MOTORING
Surrey’s Premier Lifestyle Magazine
Spider’s seductive trap
Britain loves its convertibles and this is demonstrated by the prediction that over half the sales of Ferrari’s 488 GTB will be of the Spider drop-top variety. Euan Johns examines the latest prancer from Ferrari’s pedigree stable and isn’t disappointed.
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So forty years on from the unveiling of its first ever mid-rear-engined V8 model, the 308 GTB, the Prancing Horse recently opened a new chapter in its eight-cylinder history. The Ferrari 488 GTB provides track-level performance that can be enjoyed to the full by non-professional drivers for everyday use. Response times, nimbleness and on-the-limit driving guarantee a unique sense of exhilaration and satisfaction. Apart from all the necessary stuff it looks pretty good too.
The recent launch of the 488 Spider open top marked the appearance of Ferrari’s most powerful mid-rear-engined V8 car ever to feature the marque’s patented retractable hard top. Much the same as that of the 458, it essentially peels off and backflips into a small storage area set at the rear of the vehicle, all in 14 seconds. Despite the huge windbreak, it can be retracted whilst travelling up to speeds of 30mph. Ferrari was the first manufacturer to introduce the retractable hard top (RHT) on a car of this particular architecture, thus ensuring a lower weight and refined passenger comfort compared to the classic fabric soft top. As with previous Spider versions of Ferrari models, this is a car aimed fair and square at those seeking open-air motoring in a high-performance sports car with that signature engine sound.
Along with the high level of technological innovation and stunning design, it all adds up to quite a package for the (sizeable) plus £200k price tag.
The recent launch of the 488 Spider open top marked the appearance of Ferrari’s most powerful mid-rear-engined V8 car ever to feature the marque’s patented retractable hard top. Much the same as that of the 458, it essentially peels off and backflips into a small storage area set at the rear of the vehicle, all in 14 seconds. Despite the huge windbreak, it can be retracted whilst travelling up to speeds of 30mph. Ferrari was the first manufacturer to introduce the retractable hard top (RHT) on a car of this particular architecture, thus ensuring a lower weight and refined passenger comfort compared to the classic fabric soft top. As with previous Spider versions of Ferrari models, this is a car aimed fair and square at those seeking open-air motoring in a high-performance sports car with that signature engine sound.
Along with the high level of technological innovation and stunning design, it all adds up to quite a package for the (sizeable) plus £200k price tag.
Mechanically the Spider is pretty much identical to its coupé stablemate, but costs £20k more. Is it worth it – bearing in mind the summer we have just experienced? Well yes, it fits into the barnstorming sports car or refined cruiser modes effortlessly and just about anything in between. It’s also just as sizeable as the coupé and frankly the drop top adds another layer of enjoyment all round. Seating is pretty much perfect with the car’s bodywork wrapped around occupants cocoon like, all allowing the ideal exposure to the elements whether windows are up or down in any of their three positions.
The 488 follows in the very capable footsteps of the 458 and retains many of its characteristics. In the cabin, the sleek driver-orientated dash remains in situ pinning the gaze to an oversized rev counter.
Every area of the Spider has been designed to set new technological benchmarks. The car doesn’t use a carbon fibre frame: instead the aluminium space frame chassis is reinforced at either end. It employs reworked aluminium alloys to help save weight, but it’s still 50kg heavier than the GTB version.
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And the engine? It can certainly be said that the turbo V8 has a unique character, delivering increasing power across the rev range. The result is due to its components and a sophisticated production process, in turn resulting from Maranello’s leading-edge facilities. These facilities are shared with the Scuderia that foster the transfer of racing technology to road cars. This all translates into a very fast car, and where the 458 was nimble and responsive, this car is openly rapid and shoots forward with the sluice gate of power produced from turbos reaching anti social speeds very quickly indeed.
In line with Ferrari’s tradition, the 488 has its own absolutely distinctive soundtrack created using solutions such as exhaust headers with longer, equal-length piping and enhanced by an in-depth study of harmonics and tonality at different engine speeds. It’s certainly seductive, broken glass sharp, but never invasive with the top down. Volume and clarity increase as the revs rise, all reinforcing the sensation of truly massive performance.
In the design process a sophisticated simulator was employed, similar to the one used by the Formula 1 Scuderia, again borrowing racing car expertise. That introduced the human factor from the earliest stages, providing engineers with instant feedback from test drivers to influence the car’s design long before the first 488 prototype was ever built.
Overall, response times are far more rapid than in the previous Spider, without any compromise whatsoever in comfort. Car design is adapted to meet the typical demands of open-top driving. Its behaviour is sublime and control is effortless, even on the most challenging routes. In fact it’s remarkably easy to drive on the limit owing to some flawless handling characteristics.
Ferrari refers to its Spider devotees as ‘open air hedonists’, which perhaps gives a slightly wrong impression. If they mean revelling in the sumptuous, seductive sounds of the 3.9 V8 lump of an engine, then I’m with them there. This is a car that fits easily into the super sports car model.
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Website: www.ferrari.com“Volume and clarity increase as the revs rise, all reinforcing the sensation of truly massive performance. ”