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Ferrari 488 GTB: From Maranello With Love
FERRARI 488 GTB
FROM MARANELLO WITH LOVE
Words: Alessandro Marrone
Photography: S. Lomax
When Maranello calls and you are told to find yourself in a few days at Ferrari in order to drive the 488 GTB, you are practically caught up by half a dozen electric shocks. I use a few minutes to rearrange my mind and realize that I’m not dreaming and start in the hectic stage of preparation. It is not necessary to document me further, since I have memorized each and every single specific of the new Prancing horse’s supercar, so I’m right on GoogleMaps looking for a road that will be able to make the most of the driving day that I am about to experience and also represents the joy for the photographer who will accompany me in this new and exciting adventure.
The days before the ultimate test drive goal are like those before an exam, endless and nights pass by with eyes wide open – the only difference is the smile printed on my face. When the big day arrives we are in front of one of the most iconic and famous gates in the world, we get accommodated and in a matter of minutes I’m with the key of a 488 GTB in my hand. If watching a Ferrari cruise in Maranello is a common thing, I assure you that driving one is a feeling you can’t get used to – just like watching that horse in beautiful display on the steering wheel, those wide red hips filling the rearview mirrors and the roar of the new twin-turbo V8, which despite having a few decibels less, knows how to grow some hair on your chest. Driving a Ferrari is something transcendental, doing it on some winding roads where Ferrari test drivers put prototypes to the limits, is something next level – you live it once and it will never go away.
After the briefing, I go headlong into my personal Wonderland, in which there is only a winding road and a latest generation supercar ready to throw both of us in the brawl – my hands impatiently rub on the leather that covers part of the steering wheel, alternating the carbon fiber spots and after moving the “manettino” into Race mode I press the button that gives life to the ode to joy according to Maranello. The twin-turbo V8 is the natural evolution of last year’s drive with the California T, located behind my shoulders in the center back and with a lower center of gravity. The differences with the 458 Italia are so many and they do not just make the new model more powerful, faster and more efficient, but they transform the feedbacks the driver gets, sharpening an experience that was already borderline and now became supernatural, thanks to an absurd power output for a street legal car. The engine is smaller, becoming a 4-liter (instead of 4.5cc), the horses are 670 (+100 compared to the 458) and the maximum torque is 760Nm (+220) already available at just 3,000 rpm (instead of 6,000) – numbers, so many numbers that make it clear that I have to be very careful when I’ll try to abuse the throttle, numbers accompanying me on the stage of the phenomenal hills surrounding the Motor Valley, at the wheel of the latest supercar of the most iconic brand in the world. Keep comparing the 488 GTB and the 458 Italia makes no sense, because the turbocharged evolution differentiates the two cars to such an extent as to give everlasting glory to the model that has just come out of production. The V8 boom behind me enters into the cabin and, with the windows down, I move the right foot on the gas to move the first meters towards the Maranello Village. It is time for some photos and despite hating the photographer for allowing me to drive only a handful of miles, I take the opportunity to observe the voluptuous lines and above all the aerodynamic details of the 488; each edge has a well-defined function, every little line has been methodically modeled for being kissed by turbulence and grounding the 1.445kg of its body – a really small weight for a car with such power and performance.
Without even realizing, I keep walking back and forth, looking how that ultimate red divinely couple itself to the resort buildings theme, in perfect tribute to those times, reminiscent of the atmosphere in which the Commendatore wrote the story of the automotive panorama. Finally, the DSLR goes into its case, which means that the engine of the 488 can finally show me what it is capable of – leave the town center and moving southward looking for some strip of asphalt ready to marry these 670 horses and a technologically superb chassis. I’m sitting down, very low, but the leather seats offer huge comfort and a complete visibility all around. The hands are firmly held in position (10 – 10) and I do not leave the steering wheel for a second, thanks also to the large carbon paddles easily reachable with three fingers – same speech for the indicators, placed on the two upper spokes. Traffic facilitates when you drive a Ferrari, some let you pass, some other remain in admiration and a few can’t do anything against the fury of this 4-liter. The road gets wider, the tarmac is tattooed by tire marks (812 Superfast test drives done a couple of days before) and overall visibility is like the devil on the shoulder that makes you downshift a gear and unleash all the revs at disposal. I have to obey, I’m here for that and nothing else: the back of the 488 starts a small lateral movement and traction control, still in place, manages to deal with the relationship between torque and grip needed to make me jump to the following curve. I’m sweating cold, but the 488 is just playing – the first few hours go by and I understand that I’m dealing with a mechanics masterpiece – the most logical reaction for a sane person would be to slow down the pace and enjoy one of the best days in life, mine is to disable traction control and start to drive seriously. She laughs at me, and immediately makes it clear that she can kill me anytime, with the 760Nm of torque easily able to break my back in first, second and third gear, interrupted only by the skidding I impose on the tires due to a little bit of gravel in some places around Zocca. My eyes remain wide open, aware that if I diminished my focus, nothing would save me.
Clearly, the 488 GTB is not a suicide car – we’re not talking about a Viper – but actually handling such a power, such a twin-turbo boost and a progressive and linear delivery that is extremely similar to that of a naturally aspirated engine, it’s not as easy as parking in the driveway. I feel the road through my body, all the roughness of the ground is transmitted from the steering wheel to my hands and especially from the chassis to my back, allowing me to arrive next to a corner at obscene speeds and keeping down the gas, trying not to unbalancing the weights. In and out as if the bend itself is a single movement, with the fluidity of a hand that is wrapped in a velvet glove, and then, as soon as I see the road in front of me to be clear again, I stretch the right leg and while everything around me becomes indistinct, I start pushing a bit more than before, until I realize that I would never be able to play with the mechanical limits of the 488, not even on an empty track. It is so damn smart, almost as if it was a robot coming from the future, from the future where androids have a soul – it talks to me, it allows me to live emotions that most other cars will never be able to make you try, teach me to know better myself and get the respect that a master deserves.
The 0-100 kph in just 3 seconds is out of fashion here – we’re talking about a 0-200 kph in only 8.3 seconds, confirming the feeling of animal brutality at every acceleration, regardless of the gear in which you are. The automatic gearbox is an improved double clutch (yes, I know it looks incredible) and it’s so fast that in Auto mode you will not even notice climbing from first to seventh, while in manual mode – and I mean when you decide when to change gear because you want to use the engine revs at your own pace – it’s as if you take and move it on a vertical axis, given the sense of speed you will be able to experience. Do not think I’m exaggerating, trust me if I say that only a few roads (and above all people) will be able to ground the entire skills of the 488. The only simple thing to understand here is that the paint is red, because everything else should be lived to be really understood. If on the straight it’s a rocket on take-off, it corners like a high speed train hugging the rails without the slightest uncertainty: you’re wrapped in soft seats and at the same time you physically read the width of a bend. Widening the rear is not a joke and requires a certain amount of courage (and madness) but when you go beyond the rear tire grip threshold and you realize that it just takes a bit in order to move the 488 back exactly where you want, you feel a baby Vettel – even keeping your lane, with the front splitter pointing the grass on the roadside and the rear diffuser that dusts the midline. Crazy, I was not prepared for a similar adrenaline dose.
Unfortunately I know that I’ll have to hand over it back to the factory – that’s why I jumped lunch, snack, and the unspecified amount of coffee I usually get. At some point I feel ready to stop and look at it: I do it with different eyes, I do it with the awareness of what it is capable of doing and not just what it represents. And while the exhaust tick blends with the cooling fan noise, I’m contemplating the red engine block because it’s the color it should have and the color you would expect. The air above the engine bay shakes for the heat and within me I feel that I would like to find a way to capture these feelings, not only writing them, nor even through photos or videos – I would be able to turn emotions and satisfaction into a real form and keep it, but it is not possible. I’m not ready for that, I’m not as good as the 488, she would surely succeed. But I’m sure these caresses to the heart will never go away, because driving a Ferrari is special, but doing it in Maranello is something that changes you. And every time it happens, it transforms you, as if giving you a pinch of that magic, allowing you to be part of something big, that dream that as a child you thought it would always be just a beautiful dream. And instead it is reality, a reality that shapes a piece of heart, that most beautiful part of it, that red and beating part that indelibly marks those days that remain imprinted inside us for the rest of our lives.
FERRARI 488 GTB (2017-)
Layout – mid-rear engine, rear wheel drive
Engine – V8 cylinder 3.902cc – twin-turbo
Transmission – 7-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 670 hp @ 8.000 rpm
760 Nm @ 3.000 rpm
Weight – 1.445 kg
Acceleration – 3 sec.
Top Speed – 330 kph
Price – from € 212.155
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