode) that you just floor it everywhere, enter corners at phenomenal speed, late braking as you trust the chassis and computers so much more than in the GT. I drive the Speciale around like an absolute lunatic 90% of the time (7700 miles so far) and the great thing is that for the other 10% it's more comfortable than most other dd's, which is the role it plays in my garage...which says a lot. It's great to hop into every day!

The thing is, I'm NOT the best driver out there and it makes me feel that way! On track it is incredibly forgiving, easy to play with etc. It's simply FAR more accessible than the GT. It is without a doubt THE best flappy paddle car i've ever owned and driven as most always felt remote and lacking in character, which the Speciale has in abundance!

The "problem" that you then achieve with these modern, flappy paddle cars is that you have a "sense" of control and accessibility to speed which you simply need balls of steel to be able to achieve in an analogue supercar such as the GT. A few months ago i tracked the the Speciale @ SPA with a group of friends, one of which brought his GT along. Until he had driven me in at 9/10ths for 3 laps i had no idea just how competent the GT truly is as you can't get anywhere near it's potential on the street without being in serious danger of doing some damage to yourself and or others. I was laughing like an 8 year old, absolutely amazed by how capable it was around the corners. The brakes, the acceleration, the handling! It was literally like a race car on track, which i has the pleasure of later that day. On track it is devastatingly precise and by god what a weapon! You simply need HUGE balls to be able to use it in that way (note i was driven around in a members car on track as he is vastly more experienced in the GT than myself and it set my world on fire)!!!

Long story short they are the best of both worlds - old and new. The magic of the Speciale is in just how accessible it's performance is. I use it every day and drive the crap out of it without a second thought...which is something that is in fact lost on it IMO. I say this as when i am taking the GT out i am excited for hours before hand, love the manual interaction with the car, the focus you require to drive it, the direct steering (which isn't artificially light as with the Speciale) and feel the adrenalin for a while after it's tucked away! It's a car which i was correctly informed can take years to master. That really is the best thing about it - the car is simply so much better than the average driver that it can easily be lost on one who doesn't use it regularly or push it hard, which isn't easy! It's a constant challenge, a beast that can hurt you if you don't concentrate and that's what i love about it - the sense of trepidation you feel before going on a hoon! The only pair i'd rather have more is perhaps upgrading the GT to an F40 but that's a whole other thread and discussion!

Question for you - you mentioned the GT felt nervous - did you have the latest tyres on? They make a drastic difference.

Josh

 

Some pics from Yesterday:







Older:






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

think the speciale is calm. turn the dsc off and then esc off . its alot of fun

 

OT: Why don't tapatalk pics uploaded on your phone embed automatically on the site?

gt2urbo - the Speciale is a hooligan of a machine. It's anything but calm unless you drive like a granny! I have a Capristo on mine with 200 cel cats and it's amazing!

 

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I currently own a speciale and had owned a CGT in the past and very much agree with all of this. Well said. My issue is I just did not have nearly enough time to really drive and get comfortable pushing the CGT... I do really like the concept of having a pair old and new in terms if technology..... the current partner to my modern black speciale is this old beast.... its not a CGT but perhaps the only car in the world I have ever owned that feels even more raw and mechanical...
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