By: Dave Abrahams
Johannesburg - To paraphrase the classic airport announcement, "Flight 488 GTB from Maranello has just landed."
Almost exactly 40 years after the launch of Ferrari's first mid-rear-engined V8, the iconic 308, Ferrari's new two-seater zooms in to South Africa at a ticket price of R4.2 million, depending on the current state of our yo-yo currency, and excluding options.
As is traditional with Ferrari, the first two digits of the model nomenclature refer to the size of the engine, and the third to the number of cylinders. Thus the 308 had a 3.0 litre V8, the 512 a five-litre flat 12, etc.
Only in this case La Scuderia has fallen into the BMW/Mercedes trap. The 48 refers not to the displacement of the engine - in reality a 3902cc, 90 degree turbo V8 for which the maker quotes 492kW at 8000 revs and 750Nm at 3000rpm in seventh gear - but to what its capacity would have to be, in order to produce the same outputs without the benefit of forced induction.
It would have been more honest to call it a 398T - but that wouldn't have the same cachet. The GTB stands for Gran Turismo Berlinetta - a berlinetta being defined as a lightweight coupé with just two seats, rather than a 2+2.
Driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed paddle4 shift F1 transaxle and electronically limited-slip differential, it'll launch the 488 from standstill to 100km/h in three seconds flat and on to 200 in 8.3 - about the same as it took the 1985 308 to get to 100.
But power is nothing without control; not every Ferrari customer is a professional racing driver, and anything with that much performance on a dry weight of just 1370kg will bite if mishandled.
RACING KNOW-HOW
Ferrari brought decades of Formula One and endurance racing know-how to bear on the chassis and aerodynamic design, but the real test-bed for the 488 was the FXX, in which wealthy amateurs of varying levels of skills were invited to participate in a track-only development programme.
Thus the 488's torque vectoring system, which brakes individual wheels to keep the car going in the direction in which its nose is pointed, is not only integrated with the e-diff, but also controls the adaptive suspension, stiffening the dampers on the outside wheels in hard cornering, in front under braking and at the rear during acceleration, to make the car much more forgiving when pushed to the limit.
That keeps the car flat on the road for maximum stability, while the variable boost management system reduces peak torque in the lower gears to modulate wheelspin. Note we didn't say prevent; this is, after all, a Ferrari.
The 488's deceptively clean styling belies the enormous amount of aerodynamic research that went into its shape, including a (patented) blown rear spoiler, and an underbody with vortex generators, derived from the 458 GT. All of which combines to generate 325kg of downforce at 250km/h.
The 488 GTB is available at launch in two standard colour schemes: a metallic red with interior trim in black and red patterned fabric, and a muted silvery grey with black and beige leather trim.
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