You Don't Understand the Magic of a Ferrari Until You Drive One
I'm sitting still in traffic when the construction worker runs over, enthusiastically gesturing for me to put the window down. I oblige.
"What car is that, it's gorgeous?"
"Ferrari 488." He's not wrong about it being gorgeous. This Spider eschews the traditional Ferrari red exterior and tan interior for a striking bright blue with a black interior. It's mind numbingly lovely.
"How fast is it?"
"Somewhere around 200 mph, but I haven't gone..."
Before I can finish he exclaims "holy shit," tells me to wait a second, basically throws his radio at the ground, and runs to grab his phone to get a few pictures. With a friendly wave, I'm allowed to take off to pilot the rest of the afternoon traffic out of New York City.
This is where you seem to see the majority of Ferraris. Not on a twisty back road. Not carving up a race track. But in a city, sitting in traffic, with excited pedestrians snapping photos. And while the car is perfectly acceptable in city traffic-it's comfortable, it doesn't overheat, it's relatively quiet-it feels like I'm forcing Mark Spitz to do the doggie paddle.
The problem is that there are so many supercar drivers and supercar fans that don't understand the real magic isn't in getting seen in the car in traffic. It isn't even in hitting the top speed. Those two points are irrelevant. What's truly magical about the 488 is how it drives.
Here's the thing with the 488 Spider: It's actually worth the $300,000 price tag. It might even be a bargain. Here's why.
First, the engine is biblical. The old magic of a Ferrari was the high revving crescendo to redline, something that was better than most music. The 458 Italia, the 488's predecessor, revved all the way to 9000 rpm. The turbocharged 488 lowers the redline by 1000 rpm, but it's no less exciting, it just delivers power in a very different way.
That different way? It's always delivering power.
That different way? It's always delivering power. The 458 Italia had 562 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque. The 488 has 661 horsepower, which is huge, and 561 lb-ft of torque. That's the biggest difference in how this car feels.
Naturally aspirated Ferraris of old come to a crescendo, with torque and horsepower much higher in the rev range. Here, the turbos provide shove from what feels like 0 rpm. And while there is little to no lag, the car feels very turbocharged. You can hear the turbo inside the car and you can feel the turbo pushing your eyes into the back of your head. A light acceleration from a stop light easily becomes jail time. Hard acceleration would be enough to escape that jail time and become a fugitive from the law.
So yes, it's devastatingly fast. But a lot of cars are devastatingly fast. A Corvette Z06, for example. That doesn't necessarily make the 488 special, it just makes it quick.
What makes the 488 special is how it handles in general, and how the front end of the car feels specifically.
Many cars feel blunted and mute, like you have to turn the steering wheel forever before the front wheels react and do something. The 488 is the total opposite. Every turn of the wheel, from the most minute adjustment to a large input is reflected with an equally quick movement of the front end. If you're used to driving any other car, then the 488 will take some adjustment. You may initially feel it's darty or nervous. It's not. This is how steering is supposed to feel. You're supposed to feel connected to the road. When you make an adjustment to the wheel, the car is supposed to react.
There are legions of hamfisted drivers who wouldn't know good steering if it was their father.
The reason so many cars have steering that isn't talkative or quick is because there are legions of hamfisted drivers who wouldn't know good steering if it was their father. They'd say it was too quick, it made the car unstable, they didn't like it. Hogwash. The 488 has steering so quick and a front end so connected that it can make anything this side of a McLaren 570S feel lethargic and distant.
When you approach a corner in the 488, a small turn of the wheel equals a reaction so immediate from the front tires that you think the rear tires might not be able to cope. But they do without any issue. And if you exceed the limit of grip, the breakaway isn't terrifying, which you'd also expect. The 488 is downright friendly at the limit.
It's a rare car that feels like this, and there are barely any below this price that combine every single one of these attributes. The Miata has the same sort of handling chops, but no matter how hard you drive it or how much you love it, the 488 would leave the little Mazda for dead on any road or track. A Corvette Z06 has the monster power, but it doesn't feel as sharp as the 488.
The shock is that a car that is $300,000 costs that much because it's actually worth it. You may see one of the street and think that it isn't that great of a car, that the person only bought it to be seen in. That may be true, but if they ever do drive it hard, they'll have a car that's used every single on of the dollars they paid for it in engineering.
Just hope they don't complain that the steering is too quick.
