Maranello’s latest nutcase, the Ferrari SF90, has finally gone public. Well, officially, anyway – the invitation to the launch event leaked last week, into the hands of German site Auto Motor und Sport.
Named for the 90th anniversary of the foundation of Scuderia Ferrari, it’s not a bad way to celebrate.
The new machine boasts massive power from two sources – the 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 from the 488/F8 Tributo and three electric motors – two in the front wheels and one in the transaxle out back. Together, that’s a power output of 735kW (1000PS) and a stratospheric torque figure.
It’s absolutely not a LaFerrari replacement, though, so don’t get too excited. Partly because it will probably wipe the floor with the hyper-exclusive hypercar and mostly because owners of those cars are quite attached to its resale value.
Drivetrain
For the first time, Ferrari is offering a plug-in hybrid in series production, an electric-only mode, all-wheel drive in a mid-engined supercar and three electric motors to go with the trademark V8.
Ferrari says it has completely redesigned the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 for it’s installation in the SF90. Revving to 8000rpm, it produces 574kW (780PS) at 7500rpm. Peak torque of 800Nm arrives at 6000rpm.
The electric system adds a further 162kW (220PS), supplied by a 7.9kW/h battery. Ferrari says you can toddle around under electric power for up to 25km which is most un-Ferrari. I can’t wait to try it and see if anyone notices…
Also un-Ferrari is the extra weight of the electric gubbins, known as the MGYK is about 270kg. The overall weight is still 1570kg, which is good going.
There’s more – when you’re in electric mode, the SF90 is front-wheel drive *gasp*. No, it’s not a big deal, I’m being silly. Reverse gear is also electric-only, meaning the V8 isn’t burning the planet while you negotiate a parallel park. Knocking reverse gear out of the gearbox saves 3kg.
The third motor is jammed in between the engine and gearbox, adding a bit more oomph to the rear wheels. Ferrari says the electric motors help improve the response of the V8, helping close the gap back to the naturally-aspirated V8’s throttle response.
Speaking of the gearbox, Ferrari has upped the gear count to eight. The new gearbox is an eight-speed oil bathed twin-clutch transmission. The overall size of the gearbox is 20 percent smaller, which is quite an achievement. Ferrari says fuel consumption on the freeway is down by eight percent (WLTP) and one percent on track. The new gearbox is 7kg lighter, 10kg when you count losing reverse.
Apparently it can transmit up to 1200Nm. That’s one strong gearbox and is 30 percent faster than the 7-speed. Although that 30 percent faster is to do with “clutch fill”.
All of that helps explain the 0-100km/h (0-62mph) time of 2.5 seconds and 0-200 (124mph) of 6.7 seconds. Top speed is a wild 340km/h.
Chassis and Aero
Naturally, all that oomph needs something that can cope with it. The SF90 has liberal applications of aluminium and carbon fibre, also helping keep weight down.
There is still a lot of 458/488/F8 underneath it, but there’s a new carbon fibre bulkhead and a new lightweight aluminium for some of the panels.
The headline downforce figure of 390kg at 250km/h is something of an eye-opener.
An active wing at the rear with the snappy title of “shut-off Gurney” manages drag and downforce at the rear in tandem with a two-piece fixed wing. At speed the, uh SOG, uncovers the fixed wing which generates the high downforce needed for cornering, all based on braking, cornering and driver inputs.
Up front are a series of vortex generators. Ferrari’s engineers lifted the front end by 15mm to accommodate more of these and to optimise the flows. The upper section of the front bumper compresses air flowing over the car and feeds two forward diffusers to generate front downforce.
Even the wheel arches are blown, the force of the air exiting creates a sort of ground effect. Nifty.
The SF90 also features brake by wire, which talks to the hybrid system to balance braking power between energy recovery, engine braking and normal braking. The usual F1 Active Diff is present at the back and the front wheels feature electronic torque vectoring across the two electric motors.
How much and when?
Yeah, it’s going to be a lot, but unlike LaFerrari, this car is a “permanent” feature of the range. Ferrari says it sits above the F8 and below LaFerrari (ok, sure), but in reality it sits between the LF and 812, at least cost-wise.
Some estimates are putting it around €700,000, so that’s not messing about. But we won’t know until Ferrari tells us, so let’s wait and see.
It’s the wildest berlinetta Ferrari has ever produced and it’s going to put a rocket up McLaren. Good. It’ll be fun watching them try and out-do each other.
The 488 is dead – long live the Ferrari F8 Tributo.
Well, that’s a bit dramatic, but there you are. The time has come for Maranello to replace the wonderful 488 with the next-generation of mid-engined V8 supercar. The F8 Tributo (what do we think of the name?) will take Ferrari into the 2020s and is based on the hardcore 488 Pista.
The most obvious change is the inclusion of the Pista’s S-Duct at the front. Providing a crap ton (okay, fifteen percent) more downforce, the S-Duct adds further aero capability to an already extraordinary platform. The radiators are also F1-style, angled rearwards to reduce frontal area and the dynamic air intakes have moved to the outside of the spoiler. New brake cooling ducts up the front were made possible by the slimmer headlights.
New brake ducts, headlights and the Pista’s S-Duct (smaller, though)
Along with the increase in downforce, Ferrari also claimed that aero efficiency is up by ten percent, which means less drag. The chassis is 40kg lighter, too (dry weight).
The 3.9-litre V8 returns, with a power bump to 530kW (720PS). That’s, uh, an enormous amount of power. As ever, the variable torque management is along for the ride to ensure minimal turbo lag. Torque is up 10Nm to 770Nm, but don’t worry, it’s already way more than you could ever need.
The manettino wheel on the now-smaller steering wheel features a new system called Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE+), which is part of Race mode.
[FDE+ is] designed to make performance on the limit easier to reach and control for an even greater number of drivers.F8 press release
It still has horrible doorhandles
Look and Feel
The F8’s design is once again out of Ferrari Centro Stile. The designers added louvred Lexan engine cover as a tribute to the classic F40, hence the name (I guess?). The louvres are more than an homage, however. The hot air flows out of the engine bay without ruining the airflow over the blown spoiler.
Ferrari says inspiration for the rear end came from the 1975 308 GTB. The new spoiler design allowed for a return to the twin taillight arrangement so beloved of supercar makers.
The cabin is basically all-new. Like the Portofino, a central media screen allows the passenger to run the stereo which was a bit of a drama in the 458 and 488. It’s not the luxurious 10-inch screen from its V8-powered sibling, but 7.0inches is fine in such a tight space. All the interior panels are new as are the air vents. It doesn’t look strikingly different, but you know, if it wasn’t broken…
Thankfully the wonderful instrument cluster looks pretty much the same, with that massive yellow rev-counter with a digital readout for the speed and gear selection.
How much and when?
Lots and soon. The F8 will be properly shown off next week at the Geneva Motor Show.
The Ferrari Portofino is Maranello’s follow-up to the California T. Like rival Lamborghini’s Huracan, the Cali had some inane detractors who said it wasn’t a real Ferrari.
The V8-powered California and then the California T were meant to open up new markets for the Prancing Horse. And the company was expecting a lot of women as well as new customers to buy into the Ferrari brand.
Boom. Off went the nutcases. And they were all mostly wrong.
California Dreams
Rumour has it that the first modern California (it’s a name Ferrari has used more than once) was originally meant to be a Maserati. It probably wasn’t the greatest car ever made – well it wasn’t – but it did things for the brand.
For ages, Ferrari had been without a relaxed car. The last even vaguely relaxed machine the company produced would have been the 348 GTB. Oh, there was the 456 GT, but that was a properly expensive V12 GT, not a cruiser. First-time Ferrari buyers didn’t have an easy entry to the brand until the California arrived.
I liked California – it was a tad gawky and bug-eyed, yes, but it was fast and sounded amazing. It also carried two plus two people and you could take it anywhere without worrying about it. The fact the roof came off was a bonus. Handling was way above anything Maserati could muster, but it was also a bit more placid than what we had come to expect from Ferrari.
And that’s where the California struck trouble. Fans of the brand who didn’t understand its history said it was too soft. Too easy. The same sort of people who say the Huracan isn’t dangerous enough.
Women bought it, new customers came to the brand, it made money but people sniffed at it, said it was a girl’s car.
Whatever the hell that means.
As usual, a good number of people who said the more idiotic things about California never even sat in it, let alone drove it.
Would it be my Ferrari? No. Does that mean it’s not a good car? Absolutely not.
California T
The California T was better-looking, way more powerful if a little less characterful. To drive it was certainly better and it kept selling. The final years of the California saw the introduction of the Handling Speciale, a result customer requests. It was popular, so the Cali T was a bit firmer.
It was also more fun to drive. While the scream of the old, high-revving V8 was gone, the new twin-turbo powerplant introduced a colossal whip-crack on the upshift. And lots of torque – 755Nm. My wife loved the California T for its effortless power delivery and easy demeanour in normal driving.
I loved it because it was less understeery, looked better and was better.
(We both loved it for the whip crack)
With the end of the Cali, the time has come for Ferrari to make the return journey across the Atlantic, touching down in the Mediterranean in Portofino.
Ferrari Portofino
Ferrari launched the Portofino to the world almost exactly a year ago. Imaginitively, Ferrari chose the eponymous Italian town in which to do it, with Piero Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel and the late Sergio Marchionne on hand.
It looks amazing. I didn’t mind the California T but the Portofino is properly beautiful. Ferraris don’t actually have to be pretty but it certainly helps when the car is meant to lure in new customers.
The backside is far less prominent despite still housing a folding hardtop. The front end is much stronger, more aggressive, less gawping. The body looks lithe and athletic. It looks super-modern. You’d struggle to place the original California – it could be anywhere from the mid-90s to the mid-2000s – but the Portofino looks like it’s from the current stable and is all the better for it.
There was little wrong with the Cali T’s interior so the two look similar. Ferrari cabins are minimalist in a good way but the Portofino’s 10.25-inch screen is a recent concession to bling and includes a hugely expensive Apple CarPlay option.
The seats are tremendous – accommodating but grippy, the leather is tactile and wonderful to the touch.
Ferrari Portofino Drivetrain
Ferrari’s twin-turbo V8 now graces several cars in the range and one more to come. In the 488 GTB and Spyder it’s an incredibly powerful and flexible powerplant that makes that car an unbelievably fast machine. In the GTC4 Lusso T it’s an express train. No doubt it will find a home in the sacrilegious SUV (it’s not, but we’re still getting used to the idea).
The 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 puts out 441kW (600PS), which is up 30kW (40PS) on the California T. With its flat plane crank (like the McLaren 570S and 540C), it delivers its power at a wonderful 7500rpm.
As with the 488, the V8 won’t give you all of its 760Nm of torque until you reach seventh gear in the twin clutch transmission. This is down to some clever trickery with the electronic wastegate control.
Even without all that torque, the new car accelerates from 0-100km/h in just 3.5 seconds.
The exhaust itself is one piece which saves weight and Ferrari says it sounds even better than before, partly because of a set of valves regulates the sound. We’ll see…
Ferrari also promises zero turbo lag and throttle response of under one second. Not the telepathy of the old naturally-aspirated V8, but you don’t have the rev the guts out of it to leave the driveway.
Ferrari Portofino Chassis
There is a lot going on here, of course.
The new car is much lighter than before – American models weight far closer to two tonnes than perhaps was sensible. The Portofino is lighter partly through the greater use of aluminium but also simpler structures. The windscreen surround was made of 21 separate pieces on the California, the Portofino’s just two.
It’s an impressive 35% stiffer as a result of this sort of simplification.
Ferrari’s active electronic differential passes the power between the rear wheels but does a whole lot more than just that. It reads the attitude of the car, throttle position and, of course, the position of the manettino on the steering wheel.
The Portofino’s manettino has just three settings – comfort, sport and ECT Off. While also affecting the setting of the diff and engine behaviour and throttle response, the magneto-rheological dampers also respond to a turn of the switch.
Driving the Ferrari Portofino
Right from the get-go, you know this is a better machine than the California T. With the extra power and a few more Nm, it’s quicker. It’s quicker again because it weighs less.
It’s quicker still because it’s just better.
If Ferrari hadn’t told me the car had electric steering, I’d probably know but still wouldn’t care. Nothing feels like a beautifully wrought hydraulic system (like McLaren’s) but a Ferrari electric system is a thing of beauty.
There’s no corruption, just a connected purity to the road surface. Since the success of the 458’s light, direct steering, all Ferraris have this wonderful, light feel.
One of the biggest differences to the California is the way the Portofino turns in. With the California, there was always this moment of hesitance – as though it wanted to understeer.
It didn’t really. All you had to do was stay with it and keep your foot in. Where the California would roll a little, the Portofino stays flat. It turns in without that moment, the tyres biting immediately and the nose heading in the direction you’re looking. It’s a big change to the feel of the car and it makes the Portofino feel much more agile.
The ride is also improved, as is the perception of the ride. The California could squeak a bit on bigger bumps with the roof down, but with the extra stiffness came a fundamentally better platform.
A stiffer chassis means fewer compromises. You only have to (again) spend some time in a McLaren 570S Spyder to know that if you get the guts right, taking off the roof doesn’t hurt the car.
The basic ride is terrific and even stepping up to Sport doesn’t ruin it. In the old car you needed to hit the bumpy road button around town but I didn’t feel the need in the Portofino. That, for me, is a step-change and one that suggests changing the name was wise.
The Portofino is a very different car to the California but it has all the things that made the old car loveable. The things people didn’t like – whether they had driven it or not – are now a thing of the past.
The Ferrari 488 GTB is the benchmark. Ferrari’s mid-engined sports cars have been the top of the pile for decades. This latest iteration is the latest in a line that started with the 1968 Dino (don’t start). The mid-engined baby quickly became the standard, with the bigger midships V12s fading away (Aventador excepted) to front-engines.
The 488 Spider is another in a rather shorter line of cars – the hardcore, mid-engined drop-top sports car from Ferrari. But it’s a line that’s as iconic as its coupes.
History
You can trace this style of machine back to the 348 Spider. Released in 1993 towards the end of the 348’s run, it’s probably no surprise it came after Enzo Ferrari’s death in 1988. Yes, there had been Ferrari convertibles before but they had either been conceived as softer lifestyle machines or based on GT cars.
Obviously, these things sold and they sold well. The 355 followed on and sales of the roofless version started to build. Americans particularly liked them but sales came from all corners.
The 488’s mechanical lineage started in 1999 with the 360 Modena and Spider. The all new aluminium space frame was a whopping 28 percent lighter than the 355’s steel monocoque with rear tubular space frame. It was also quite a bit stronger. The new flat-plane crank V8 was a screamer.
Amazingly, the split between the Modena coupe and the Spider was almost 50-50 (8800 vs 7589). In the US, the Spider outsold the Modena 2389 to 1810, the vast majority with the F1 semi-auto transmission.
The 430 came next and there was another addition – the model’s pinnacle, the legendary 430 Scuderia, was also produced in Spider form, limited to 500 units.
The 458 arrived in 2009, the Spider two years later. The new twin-clutch transmission was the only one available and a good thing too. The 458 is so fast – all Ferraris are now so fast – there isn’t the time to change gears manually. The Spider also switched to an aluminium roof panel that folds away under the engine cover.
And again, the Spider came in the form of the swan song, the Speciale – but instead was known as the 458 Speciale A (A for Aperta).
Ferrari 488
Sacrilege. Drama. Disaster. The Ferrari 488 made its debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. Off came the covers and there they were. The 458’s lovely hips had been defaced with gaping air intakes to feed the new, smaller, force-fed V8 engine. Now with two turbos and displacing 600 fewer ccs, certain fans – and some “experts” – went bananas.
How could they? Enzo turning in his grave, they said, while conveniently ignoring the iconic turbocharged V8 F40 produced under his watch. The F40 is considered “the” Ferrari. The 488, though. Not a real Ferrari, they screamed, despite never having driven it. The 458’s twin-clutch and no manual policy had certainly made waves, but this. Surely it was the end of all that is good.
Part of the aggro came from the fact that the “girly” California T (don’t get me started) had the same twin-turbo engine. As usual, it was all unfounded. The Ferrari 488 moved things along almost as far as the 458 had done with almost no loss of its tungsten-carbide tip sharpness.
Competition
Obviously the mid-engined sportscar segment isn’t a hugely crowded space. The obvious contenders for the crown are the Lamborghini Huracan Spider and Audi R8 Spyder, both of which share the same platform and drivetrain. In their most potent forms, both are all-wheel drive to the 488 Spider’s rear-wheel drive. They’re not as fast but they are stiffer with the roof down. Both have a carbon and aluminium spaceframe and that high revving (8500rpm) 5.2-litre V10.
The McLaren 570S Spyder is reasonably close to the Ferrari but you really need to step up to the McLaren 720S for similar performance. The 488 kind of fits between them. Both McLarens run a twin-turbo V8 and are rear-wheel drive. Built around the carbon monocage, the Spyder loses almost nothing to the coupe.
Of course, you can try the Porsche 911 Turbo or GT2/GT3 to try and get close to the Ferrari, but both are quite different types of car.
Engine & Transmission
The 488’s twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8 is available pretty much across the Ferrari range. From the California T, its Portofino replacement and the rear-wheel drive GTC4 Lusso T, the engine also forms the basis for Maserati and Alfa V6s. As a V8, it’s also in the Maserati Levante Trofeo, although detuned.
Here in the 488 it’s an all-aluminium, dry sump flat-plane crank V8 codenamed F154CB. Power weighs in at 493kW (670PS) at 8000rpm and 760Nm of torque from 3000rpm. The dry sump means Ferrari engineers could mount the V8 as low as possible in the chassis.
The two twin-scroll turbos come from IHI, with two air-to-air intercoolers behind those hip intakes. The low inertia turbo compressors are made from super lightweight titanium aluminide (TiAL). That particular material finds its way into the fan blades of turbofan jet engines.
The F154 features an extremely clever system known as Variable Torque Management. As with many modern turbo engines, the turbo wastegate is electrically-operated. Torque is limited by the system in all but seventh gear, with the system fiddling with the wastegates (among other things) to control the boost pressure. Not only does the system limit torque it also makes sure that the power feels less like a turbo than it might otherwise, with progressive delivery and impressive throttle response.
The Getrag close-ratio seven-speed transmission continued on but with plenty of work to handle the extra 220Nm of torque. That’s a whole hatchback worth of torque extra.
The aluminium spaceframe started with the 360 continues on, although it’s obviously much improved. The dynamic dampers and double wishbones front and rear combine with 20-inch wheels and Pirelli tyres. Formed of two digital screens either side of a beautiful big rev counter, the instrument pack is simple and effective. It’s a joy watching that big needle swing to the redline.
The basic spec is pretty good but you can choose a variety of seats, the stitching on the leather, the leather itself or junk the leather put carbon fibre everywhere. It feels beautifully put together and everything you touch feels great.
The driving position is lower than the Huracan/R8 pair, but subjectively feels slightly higher than either the McLaren 570S/720S. We’re talking millimetres here and the Spider feels slightly higher just because you can see the windscreen header rail.
The steering wheel feels great in the hand, the controls well laid out. The way the indicator switches are set in thumb’s reach, one on each side, betters the Huracan’s Ducati motorbike indicator switch. The paddles feel lovely and if I were you, stick with alloy – the carbon ones don’t really have the tactility of the alloy.
The Famous Manettino
You change the chassis setup on the steering-wheel mounted manettino. Here in the 488 Spider – as in the 812 Superfast – you have a choice of five settings. The lowest – WET – is for tricky, slippery conditions. The car is soft and doughy to stop the rears spinning up at the slightest provocation.
The second position is for tooling around in the dry without the car being all go-go-go. Despite its SPORT designation, it’s fairly tame, relatively speaking.
The third setting – where I spend most of my time in the 488 – is RACE. This setting amps things up, turns up the throttle response and the exhaust is louder more of the time. It doesn’t seem to affect the ride too much despite the dampers tensing up.
This mode is the best of both worlds. The car still rides, won’t get away from you in the corners and is by far the most fun when you’re on a public road. Idiots that appear on YouTube wiping out their car leaving a Cars & Coffee meet seem to skip this mode.
Fourth on the dial is CT OFF. This turns off the traction control and is useful on tracks where your margin for error is much greater and you can more safely explore your throttle control talent. The stability system is still there for you, but you are still more than capable of throwing it off the road.
And finally you have ESC OFF. I call that Certain Death mode. If you’re not a on a track and aren’t Fernando Alonso, you’re going to find yourself in a whole heap of trouble real quick. The 488 Spider is colossally powerful and you can shred those rear tyres in seconds.
Driving
I love driving this car. Unleashing that V8 is something that will never, ever get old. It still sounds great, even with the loss of a thousand revs. The hissing, sucking turbo induction sound is glorious and the exhaust note barely less of a howl than before.
The big difference between the 458 and the 488 Spider is all that torque so low down. The 458 was a long, hard revver with a dizzying soundtrack. Interestingly, so is the 488 Spider. While the noise isn’t as metallic and F1-like (before F1 went quiet), it still sounds amazing.
Sitting low and tight in the cabin, as soon as you get rolling you notice two things. The steering is unexpectedly light and the ride is excellent. You’re going to read that a lot about modern supercars – they shouldn’t ride well but they do. It’s one of the reasons the Aventador feels so old-fashioned – it doesn’t ride at all well.
The light steering is a key part of how the 488 Spider feels to drive. The rack is fast – really fast – and translates to a brilliant turn-in. The way this thing chases and arrives at an apex is what makes it great. There is of course understeer – otherwise there’d be a lot more YouTube videos of crashed 488s – but it’s just a tiny bit to let you know you’re approaching the car’s limits. You can push through it with the throttle and it’s glorious.
The grip of this car is immense – the things you can do and the things you can get away with are really down to the active differential and a brilliant chassis setup. There’s no way the car could dance, stop or corner the way it does without the colossal work that has gone into the differential.
Coupled with that is the dynamic damper setup – the differences between modes are subtle but hugely effective and it honestly feels like the car reads the road ahead and adjusts accordingly. If it’s all too much, you can hit the bumpy road button – you’ll have to back off a bit but your spine will thank you on poor surfaces.
The only complaint? With the roof down, a poor surface reveals a bit of scuttle shake. That’s it.
Want to really know how it feels? Watch the video. Make sure you subscribe to The Redline on YouTube for more.
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Ferrari 488 Spider Images by Rhys Vandersyde
Ferrari 488 Spider Interior Images by Rhys Vandersyde
Updated with new useful tidbits from the Geneva Show release.
Because motor shows are now just after-parties for pre-show press releases, we’ve got the Ferrari 488 Pista for you. Based on the Scuderia’s outstanding 488 GTB, it’s another in the line that gave us the 360 Challenge Stradale, 430 Scuderia and 458 Speciale.
Ferrari 488 Pista
Maranello’s press team says the Pista has evolved straight out of the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE series success. Ferrari has won five championships in the last six years, so that’s not a bad place to start. Added to that is the three decades of experience running the Ferrari Challenge Series.
Maranello took the 488 GTB and started by knocking the weight back to 1280kg dry, mostly by flinging stuff you’re unlikely to need on the track. That dry weight is impressive. To put it in context, it’s 90kg lighter, or one chunky person, lighter than the GTB.
488 Pista engine
The Pista’s V8 is an evolution of the GTB’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. Power is up 40kW (50PS) to a staggering 530kW (720PS), matching McLaren’s twin-turbo in the, er, 720S. Torque is up to 770Nm.
The engine itself is 18kg lighter, with some weight-saving pinched from the 488 Challenge. The savings come from titanium conrods, lightweight flywheel and crankshaft and carbon fibre intake plenums. Cooling is courtesy of the inverted radiators of the 488 Challenge, part of the reason the front-boot is gone.
The Pista uses the seven-speed twin-clutch to send you to 100km/h (62mph) in 2.85 seconds and 200km/h (124mph) in just 7.6 seconds. Top speed is 340km/h (210mph).
488 Pista Aerodynamics
Oddly enough, the road car’s aero is a harder-core version of the race cars, because it can be. The front splitter is hugely aggressive. An F1-inspired “S-duct” helps suck the car to the road (and if you look down the windscreen, you can see the road) and the rear wing is bigger and more aggressive than the race car’s. The vortex generators beneath the car are also redesigned for a bit of extra whoosh.
All of that boosts the downforce by 20 percent.
488 Pista Chassis
Ferrari is becoming almost as addicted to acronyms as Porsche. Starting with SSC (side-slip control), there’s the E-Diff3 active diff, F1-Trac stability and control systems, SCM dynamic dampers and FDE, which stands for Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer.
FDE controls brake pressure at the calipers, which sounds like a torque vectoring technique to aid turn-in and overall stability.
Some of the 90kg weight loss comes from the carbon fibre rimmed wheels, a Ferrari first. Handily, they also decrease the car’s unsprung weight.
More details will come at the Geneva Motor Show (now incorporated into this story), which is shaping up to be a classic. Either way, this car is a classic and likely already pretty much sold out. And for prospective owners, a genuine investment. No, really – 458 Speciales are known to go for double their purchase price in some markets.
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