My 488 is just too damn fast..

Don't know who actually said/wrote this, but I agree wholeheartedly:

"Horsepower is like a having a gun: It's better to have it and not use it, than needing it and not having it".

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Summed up very well.
Horsepower is an invaluable problem solver so easily dismissed by those with less of it.

 

People want horsepower but really need torque.

 

488 has both - so again, problem solved.

 

Once again I will say as I often have on this forum, it is better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. 400 to 500 HP is pushing being too much horsepower for most American roads.

 

Absolutely agree here!

 

^^Unfortunately this does not disqualify the fact there are an increasing number of pesky drivers - drivers who appear to be getting some kind of perverse pleasure out of being an obstacle to anyone else seeking to get around them. This is where the big gun HP solves these problems in a quick, painless manner.

Driving a less powerful car fast can on many occasions prove to be far less pleasurable than driving the more powerful car slower than its full potential.

The 488 is a problem solver and, is very pleasurable to use even while not at maximum power.
Problem is today there are a lot of reasonably powerful cars on the road (and sometimes track) in the hands of unyielding pests.

 

I disagree. Why would anyone who is interested in driving a slow car fast, be interested in owning Ferrari's. Why not drive a fast car fast? It is more fun. On roads or on tracks.

 

488 torque curve is high

 

Too fast? Well, in terms of straight line acceleration, does anyone know how a bone stock 488 GTB would stack up against a tuned/pulley/long tube header equipped 05/06 Ford GT? I know how fast the GT is but until my 488 is delivered in April, all I can do is ponder the answer to the question posed in this thread.


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I like what I have. Gearbox similar to the F430 but lighter and easier to drive hard without being arrested.

Drama? The engine sounds like a turbo rally car from the 80's.

Also, better brakes and direct manual steering. Simple, quick and handles really well. No luxury though -- the radio sucks! No one will put a "GT" after it's name.

Big and Tall men need not apply, like the 246 Dino GT.

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Yes but it's not too high. It's perfectly blended with the HP and weight of the car. I wouldn't want it with anything less, regardless of where i'm driving it. The torque is what makes the car feel so light and the 660HP - well that just icing on the cake! My TTS is ballistic with 750nms - insane "hand of god" in gear thrust so 750nms is not unique to Ferrari.
Ferrari also made no secret of the 488's performance so why buy the car knowing the advertised figures if you expect to be able to wring its neck in every gear around town? 660hp is sensational but I can only just imagine having another 70 on top of that with 488VS! Can't wait for the complaints to start flowing in .

 

That's a common misconception. What really matters is horsepower. Here is the explanation:

 

I believe what matters is horsepower, but horsepower across the rev range, not only max horsepower. Since (unfortunately) the data usually provided is only for maximum horsepower and torque, the maximum torque provides a hint at the available horsepower when not being at the rev corresponding to the max horsepower.
An engine with high max power at high rev and low max torque is typically relying on rev to make power, meaning at mid / low rev there is actually low power.
An engine with high max power and high max torque (at a lower rev than the rev of max power) will still have relatively high power at mid / low rev.
To sum it up - even if changing gears frenetically, one cannot always be at the engine rev needed to achieve max power; so that the power curve is more relevant than the max power. And when only having the max power and max torque figures, that's the torque figure that gives an indication of what the power curve looks like.

 

I have a new Mustang Shelby GT 350. The car is scary fast, but different from Ferrari fast. All the Shelby Power is down in the 2000-3000 rpm streetable range with Tons of Torque (much more than a 488 in the low revs btw) I’ve owned 11 Ferrari so I’m aquatinted Ferrari power which is available at much higher RPM range. Tooling around town the Mustang (or corvette, or challenger) has better available power in the low end casual driving band, without having to rev the hell out of the car.

 

Contrary to male popular belief, this can actually be a problem. In a recent survey of 15000 women, penis size was an issue for less than 15% of respondents.

 

Yes, if it could constantly work at peak power, and ignoring mechanical losses, but reality is very different.

 

The 280ish ft-lb of torque that my wife's SUV puts out is more than the glorious V10 F1 engines of the mid 2000's. But it only has a fraction of the hp. The Tesla's have insane low end torque which also translates into insane hp at low motor speeds. The time it takes for an ICE to wind up to Telsa hp numbers gives the Telsa an advantage on 0-60 (in addition to the traction advantage of an AWD). The lack of hp will show itself on 60-120 mph runs.

 

Some people will never get how a car like that is so much fun to drive. It doesn't make 400 hp nor does it need to.

 

I also remember a thread where a guy was showing off all his high end cars and when asked which one he like to drive the most he said after the La Ferrari his Lotus Elise was the most fun to drive and the car he drove the most.

 

We have completely forgotten that it wasn't too long ago that a 300HP sports car was "a lot". The current base C7 has 400HP for the first time and the Corvette people are ecstatic.

If I were designing the Alfa 4c I would have enlarged the motor to get 300HP and a bit more torque before the turbo cuts in and a manual box option. It would have weighed a little more and been more expensive but it would have been a better car.

But every car can be improved.

 

I've yet to drive the Alpha 4C but hear such good things.

 

I 've said it before (and shown the numbers) that it is NOT quicker! It just launches better due to AWD traction and the fact that all its power is available almost instantaneously. It also has more than 600 HP; it's not gutless!

Regarding your question, as Fenske explained, what you should look at is power. Power is a function of engine torque at the crank multiplied by engine speed, not the other way round.

 

Even though you make valid points, the torque figure is not very helpful. What you need is the power curve but also the gearing. At the end of the day the stopwatch takes into account the power curve, the gearing, the weight and the traction under certain atmospheric conditions.