Driving a camouflaged Ferrari 488 Pista prototype quickly is like sipping an ice cold vintage champagne on a hot day or watching the best scene in your favorite movie. It sends shivers down your spine while maxing out your pleasure receptors. For me, it was like hearing opera legend Luciano Pavarotti reach the climax of Nessun Dorma, his signature aria from Puccini’s Turandot opera.
The howl at 8000 rpm from Ferrari’s twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 engine is as infectious as Pavarotti’s high C note. But this 720hp engine, with a beefy 770Nm of torque, just happens to be the firm’s most powerful production V8 ever. And through a welcome invitation, I found myself driving a 488 Pista prototype at Ferrari’s famed Fiorano test track in Maranello just two days after the car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. So how quick is it? Around Fiorano, the Pista is as fast as a hybrid LaFerrari, and will sprint from zero to 100km/h in 2.85 seconds.
Meaning ‘track’ in Italian, the ‘Pista’ is destined for markets in China and Japan before the end of 2018, the most important markets for Ferrari after the U.S. and Europe.
The engine treatment was made possible by carefully tweaking and massaging the 488 GTB’s power-unit on which the Pista is based. Employing the highest level of technology transfer ever seen from the firm’s racing programs including F1, the 488 Pista sheds 90kgs over the GTB thanks to the fitting of performance parts like titanium conrods and an exhaust system made of Inconel. Huh? Yes, Inconel is a heat-resistant superalloy that costs four times more than the 488 GTB’s exhaust manifold, but when weight-saving is your goal, and you have a budget, then Inconel gets the job.
This engine should not be possible in a road-going car. Acceleration is as intense as it is urgent, illustrated by the upshift lights that flash across the top of the steering wheel telling you to shift now. Everything about this car involves precision and happens in real time. There are no weird delays in the controls or nasty surprises anywhere. This car does everything you ask of it, exactly when you ask it, and with the minimum of fuss, and a maximum of thrills.
The 7-speed flappy paddle gearbox and throttle response are intuitive and instantaneous, brake feel is progressive and prodigious and turbo lag is almost non-existent. It’s frighteningly fast but easily controllable on a race track and yet comfortable on a pothole infested public road. A short cruise around the back roads of Maranello proved just how commuter-friendly the Pista can be, and at low speeds. Oh, and did I mention the sound? Above 5000 revs the dry raspy metallic exhaust note gets under your skin and tickles your soul.
Flick the Manettino dial into race mode and you will access the car’s most aggressive track settings and most animalistic soundtrack. Pure heaven. This is as close to race car settings as you will get. All controls become tighter, more immediate and more involved. And your driver skills will be called upon to fill in for the electronic aids you’ve disengaged. In contrast, switched to comfort mode, the car will pull effortlessly from 1,200 rpm in top gear without a murmur.
To improve the car’s already outstanding aerodynamic profile, designers fitted an S-duct that sucks up airflow from under the nose and ejects it through a hole in the hood, thus improving the car’s ground effect and overall stability. In addition, a rear spoiler and diffuser work to boost downforce by 20%.
This car is Hugh Jackman personified. Like the star of The Greatest Showman and Les Miserables, the 488 Pista has plenty of drama on stage, its dance moves can tempt a standing ovation and, oh, can this tenor sing. And all at once. The Ferrari delivers a tsunami or power, corners like it’s recalibrating the laws of physics and howls out an operatic tune that is purely addictive.
If you thought the 488 GTB, the car on which the Pista is based, was good, then just wait till you try this upgrade. Every aspect of this car is extreme and beautiful and purposeful. Even the seats hug your posterior and resist sideways movement in corners.
Driving enthusiasts speak of being at one with their car, like being plugged into it in the same way as Keanu Reeves was plugged into the Matrix computer. I have driven a lot of quick sports cars and supercars, but I have never felt so connected to a car as I was in the 488 Pista. This is the most accomplished, most complete driver’s car yet.
