Roamers | The F8 Tributo Still Is The Ferrari I’d Want

12 February 2024 Redazione Experience, News, Supercars Lounge

Words Alessandro Marrone / Photo Jay Tomei

Ok, let’s face it, when we talk about supercars and more precisely about Ferrari, combining any model with strong emotions is as easy as getting dirty by putting your hands in the jam jar. After all, the times of the various 348 and 208 are far away and today, even the so-called entry level is represented – the Portofino – by a car capable of messing up your organs with a more consistent than usual pressure on the throttle. There are many models on the list and with the arrival of the Roma and especially the Purosangue, the possibilities of driving your Ferrari every day and in any circumstances have increased exponentially. However, it is those hardcore models that continue to redefine the concept of an accelerated heartbeat, those editions that are even more special and that take the excellent starting point to transform it into a car for those who buy a Ferrari for a very specific reason: adrenaline.

The 360 Challenge Stradale, the F430 Scuderia – oh my, what a sound this got – 458 Speciale and 488 Pista. All the non plus ultra of performance made in Maranello. All a step above the more civilized counterpart and at the same time a constant step forward in the evolution of the species, however preventing the previous model to get old. A result achieved thanks to engineering innovations that make each one totally different from the other, allowing them to shine of their own light like the first day you had the good fortune and honor of resting your back on that seat. But today I don’t want to talk about any of them, but rather give space to a more silent hero, the one that doesn’t wear cape or mask. Otherwise it would be too easy to fall in love with it. Today I find myself in my office, with a cup of hot milk placed in front of the window overlooking the heavy snow raging outside. It’s one of those ideal moments for two things: staying in bed, or thinking back to some amazing moments experienced thanks to this exceptional job.

And that’s precisely when it comes back to me, it does it more than the others and surprisingly more than the aforementioned “specials”. It’s the F8, regardless of whether it’s Spider like the one of the test that I’m reliving in my mind, or Tributo, the counterpart with a fixed roof. That day three years ago I reached Maranello with the awareness that I would be dealing with the natural evolution of the 488 GTB, the one that had marked the transition from the naturally aspirated 458 Italia to the twin-turbo, but things went differently than imagined. The F8 captured me with its similar lines, but so different from the previous model. It did it with a yellow bodywork that represents a typical Ferrari color that too few seem to be aware of, the color of Fiorano, the color of speed. If it differed in what might appear to be small details, the reality of the facts was immediately clear to me as soon as I reached the Raticosa Pass, the ideal place in which to realize the actual usability of a 720 horsepower two-seater weighing just one and a half tons.

A handful of curves from the Chalet and I was already lost in love. The power of the V8 is disarming, the thrust is powerful, but it is the chassis that leaves me astounded, regardless of whether it is the Spider version, which with a folding solid roof increases the figure on the scales by a few kilos. You can insert the F8 through the most demanding corners with greater ease than you would with the 488. You feel that the rear follows the road as if it were glued and at the precise moment in which you step on the gas, it shoots forward and gulps down the straighter lines as if it had been fasting since its very first day on this world. There have been no major upheavals regarding the passenger compartment, but the intelligent work carried out in aerodynamic terms has made it possible to guarantee a suction cup effect that makes it possible to get close to the red line of the rev counter without necessarily having to sign your testament. The next moment it quiets down, the exhaust relaxes and that omnipresent pull from the 4.0 biturbo transforms into the most exhilarating way of moving from one point to another. There are cars that leave their mark in a different way, touching chords that we don’t even know we have in our deepest selves. You can try for a long time to give yourself an explanation for all this, but reality is that you may never find it. Maybe it’s just a matter of shivers, the same ones that crawl up my spine when I think ‘bout that F8 Spider.