Cover story: Honda Civic Type R

First test: Ferrari 488 GTB
They wanted it to
be both sculptural
and sensual. And
clearly, it is
and flat agricultural landscapes, towards the hills where
engineers are still pounding camouflaged 488s.
Out here, the 488 is every bit as good as those first track
impressions suggested. You notice there’s less textural detail
to the steering than to the Speciale’s, but it’s just as madly
quick and the extra weight compared with the Italia lends
an increased precision. The Speciale’s front end – with its
track-focused Cup tyres, don’t forget – is crisper, but there’s
still a feathery deftness to the way you flick the 488 from lock
to lock through tighter turns that’s immediately familiar and
uniquely Ferrari.
You’re kept busy at the wheel on these roads. Short straights
feed into tightening hairpin bends that wrap around the
landscape, braking zones combine with the bumpiest tarmac,
and the 488 is still game for oversteer through the faster
sections if you dare.
You’re in second, third, sometimes fourth gear, constantly
edging in and out of the throttle; it’s a test of this engine’s
responsiveness, one it aces. I was apprehensive about the
This is how it’ll
look from your
458, and it’ll
get smaller
very rapidly
SPEC
turbos robbing the 488 of the 458’s cohesion,
FERRARI 488 GTB
the way you could sense the old car’s electronic
Price £183,974
diff starting to adjust as you headed into a corner,
then squirt the throttle to balance it just
twin-turbo V8, 661bhp
Engine 3902cc 32v
beyond adhesion. Yet the 488 replicates this
@ 8000rpm, 561lb ft @
feeling: turn off the stability systems and you
3000rpm (seventh gear)
still feel you have absolute control over what’s
Transmission Sevenspeed
dual-clutch auto,
happening at the rear, not pre-empting sluggish
lag or spikes of boost. Best of all, there’s
rear-wheel drive
Suspension Double
traction in reserve, and it quickly becomes
wishbone front; multilink
rear
second nature as to how much throttle and
steering you can apply before you get all Jackson
Pollock with the 305-section Michelins.
0-62mph, 206+mph,
Performance 3.0sec
When we got on the plane to Italy, an
25mpg, 260g/km (with
anti-climax seemed inevitable. But right now, I
optional Hele stop/start
want to keep on driving, to dig deeper into the
system)
488’s abilities, to savour the experience.
Length/width/height
The best thing is despite those claims of 85%
4568/1952/1213mm
of parts being new and the massive increases
Weight/made of? 1370kg
(dry)/aluminium
in downforce and a whole new turbocharged
Rating ★★★★★
engine, the 488 still feels like a 458. I can’t
honestly tell you that it’s a better kind of 458,
because the sound of a Ferrari shrieking to nine grand seems
to be gone forever, and we need to mourn that. But the 488’s
extra performance does, I feel, equalise the deficit. It’s also
worth considering that the 458 Speciale is so fresh in our
minds, not the 458 Italia with which the GTB is more comparable.
So the fact that the GTB isn’t quite so razor-sharp as the
Speciale is to be expected. What we need to see now is Ferrari
pulling out all the stops and giving us a truly driver-focused
488. On this experience, I wouldn’t bet against it beating its
458-based predecessor.
@IamBenBarry
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