158 | theceomagazine.com
This Pista is the fourth of the Ferrari
Special Series vehicles (it follows the
Challenge Stradale from 2003, the 430
Scuderia from 2007 and the 458 Speciale
from 2013). And the fabled Italian brand has
saved the very best for last.
Because the Pista – it’s Italian for ‘track’,
not a pasta sauce – isn’t just another
powerful Ferrari. It’s the most powerful
V8 Ferrari of all time. And under that
racing-striped bonnet (the stripe is an
option, by the way, and one that will set you
back a wallet-aching US$14,000) lurks a
twin-turbocharged 3.9-litre powerhouse that
produces a staggering 530kW and 770Nm.
That’s enough to propel you to 100km/h
in just 2.8 seconds, which is so fast it
genuinely hurts. In 7.6 seconds, you’ll have
rocketed past 200km/h. And if you have
steel in your nerves and lead in your foot,
you can keep on climbing until you’re
somewhere north of 340km/h. And then
wander off in search of a stiff drink.To put those numbers into sharper focus,
that’s much faster than the 458 Speciale (3.0
seconds and 9.1 seconds). Or, as one Ferrari
engineer told us, “The 458 was a monster. In
five years, that we’ve been able to reduce
the zero-to-200km/h time by so much really
makes the point of what this Pista is.”
A flat-footed sprint isn’t just exciting,
then, but a little bit terrifying too. And
combined with a thunderous exhaust that
swells like an orchestra mid-crescendo
(Ferrari’s engineers say they shaped and
tuned each pipe the way you might tune an
instrument) as you pile on speed, the whole
experience is wildly addictive.
That astonishing acceleration actually
shrinks the gap between corners to
something rapidly approaching too small,THIS CAR IS TO
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
WHAT A TEXAS
BARBECUE JOINT IS
TO VEGANS – A
SNAPPING, SNARLING,
PERENNIALLY LOUD
AND ALWAYS ANGRY
SUPERCAR THAT
DOESN’T SO MUCH
IGNITE THE SENSES AS
SET OFF A BOMB IN
THE PART OF YOUR
BRAIN USED TO
MEASURE SPEED.