The 710bhp Ferrari 488 Pista Is Officially Here At Last

It’s finally here! It has carbonfibre wheels, the same official power output as a McLaren 720S and has more downforce than ever. Brace for lap time shootouts
The 710bhp Ferrari 488 Pista Is Officially Here At Last

Welcome to the embodiment of old-school Ferrari at its modern finest. The 488 Pista has finally been released officially, and its spec sheet makes for one hell of a read.

Let’s start with the output. Some 710bhp comes from the most powerful V8 Ferrari has ever made – 50bhp more than the standard 3.9-litre unit thanks to the likes of Inconel exhaust manifolds, a lightweight crankshaft and flywheel, titanium con-rods and carbonfibre intake plenums, variously derived from the 488 GTE and Challenge racers.

The 710bhp Ferrari 488 Pista Is Officially Here At Last

Torque is ‘higher at all [engine] speeds’ says Ferrari, peaking at 568lb ft with faster throttle response than ever. It’s louder and more ferocious on the ear, too, in all gears and at all speeds. We like. That makes it good for a 0-62mph sprint in a bonkers-fast but slightly anal 2.85 seconds, with a 211mph top speed.

But power is nothing without, err, aerodynamics. The ‘F1-inspired’ S-duct and front diffusers are part of a package that increases the downforce by 20 per cent. The rear ‘blown’ spoiler is higher and wider, above a new GTE-sourced ‘double-kink’ rear diffuser.

The 710bhp Ferrari 488 Pista Is Officially Here At Last

Despite all that, the Pista is designed to be fully exploitable even by people who aren’t quite Ferrari test driver standard. Version six of the company’s Side-Slip Angle Control, or SSC 6.0, manages the electronically-controlled differential, F1-Trac, the magnetorheological suspension and, for a Ferrari first, the brake pressure at individual wheels. It’s all designed to help you avoid ending up in the gravel.

Ferrari says it’s now easier (for a confident driver) to get to the car’s limits and exploit its handling behaviour at ten tenths – and beyond. The tyres are bespoke Michelin track-focused items, and they have an impressive 90kg less weight to handle.

The 710bhp Ferrari 488 Pista Is Officially Here At Last

The Pista clocks a dry weight of just 1280kg. Part of that is new carbonfibre wheels that cut 40 per cent out of the alloy hoops you’ll find on the 488 GTB. When it finally arrives in the real world, we can look forward to very many shootouts between this, the 911 GT2 RS and the McLaren 720S. Bring it on!

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Comments

Anonymous

But it was leaked earlier and now it is released just wow

02/21/2018 - 11:00 |
0 | 0
₩!Ź@ŔĐ Transit supervan

488 pista vs 911 GT2RS vs huracan performante vs 720s , maybe throw in the new zr1 and the ford gt in there as well . Somebody please make it happen .

02/21/2018 - 11:01 |
274 | 46

Pretty sure the GT2 RS will dominate and Ford GT will lag behind (sorry) but 488 Pista vs Perfomante/720S would be interesting to watch

02/21/2018 - 11:07 |
24 | 0

It’s weird to say, but the GT would already be a bit obsolete

02/21/2018 - 12:57 |
8 | 0
Tomislav Celić

Am I the only one who sees the Pista as more of a Aventador SV rival than the Performante rival?

02/21/2018 - 11:06 |
2 | 8

Both the 488 and huracan are the ‘baby’ ferrari and lamborghini respectively . While the aventador and 812 are the top/most expensive models, even though both the aventador and 812 are slower than their smaller brothers . IMO the aventador SV’s Rival is/was the f12 tdf now that the f12 tdf’s gone the SV has no real rival until the the track focused version of the 812 comes out .

02/21/2018 - 11:18 |
2 | 0

i think so, yes

02/21/2018 - 11:18 |
2 | 0

The sv is probably a tad too heavy compared to the huracan, hence the nurburg ‘discuted’ lap time.

02/21/2018 - 12:18 |
0 | 0
CannedRex24

totally surprised!

i soo did not expect this car

02/21/2018 - 11:18 |
0 | 0
⫷Mr N.F.S⫸

Oh shit, Ferrari have found Enzo’s old drug stash

02/21/2018 - 11:39 |
18 | 0
Szymek Slusarczyk

that is absolutely freaking gorgeous, I can’t wait to see them doing laps around Harrods

02/21/2018 - 11:43 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Official 488 pista reveal, (2018)

02/21/2018 - 12:06 |
0 | 8
overdose of torque (Mclaren squad)

I just pista my pants when i read this..

02/21/2018 - 12:13 |
36 | 2

I laughed wayyy too hard at this 😂😂

02/21/2018 - 12:29 |
2 | 2
Ian.L

Why does Ferrari’s special models always only match the base Mclarens? (in terms of performance anyway)

02/21/2018 - 12:15 |
4 | 2
Nobody

In reply to by Ian.L

Because they refuse to be relevant

02/22/2018 - 22:40 |
2 | 0
ᴶᵘˢᵗᴬᴿᵃⁿᵈᵒá

Looks like a track beast

02/21/2018 - 12:26 |
0 | 0