Image Unavailable, Please Login To add the Speciale to my 16M is an absolute pleasure. After 5 years of driving the 16M and now with 18,500 miles on it, it holds a candle in its era that cannot be matched. But the Speciale takes the NA V8 to a different level, not necessarily all better, just different.... As an aside, I did trade my Performante for the Speciale, both superb automotive machines with very different characteristics. I will add a few comparisons to the Perf as well. So how do they compare? Image Unavailable, Please Login Design Obviously, the 458 design is more aggressive than the 430 model. I actually love the sleek soft curves of the 16M. Ergonomics of the steering wheel must be laden with F1 influence. The way the steering wheel feels perfectly at 3 and 9 o’clock, and sliding the thumb to the blinker buttons is well thought out. Glance at the trapezoidal interior AC vents, and the diagonally raised carbon fiber pillar for the “reverse,” “auto,” and “PS” button, and you see a very special design. The side winglets add a unique panache to aero design. From a presence standpoint, I do think the Performante garners more stares with its aggressive lines and also the popping, shimmering Verde Themis color. Image Unavailable, Please Login Drive On startup, the engine feels a bit crisper than the Scud. Throttle response is much more sensitive, especially on throttle release...almost a bit touchy and overly sensitive - reminds the pilot to be more smooth with the right foot. Image Unavailable, Please Login Engine spools up quickly and has the same feeling of flying effortlessly to 9000 rpm in a gliding sensation. This is so unique to the Ferrari V8 platform. It is quite similar in the 16M, albeit a touch slower in that machine. I do not feel this sensation in any other car that I own (Performante, MurcieSV, CGT). Image Unavailable, Please Login Handling and “feel”. Nothing handles like a Ferrari...it is dartlike and there is excellent road feel. GMR is in my backyard and it’s a wonderful mountain road with a lot of ‘on’ camber turns. Steering ratio feels very direct and 1:1, I don’t sense any understeer or oversteer. The car feels light like the Scud and very well balanced. As much as I pushed the car, it was very difficult to break the tires loose when the Michelin Cup 2’s were warmed up to temp. When the rear end slides out, the car stays balanced enough to control the slide and correct it. Even in a straight line, the suspension can feel teeth chattering, thank goodness for the softening suspension button ala Schumacher. Image Unavailable, Please Login Transmission: I feel that the Superfast II SCT is the epitome of Ferrari’s single clutch transmission in a production car. The gearshift bang to the back is unmatched by any other transmission. Just a wonderful feeling that creates the drama. Interestingly, in the Speciale, you can feel the shifts of the DCT with just enough of a bang to still feel engaged with the machine. Now with the Performante, gearshifts are imperceptible and almost too smooth to feel the gear changes. I want to feel this! (And if I want to really row through the gears, then CGT it is...) Image Unavailable, Please Login Braking is one aspect I am not fond of in both cars with ceramics. They are quite similar in that you have to press firmly to get them to respond. Performante has great brake pedal response. MurcieSV, almost too touchy sensitive. Image Unavailable, Please Login Exhaust. To me sound, is one of the pinnacles of the emotive driving experience. Our children, unfortunately, may never experience this. The 16M with S line exhaust is the ultimate F1 sound when F1 was true NA....close your eyes and you feel the F1 sound through the tunnels of Monaco. I sought to attain the perfect F1 sound in the Speciale by installing full system IPE headers, test pipes and exhaust, and I think I have achieved it (see vid). The Performante is just a different ball of wax emoting brute power, deep rasp and pops and gurgles on release of throttle, though slightly manufactured. Image Unavailable, Please Login The Speciale with its skittish nature keeps the drama in the soul. It still makes the driver a driver without robotic electronics taking too much control of the car. It cuts sharp like a knife and takes technology to the perfect edge of the raw soul. The Performante injects a newer generation of technology into the handling and suspension where I feel the emotion is slightly less invigorating for me. The edge of the soul, however, when I want to wake it up is stirred most deeply by the 16M. It is a bit looser and raw, which heightens a sense of fear that then gets enveloped with the symphonic vibrations of the exhaust note. Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my 16M
Wow Eddie! Very well written and poetic. It’s always spoken of but nobody really breaks things down like you have, journalists don’t get enough time and typical Ferrari owners don’t drive hard. Your credibility is increased because not only have you had the fortune to drive and own various special vehicles but, you drive them hard and really get a true feel for what they’re made for. I had an amazing time today and can still hear the reverberations of that Speciale exhaust barrelling down the mountains like gods thunderous laughter. Something I just can’t shake out of my head... I look forward to more reviews and drives. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nice Review and Damn you cars sound good. I may have to do something about the Speciale exhaust note. It is loud stock but doesn't have the musicality of 458 F1 exhaust.
His system really gives my car a run for the money. I highly recommend it. Plus the valves are a godsend Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you for your fabulous post! I wish I could hit “like” 10X! I too have both a 16M and a Speciale. Your write up covers it all, agree 100%. Speciale is a precise surgical tool, the 16M is an emotive joyride; both represent the very finest Ferrari can do with a V8 NA engine. The end of an era to be sure. I am getting very angry with myself because I always swore I wouldn’t be one of “those guys” obsessed by miles, but these two cars are so great I don’t want to drive them to death and hasten their eventual mechanical decline. Sitting here now and planning on meeting people for lunch...was thinking of taking the F12....but now I think I’ll take the Speciale! Thanks.
I also have a beautiful triple yellow 458 Spider )), absolutely love to drive the wheels off that car! I honestly think the 16M has much much less bodyflex than the 458 Spider. Not sure if I am just imagining it, but 16M does seem more rigid, and “less nervous” when pushing it.
Thanks for bringing us out, always a fun run to wake up the horses. Our exhausts played havoc with nature. Great to push through the canyons. Sent from my 16M
I think you are really contemplating the 16M, and you have a great deal of experience with the 458 series, both Speciale and Spider. So, there is only one thing left to do. Find a nice 16M and go drive it, or meet up with plastique999 and drive. The 16M will speak for herself. I was sitting in mine in the garage today, poking around the engine bay with a beer in hand...admiring the acres of gorgeous CF everywhere...I mean like everything that isn’t painted or fabric is CF!
Sometimes I’ll have a bad, stressful day (like most days ), and instead of grabbing a glass of wine I’ll grab the keys to a Ferrari...30 min later I am a new person.
Great post. I am debating go back and buying a CS or moving toward a 16M. Which do you think? Have not seen a thread on it
This is where I am sort of at as well. Also I tend to look at these cars as investments first then joy rides secondarily. Especially being semi-retired now. I have to get all, most or more of my money back. Sorry thats just the way it is. That said IMO both are equivalent investmentwise because of their production numbers. If the choice was regular Scud or CS, especially since they are the same pricewise, I would go CS. The nice thing about the 16M is the limited production numbers. Compared to the other Special convertable edition: the Aperta, they are a screaming deal. And you can only drive one car at a time. So pick the best you can afford. If you have the money : 16M.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login What a great thread! I have owned several Ferrari’s. I currently have a 16M and a 488 Pista. The 16M is my favorite ever Ferrari and I doubt I will ever sell it. The experience is like nothing else. The raw power, F1 sound, brutal shifts, raw interior, etc.... The Pista is fast as all get out, but less character and no where near as raw.
