Drove the 488 today.. thoughts, photos and videos

Hopefully we'll be going for a drive in a 488 in about one month from now... then we'll have some first-hand experience for further confirmation... ;-)

 

458 at 9 grand -- amazing

488 at 7500 -- it's OK

 

it will be 8K revs in the end. very ok.
peter

 

Well, I see one in about a month and that will be one of my questions. Hopefully I can get a drive. But right now.... I'm on the fence. I'm willing to keep an open mind but so far, they have not hit my hot button.

Not the styling, not the sound, not the driving excitement aside from crazy acceleration which the also 458 had.

 

Ausgezeichnet!!

 

i can relate to that feeling very well.
peter

 

They look at Mclaren lap times and don't want to be slower

 

WOW! Those pics are incredible!! Is that your car? Tell us a bit more about these...

 

Yep my car. A few of us went to Tasmania which has probably the best drivings roads in Australia. We do this regularly and take a ferry and then two days of driving (about 1500km's). There is very little traffic and some of the best cornering roads out there. One is lucky to see a car every now and then.

This time we had a professional photographer join us and he took these pics. They were on a runway that we hired for a few hours. We could not get up to proper speeds as it was raining all day and the runway had gravel all over it. But we got some very good shots and then behaved like kids for a while i.e. donuts, slides etc etc . Was a blast.

The Speciale IMO is an order of magnitude better than the 458 (which i had). I also just traded a Turbo S (being replaced) and the Speciale gave me a level of comfort that the Porsche did i.e. quite predictable and very planted. It was not the same with the 458.

For me its a keeper and I will add other cars. Its the last of the great NA's and as I grew up with NA's its the end of an era and hence why it will stay with me. Going to the 488 launch anyway

 

The Speciale Aperta is a keeper, not the Speciale itself if u ask me. And there are 3 for sale in Eu on autoscout.

But the question remains. Why not a F12 or a LaFerrari ?

 

"this is workable with a valveless exhaust system to get more volume. You should hear more of the turbos and a just a bit rougher of a sound. You will not get the NA scream"
Worse, it would then sound loud and bad, like those Subaru with straight pipes, or........lawnmowers.

"Interior Sound. What can I say? It does not compare to the 458 on any level. The tone, the volume the excitement.... none of it is on the same playing field. Revert to my comment above about an exhaust system possibly being able to clean this up. My first impression was that I did not want the car based on this".
The interior sounds less because the engine is smaller and not highly tuned. It's a more-normal engine depending on the turbo to gain power. And the turbo itself is acting as a muffler for the sound.

"Put the 488 in neutral, wrap the throttle a few times and its just not as responsive"
Sounds like a lack of throttle response but covered-up by much better performance. This is the character of turbocharged.

Based on your review, I think the 488 is faster and 458 is more fun.

 

The extra HP of the Speciale is apparently only realized at 9000 rpm with no difference in torque. That means the Speciale will only pull away from the 458 at maximum speed overcoming air resistance, as in a long straightaway, not when the car is accelerating through the gears in dynamic driving conditions. The Speciale's Cd is also very slightly better.

As for weight savings, sometimes it's good to have more weight on the rear wheels for better traction. Lower weight is felt more in the car's handling characteristics.

 

NO ONE CARES!

 

Mitchell, did they happen to mention the reason why the limiter was set to 7,500, instead of the full 8,000? Is it because they don't trust the test drivers? Don't feel the engine has proven itself yet above 7,500? Or...???

 

Ferrari cares

 

So describing in 2 words what happened when you got out to think about it for 30 minutes.

Cognitive dissonance.