180mph19.8s
170mph16.5s
160mph13.7s
150mph11.9s
140mph10.3s
130mph8.9s
120mph- 6 s
1106.5s
0 10s30mph 40 50 60 70 80 90 1001.4s 1.92.3 2.83.4s 4.0s 4.8s 5.6s
30mph-0 50mph-0 70mph-0- 5 m 20.2m 37.4m
0 10m 20m 30m180mph19.8s
170mph15.4s
160mph12.5s
150mph10.8s
140mph9.3s
130mph8.1s
120mph7.1s
1106.2s
0 10s30mph 40 50 60 70 80 90 1001.7s 2.1 2.6 3.1 3.6 4.2s 4.8s 5.5s
Start/finish
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
T7
Start/finish
T1
T2T4
T3
T5
T6T7
T8
30mph-0 50mph-0 70mph-0- 0 m 19.4m 37.7m
0 10m 20m 30mTra ck n otes
ROAD TEST
7 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 39
similar bumps under braking and
w he n it sl ip s sl i g ht l y side w ay s u nde r
big applications of power as you cross
cambers or painted road markings.
A t g r e at e r pa c e on t he r oa d , a nd
even more vividly on the track,
the sheer agility, incisiveness
and handling adjustability of the
Pista’s chassis are nothing short of
incredible. The car feels significantly
overpowered in a way that the
45 8 Sp e c i a le ne v e r d id. It i s at it s
best when driven in ‘CT off’ mode
just below ‘brain-out’ pace, in an
indulgent style that lets you savour
every deliciously precise, controllable
sle w of p ow e r- on ove r s t e e r (a nd t he r e
are always plenty to go around).
Drive it f lat out, for outright lap
time, and the Pista begins to feel a
bit too mobile in its handling; like its
penchant for perfect drifts is slowing
it dow n sl i g ht l y a nd it c ou ld do w it h
greater high-speed stability. The
car certainly doesn’t have that aura
you find in a McLaren Senna which
suggests you could lap it for days on
end without finding the limit of its
grip and speed.
Rather than testing your bravery
and the muscle power in your neck
and thighs, the Pista is a track car
that appeals more to your senses than
some, and that f latters your skill level
and dials up the fun factor. In otherw ord s , it ’s v e r y go o d i nde e d.
COMFORT AND ISOLATION
AAABC
Ferrari reckons that more than half
of Pista owners will use their cars
on t he t r a c k. T he f i r m w i l l t e l l y ou
that the everyday usability of the car
matters a great deal – but you suspect
it w ou ld n’t h av e f i g u r e d h i g h l y
enough to have been allowed to erode
the highly strung, thrill-a-minute
character of this car one iota. And
neither should it have.
And, sure enough, the Pista is
entirely usable in any case. That
wailing V8 settles to a reasonably
civil hum at lower crank speeds,
particularly when you’re using
Sport mode on the manettino, and
although the wheels and suspension
allow plenty of unfiltered road roar
to make its way into the cabin, the
effect isn’t too bad on smoother
surfaces. Drive the Pista fairly gently
and you could tour in it, and hold aconversation with your passenger
without shouting. Drive it more
as Ferrari intended and you’ll
need earplugs to prevent your ears
ringing after a busy couple of hours –
although, even at pace, the noise level
isn’t exactly bothersome.
The car’s B-road ride is certainly
mor e bu si l y r e a c t i v e t h a n i n t he
average supercar and can still seem
terse and even a little bit wooden if
you’re really pressing on, although
it improves with the dampers set to
‘bumpy road’ mode.
BUYING AND OWNING
AAAAA
If this section looks more truncated
than normal, that’s because it’s
s ome w h at a c a de m ic. A s i s s o
common with limited-series Ferraris,
the Pista sold out very soon after its
announcement to the buying public
in 2018. That’s in spite of havingbeen priced at a healthy premium
c ompa r e d w it h s ome r i v a l s.
T h i s c a r w a s a l w ay s l i k e l y t o b e a
very canny buy, just as its predecessor
was. And so it has proved, with a few
of the ‘delivery mileage’ Pistas on the
secondhand market being offered at
prices approaching £400,000.
Ferrari also looks after the
ownership equation of its cars very
well these days, offering a four-year
w a r r a nt y t h at c a n b e e x t e nde d at
extra cost right the way to 15 years,
and throwing in seven years of
scheduled servicing for free. ◊
The Pista is the kind of car to
make any track driving session
unforgettable. Pointy and alert in its
every move, and super-responsive
in almost everything it does, it feels
nimble and balanced in a way to
surpass its every rival. The flipside of
that pervasive nimbleness? Well, the
car didn’t really threaten to beat our
dry handling track lap record, which
speaks to the fact that there isn’t the
ve r y l a st wo r d o n h i g h - s p e e d st a b i l i t y
or aerodynamic downforce here.Driving the car quickly means
dialling down the stability and
traction control systems into ‘CT off’
mode, and adopting a style in which
the car feels habitually on the brink
of oversteer – with its outside rear
wheel always spinning slightly beyond
the limit of traction – and constantly
being ready with smooth and precise
degrees of opposite lock. It’s always
exciting, but it does sometimes feel
as though you’re overdriving the car
rather than getting into the perfect
groove with it.
DRY CIRCUIT
Ferrari 488 Pista
1min 5.3sec
McLaren Senna
1min 3.8sec
z Ferrari’s Wet manettino setting keeps
the often-mobile rear axle settled here
very effectively. Where the 488’s tyres
find standing water, it’s at the front axle –
and it causes manageable understeer.
z Lower temperature is as much of a problem as
standing water for the Cup 2 R tyres. Standard-fit
Cup 2 rubber is better in inclement weather, though.
z There isn’t enough downforce to let you keep the
throttle pinned around T4. Even so, the Pista tops
130mph before braking for T5.z Incredible grip, body control and steering pace get you to the apex of corners
like T3 every time, often with too much speed to avoid some oversteer soon after.
WET CIRCUIT
Ferrari 488 Pista
1min 18.0sec
McLaren Senna
1min 17.7sec
ACCELERATION
McLaren Senna (2018, 20deg C, dry)
Ferrari 488 Pista (24deg C, dry)
BRAKING 60-0mph: 2.34sec
McLaren Senna (2018, 20deg C, dry)
Standing quarter mile 10.4sec at 148.2mph, standing km 18.4sec at 176.9mph, 30-70mph 1.9sec, 30-70mph in fourth 4.1sec
Ferrari 488 Pista (24deg C, dry)
Standing quarter mile 10.5sec at 141.0mph, standing km 18.7sec at 176.8mph, 30-70mph 2.0sec, 30-70mph in fourth 3.5sec