Finally, I get to test a Ferrari. This has been a long wait but it did happen. And, oh boy, it was worth the wait. But more on that later. Let's look at the car at hand. This is the all-new mid-engined V8 machine by Ferrari. It is the successor to the most famous supercar of the modern era - the 458 Italia. The 458 redefined the benchmarks of a supercar and is by far the most loved Ferrari today. So, the makers clearly had a huge task at hand. How to create a better 458? Well, the answer would have been simple by creating a bigger and powerful engine. However, the regulations regarding carbon emissions finally made Ferrari bow down and they also went for the 'turbocharged' solution. Yes, a turbo-charged mid-engined V8 Ferrari. Good or Bad? Let's find out.
Design
How can you make an iconic design better? Well, you can't! And that's exactly what Ferrari did. They kept the 458 look intact and made slight nip/tucks here and there to not ruin it. After all, the 458 was the first ever Ferrari which looked beautiful. So, no point compromising on beauty when you can rebrand it and make it better! The front bumper is taken from LaFerrari, the twin rear bonnet vents replace the iconic the triple exhaust and the side intakes are larger due to the addition of turbos. All in all, in my opinion, it is an evolution of a 458 rather than a revolution - which is fine by me. This is the only car I have driven to which the on lookers gave a thumbs up. I can't comment further!
Interior
The evolution story pretty much continues inside as well. The steering is taken from the 458 Speciale along with the 7 speed dual clutch gearbox. The ceramic brakes are taken from LaFerrari. As a newbie, it required a learning curve to understand what the various buttons and knobs do actually. For example, the 'PIT' switch is for cruise control. Then comes the lack of a center console. Instead, the instrument cluster displays every single gauge possible. In this way, the car remains driver-focussed and the passenger is just there to be amazed by the driver's skills. Since, I did not have the car for a long time, I wasn't able to play around with the various features in detail. But, from my short time behind the wheel, I would suggest Ferrari to work on the A/C unit as it seemed non-existent in the Middle Eastern summer. Moreover, the seats seemed to have a manual adjuster for going front and back but I wasn't able to find the height adjuster. It is supposed to be present but I wasn't able to locate it in my brief stint. Overall, it is a pretty simplistic interior but not as comfortable as the 650S. I wasn't able to relax completely; however, this is a much better place to be in as compared to the Huracan.
Drive
Moving on to the most anticipating department of a Ferrari - the drive. Well, to start off, the chassis is much more forgiving than the 458 and it clearly shows at high speed cornering. Ferrari engineers have improved the 458 in all aspects to give us the 488. You can certainly search for the various performance improvements online as I will only focus on the most important aspect of the 488 i.e. the new engine. Yes, Ferrari ditched the sweetness of a naturally-aspirated V8 to a sour turbocharged solution. So, generally, everyone out there was skeptical about this new route and I must say, be ready for a pleasant surprise. The 488 has the same 3.9L V8 engine used in the California T but tuned with bigger turbos to produce a warping 661 BHP and 760 Nm. As a result, in our test, the 488 launched from 0-100 in 3.5s - 0.5s more than the claimed 3.0s figures. This is not bad at all. Just for comparison sake, these numbers are higher than the iconic Mclaren F1 - the fastest car in the world before the Veyron. However, it is not all good news here. The reason why petrolheads loved the 458 was the pure sound of that V8 - which the 488 lacks and it is not hard to notice that fact. I am not saying the exhaust notes are bad or missing entirely; it is just that the sound doesn't make you feel like you want to touch the red line. Luckily though, the turbo spooling gives you the kick when you require it the most to do 9000rpm. But, you don't necessarily have to touch the red line as the turbo boost is available till 8000rpm. A special mention should be given to the 7 speed DCT. It is by far the most responsive gearbox in the market. Period.
However, let's not forget the brakes as they are ferocious. Yes, the LaFerrari brakes help bring the car from 100 kph to halt in 2.2s while you are busy feeling the G-forces in your stomach. Glad to see that some things are kept same.
In short, what I am trying to say is, this car will take some time to getting used to as the Ferrari purists will surely miss the feel of a turbo-free V8. On the other hand, I would definitely commend Ferrari on designing a lag-free turbocharged engine - something which even Mclaren couldn't. It is an impressive feat in engineering but will take time to grow on you. Hopefully, if I get another chance to drive, I will be accustomed to this strange feeling as this is the new direction in automotive industry - either adapt or don't.
Verdict
After driving the holy trinity - Huracan, 650S and now the 488, here are my views:
The Huracan looks menacing, has the best grip due to AWD and sounds great thanks to that turbo-free V10 but it is not a daily driver at all.
The 650S looks geeky, loses traction at high speeds and sounds less impressive than the Huracan due to the turbo'd V8 but it is definitely the most comfortable cabin amongst the three.
The 488 looks delicious, sounds similar to the 650S and has a less comfortable interior than the Mclaren but beats the competition in drive experience.
Hence, the clear winner from these 3 contenders is the 488. This is an overall balanced package and will give you a fulfilling driving pleasure - in time.
