488 GTB Spider trip and impressions

Nah, they are not even close. As per tests, the 488 is 8'' quicker to 300 kph than the Speciale. Either your car had an issue, or the ferocity of the acceleration to 260 made it look slower after that, even though it was actually a lot quicker than the 458. Or you shouldn't have shortshifted, as you put 7th out of the power band.

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel5623-4652.htm

 

That might explain why I thought I was smelling french fries all day... The 488's turbo impellers double as an Italian Cuisinart.

Glad they used potatoes instead of cabbage, I like fries better than coleslaw.

 

I'll share a little story about 488 performance. I remember the first few times I drove my gorgeous 458 Italia I thought, how can anyone build a car faster than this. It literally scared me to put football the way in. Then one Sunday morning my son and I had a little fun with my brand new stock Porsche Turbo S and quickly found out that this uneventful white beauty just walked away from my 458. It just didn't seem possible, but the 911 TTS was in fact considerably faster. Shortly thereafter I added race exhaust and tune to the 911 TTS and oh my God, the car became a monster. For giggles we had an opportunity to race the 458 and TTS again and as you might image, this time it wasn't a race. I could only see the TTS fade away in the distance as I was asking myself, how can that damn TTS be so freaking fast.

Then I took delivery of the 488 GTB and was amazed how fast this new eveloution of Ferrari had become. It felt faster than my TTS, but then so did my 458, so I figured it was just a Ferrari thing. All I knew is eveytime I drove it, I was amazed. Well, one day my son and I were on a closed road and had an opportunity to test how fast the 488 really was. The video answers the question. I get this is just one aspect of the driving experience, but a pretty big one in my book. The 488 is truly one amazing matching, and it does it all so effortlessly.

https://youtu.be/kmTMk9aV4r8

 

How's the 488 spyder speed compared to coupe ? From what I remember : people generally thought you're particular 488 may have been faster than other ones.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

A few summers ago, I had the opportunity to run the 458 Speciale against a brand new TT on the German autobahn. From about 100 kph to around 250 kph, the Speciale outpulled the TT by about 2 car lengths. That being said, the TT was literally brand new, with less the 500 km on the odometer, whereas the Speciale already had around 5,000 km on the clock. Who knows, maybe the result would have been different if the Porsche had been broken in a bit more... Also, the TT was NOT an S, which supposedly has more HP than the non-S TT... although I've seen reports that compare the TT and TTS and there's negligible difference in their acceleration.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Numbers seem to support your argument sir.

In my experience, whenever a TTS pulls away from a theoretically quicker car it's either down to the 4WD traction, or the mid range torque before the other car comes to its own.

 

I can help clarify. The TTS definately became faster over time, but one thing I can attest to for a fact is the S is approximately 6 car lengths faster than the non S through the 1/2 mile. I raced my TTS several times both stock and tuned at 1/2 airfield events. My stock TTS was about 3 car lengths faster than my 458 from a 30mph role to 100mph. And just to add, my 458 was not a Speciale.

These video's demonstrate the difference between the TTS and TT 911.

Porsche Turbo S vs 458 Speciale, both stock.
https://youtu.be/-BI2j7-9q88

Porsche Turbo (non S) vs 458, both stock
https://youtu.be/jeM6QUrv4ag

 

Haven't had any real seat time in the Spider. The initial impression is it feels faster than my GTB, but that surely because of the drama with the open top. I'll be doing an 800 mile drive to Monterey in August, which will be my first chance to really open her up.

 

It needs to be said that, because these 1/2 mile acceleration contests are such a "big one" in your book, I think you are missing (or not fully appreciating) quite a few very nice elements that have historically come with Ferrari ownership . . .

Ferrari ownership has historically involved far more factors than simple straight line performance, as you do admit. I won't bother explaining to you what those factors are -- because if I need to tell you, then it already proves my point. Suffice it to say, those who wanted/needed "THE" superlative level of straight line acceleration in the form of a "supercar" have historically often opted for Turbo Porsches or Lambos, for example.

Taking this one step further, if straight line acceleration truly is such a "big one" in your book, and if your ego will allow, you should just go buy a big block Nova, Chevelle, or Corvette drag car that will annihilate your 488 or Porsche TT in the 1/4 mile (or with some gearing changes, destroy them in the 1/2 mile as well). Dude, you'll save hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then be able to post Youtube videos all day long of your drag car eating supercars for lunch.


... sure, you won't be able to say you own a Ferrari -- but you yourself already stated that many elements of Ferrari ownership are less important to you than straight line acceleration, so it shouldn't matter, right??!!

 

Who are you Dude? Are you in So Cal? Anyway, thank you for the lesson! So glad I have you to set me straight.

 

Believe it or not, relatively advanced forms of life do exist outside the So Cal area....

 

Really? That's why I asked. I wanted to meet this relatively advanced life form