Maranello 458, 488, F8 Driving Adventure as told by a Cali owner

I recently had the experience of a lifetime and that was to drive a 458, 488 and an F8 (all Spiders) in Maranello on the same day. As a matter of fact, I am still here and recovering from the exuberance in Bologna so I wanted to quickly share my experience of these three beauties. Ten years ago I was in Maranello and test drove a California and that was my first Ferrari experience. Last year I bought a 2010 Cali in TDF blue that I really love and I am having a blast with. But that Ferrari golden carrot is always dangling so I wanted to see what the difference is between my Cali and the three super cars that many consider to be some of the best Ferraris ever. Without making this out to be a lengthy YouTube type of review I will cut to the chase. The 30 minute drive in 488 was a bit disappointing. It lacked the Ferrari feeling that I was hoping to achieve. The 30 minute drive with the 458 was much better than the 488. It sounded so much better than the 488 and the experience was a bit more raw and down to earth fun. My only wish is that I had the 458 longer. Finally, the F8 experience was the ultimate driving fantasy with the 458 a real close second. I had a mountain drive experience with this 720hp monster and I took full advantage of everything it had to offer. The shifting and steering was so sharp and the acceleration was phenomenal. You really have to be in total concentration mode to run this car as the power can get away from you quickly. But this is the real question as I will probably never have the opportunity to own one of these cars ( never say never?). Does my Cali driving experience overall hold up against what I have experienced on my Maranello adventure? The answer is an absolute YES! The Cali does not have the specs that these three cars have but man does it check all my fun boxes. Now which car would I choose if I had the choice? I would say that the F8 Spider is the one for me followed by the 458.
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Thanks. I just realized I have the same shirt on for the Cali pic...

 

Thank you and yes I am enjoying Italy. I completed my ToDo list by attending Monza and celebrating the Ferrari success! Nothing like being on the track for the awards presentation with the tifosi and by the way Max was pretty good too.
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Thanks Doug. I am a sucker for TDF Blue Ferraris so I had to get this one when I saw it. It has Daytona seats, backup camera and carbon steering wheel with F1 lights. I did a brake light mod to it that changes the stock brake lights to the round lights by the trunk. I feel this is a better look and I got all the specs for the change on FerrariChat in case you are interested. It also is a 2+; in other words it only has the luggage bench behind the driver seat with leather luggage straps instead of the 2 micro seats. I do plan on lowering it with Novitec springs along with 15mm spacers to complete the look I desire.