Cover story: Honda Civic Type R

First test: Ferrari 488 GTB
Five laps blur by; I try to analyse everything while concentrating
on not crashing, and not being overwhelmed by
having Seb and Kimi’s playground to myself for a short while.
Mid-range urge is huge, bringing a new-found intensity to
the way you gobble straights and dive-bomb the apex with
eyes on stalks, and every time you upshift there’s what engineers
might call more ‘emotion’ to the shift; whether this is
dialled in artifcially, or the result of the massive shockwave
of torque that kicks through the transmission, I’m not sure,
but I like it; it’s a very frm sense of gear engagement that never
strays towards brutality, but which is immediately followed
by another onslaught of boost and revs that lends a breathless
viscerality.
Although I initially snag the limiter because of old habits,
the lower shift-point soon feels natural, and I start to actually
pay attention to the shift lights on the steering wheel. When
those lights fashed in the 458, the engine was screaming so
hard and fast that they were as helpful as a blaring smoke
detector during a frewalk. In the 488, the frst of the lights
comes on at 6000rpm, and you learn to register them because
your instinct is to chase more revs. Indulge in smoky skids
and this becomes more pronounced; there’s a corner at
Fiorano I slide through for photographer Greg Pajo – purely
his request! – and I enter in second, pull the slender, fxed
carbonfbre paddleshifter for third at the apex, then go for
fourth just after the exit, otherwise I’d have been kissing the
The 488 seems to work
better if you go in very late
on the brakes and carry the
speed towards the apex
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CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | July 2015