Even as a completely distorted autoreactor one is already days, before a Ferrari announces itself, more clearly than ever. Firstly, because a test car with horse hardly ever occurs. Second, because you usually do not have much time with him, and third, because a Maranello product with your own organism usually does more great things than any other street car. Regardless of whether these still under such purists still unpopular turbos under the hood or not. In this case (488 spiders, if you have not noticed it), there are turbos, which is why the question is: Does a supercharged Ferrari mid-engine roadster still have just as much fun as a free-sucking? In the service of science, I will try to clarify exactly this in the next nearly 30 hours ...
Wednesday, 9:00 am
The truck from Frankfurt is rolling. As a driver of the vice, I would be annoyed with animal, that I could bring the 488 not without vice. So that I can drive the next one and a half days as incognito as Ferrari convertible, is the same ... um ... knall yellow. The ramp drives down and the disgustingly cold autumn morning is interrupted by a baritone primordial scream that turns the sleepy early smokers in front of our office complex the fluke in the corner of the mouth. At least they are awake now. Who once again claimed turbocharged engines do not sound? This one sounds - at least at Standgas - quite great. The 12-year-old son of the friendly supercar messenger asks for a quick round round the block. But gladly, little man. Three traffic lights and three clear speed transgressions later we get a bit pale but very happy again. Lord in heaven, this car is fast. And that was 800 meters downtown.
Wednesday, 6.30 pm
Yes, it's a shame, but on some days there is so much office work that even an open Ferrari has to wait. The big driving and photographing day is tomorrow. The first real stage for today: from home. In the celebrated evening of the A99. But the first test is: get out of the underground car park. All the messy lines and Ferrari's art, for world-class aerodynamics no house-sized spoilers need, the 488 spider can be incredibly sine, yes almost petite. In addition, it has somehow managed that its butt despite folding roof (opens in 14 seconds, weighs 25 kilos less than a conventional fabric roof) does not look like a medium-sized country. He is a damn deep, wide and unclear car he is, and - Be careful, first world problems - without parkpeters, reversing camera and the recommended Nose-Lift (lifts the front at the push of a button by a good four centimeters) I would just be completely thrown.
Wednesday, 6:50 pm
Of course, I am in jam. I've got used to all the gegaffe and smartphone wagons. We Ferrari drivers know: That's just part of it. The positive at a standstill: More than enough time to deal extensively with the interior. As in the 458, the seat position on the rattling carbon shells is simply perfect and thanks to the flat hood, you also know quite well what is happening in front of you. As always (and as it should be heard) one stares at the huge, yellow speedometer, whose red area starts just a few millimeters earlier. It is flanked by two small displays, which could be divided roughly into "Bordcomputer" and "Multimedia". It is so simple and yet so good. Navi, telephone, music - everything works 488 even easier and more intuitive. In addition, the quality of the assembly seems to be a little more stressful. The complete cabin is really well processed. That was not always the case.
Wednesday, 7.40 pm
When an open Ferrari rolls into the home entrance, even my wife, who is more emotions-free in Autodingen, is comfortable. My two-year-old daughter is obviously afraid of the acoustic madness of the new V8. So you really do not need to worry. This still sounds like supercar, after real Ferrari, loud, dirty and abundantly epic. Flat crankshaft and quite a lot of gepfriemel at the exhaust thanks. The new singer may not sing quite as brightly as the 458 Speciale, but according to all normal standards this is still more than enough to put one's own ears into absolute ecstasy. After some back and forth, my girl then persuaded herself to climb for an inescapable father-daughter photo in the 488 and on Papi's lap. She is very enthusiastic about the many horses, who are so fond of a Ferrari cockpit (I've counted four) and I do not want to get out. Horses are - besides hares - their absolute favorite animals.
Thursday, 8.30 am
I think I've been up and down this mountain five times. You can think about the two turbos in the rear yes, what you want, but this Spider has even in the verge with the completely insane 458 Speciale a new quality of the speed. Just up here, where it is cold and the asphalt conditions are not really perfect, you have to pull yourself together seriously to get the best out of the absurd 670 HP and 760 Newtonmeter. With its variable torque distribution (ie, the entire force surge is progressively wiped, the higher the gear, the more torque is released), and all the other terribly smart things that Ferrari has designed to strike the "turbo" out of this turbocharged engine At least in the dry. These 3.9 liters are a very nice handful. On the other hand, they are probably the best and most suckiest thing I've ever done with charging. Well, without negating all the good of such a charge. The 488 vaporizes every straight piece of tar in a way that a normal human brain seems to need a bit of training. The three Holy Hypercars (918, LaFerrari, P1) can not really push better than this. Oh, a simpler way to the cold should also be difficult - at least at the prevailing temperatures. This car is so fast, it overrides your thoughts with left and then just pulls away, while you still think what is actually happening here. This is quite a bit frightening at first, but damn well it is.
Thursday, 9:20 am
There are some contrasts, too. In the meantime, there was some snowfall and the road is slightly damp. With the skalpellös fine power output of a 458 Speciale are synonymous such conditions relatively problem-free. With the almost inhuman power of the 488 on the other hand, one should have Rosberg-like reactions when one thinks that one has to put the small red steering wheel switch on "TC off" and does not intend to slip into the nearest rock wall. In addition you switch somehow (regardless of the weather). Since the best seven-speed dual clutch in the world is capable, this is not really bad, the hunt for the red area is simply simply not as necessary and addictive as in previous mid-engine V8 Ferraris. By the way, this is not the case for gas. This is only a tenth of a second slower than 0.88 seconds in the free-sucking 458, which means that the 488 is also formally bursting with pleasure and action. You just have a good 1000 tours less space to play, to modeling, to shoot your own brain into the speed stratosphere. All this is still very close to the perfection (closer than any other turbo), but a little less engaging than the almost sensational experience in the 458 Speciale it is anyway.
Thursday, 11.45 am
The photos are largely in the box and half dry it is again. Time for a last flight over this glorious pass road and Lord in Heaven, the 488 is capable. Oh yes, please do not think at normal scales. With "capable" I mean: miles better than anything else in this class. Believe it or not, but the god-like Side Slip Angle Control got an update after their debut in the 458 Speciale and is now actually a bit better. Side Slip what? The system measures almost continuously the pulse of the complete electronic chassis software (which also includes the active dampers) and calculates permanently how it can probably best and funest move from the next curve. The result: Even as a moderately talented Normalo pilot, the 488 Spider can feel like the greatest hero ever to have a steering wheel. Speed, trustworthiness and smoky-drifting Flamboyanz are nowhere better than during a cornering in a Ferrari 488. The closest thing to the whole is perhaps the glittery McLaren 675LT, but the 488 is easier to handle at the limit. He is like the wildest beast of this planet ... with a strong predilection for cuddling. He is the best man and at the same time the favorite guy in the team. It makes you shine. It's just sensational.
Thursday, 1.30 pm
And because you want to stop when it's the best (or if the car is waiting for the Ferrari), we'll go back to Munich by way of the autumn-leafed Plansee. An appreciably honorable BMW M3-Corso, a terrific amount of self-esteem with the now sorely needed tank stop, a Ferrari has not lost its radiance in 2016 either. In my opinion, they are better in Maranello anyway than they ever were. No one is currently more exciting and engaging to unite the raw, brutal, time-honored supercar feeling with the flattering merits of modern electronics. The Ferrari 488 Spider is just another masterpiece. The incorrigible purists will park him in his virtual garage, possibly behind the all-new high-speed Koryphäe 458 Speciale, but it's not that bad. After all, the Speciale is probably the best V8 mid-engine sports car ever. However also one, which will not be so. The 488 exchanges a few grams of soul against more beautiful CO2 values and even more (much more) speed. This is more than just painful. Especially after such a thing
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