There is a saying in the aeronautical world that if a plane looks right, it will fly right. Whilst not directly transferable to the automotive world, there is certainly room for comparison and at the very least if a car looks as good as Ferrari’s new 488 Spider, there is an exceedingly good chance that it will be as good to drive.
And it is a glorious beast to behold. Ferrari’s styling, in recent years, has become extremely refined and some beautiful models have been released. The 488 Spider continues this theme. There is not a bad angle on this car. Everything has a clear purpose and stance that means business. A pretty soft top with no substance is most definitely not what the 488 Spider is about.
The basis for this car is the outstanding 488 GTB and indeed the engine (a 3.9 litre, twin-turbo V8) is carried over directly in to the new car. And what a piece of engineering it is. Yes, gone are the days of the familiar ultra-high revving nature of the normally aspirated V8, but the new twin-turbo version is still a peach of an engine and one of the greatest fitted to any production car. Mated to a twin-clutch 7-speed gearbox, with impeccable changes and an almost complete elimination of turbo lag, the engine pulls from below 2000 rpm, all the way to 8000 rpm producing a wave of power that is scarcely believable. The result is 0-60 in 3 seconds and a top speed north of 200mph.
As ever, when you chop the roof off a car, there are some changes to be made, but Ferrari claim that the torsional rigidity of the Spider is the same as the GTB and there is no reason to doubt this, although the Spider does inevitably carry a weight penalty (around 50Kg more than the GTB). But that is a small price to pay for the aural delights of listening to the exhaust note with the roof down. Dynamically there really is nothing in it and with the roof up, the car is virtually identical to the GTB.
To keep all the power in sort of order, Ferrari has added its usual excellent traction control systems and mated to the E-differential and magnetic dampers, it turns the 488 Spider in to one of the finest handling cars on the planet. The ability to exploit the power on tap, without quite frankly, killing yourself is very welcomed and can turn even the most ham-fisted driver in to one approaching competent. Of course, you can turn off all the trickery and revel in an outstanding car, as long as you know what you’re doing. For most mere mortals, leaving it in ‘Normal’ or ‘Sport’ modes will be more than enough for the public highways.
Ferrari has really upped their game with the 488 and this is no surprise, given the very real competition from the likes of McLaren and Lamborghini. The next few years and new models from its rivals will make life very interesting.
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