Car UK May 2019

McLaren’s
astonishing
720S still shocks
with its design –
and brilliance

MAY 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 113

ollowing a Ferrari F40

on the road is one of

those views, instantly

recognisable in the

car kingdom: triptych

exhaust outlets, stepped

rows of vents slashed

into the Plexiglas rear

screen, framed through that square spoiler,

and tantalising glimpses through the mesh

grille of the engineering magic within. It’s not

a view you see every day. But today is not an

ordinary day. The F40 belongs to reader Peter

Bullard, and we’re about to swap seats. He’s

contemplating a modern supercar, perhaps to

sit alongside the F40, perhaps even to replace

it, if it’s special enough. A car with a broader

usability envelope than the F40, capable of

short-notice travel into a city centre without

concern, for example, or foul-weather driving

without having to carry out the mother of all

cleaning jobs afterwards.

If there’s a car that can do it, it’s one of these

three. There’s a strong argument that today's

trio are the three greatest driving cars on sale

today. Each represents a high-water mark

even by the stratospheric standards of their

manufacturers.

They share a common thread. Each is a

track-orientated example of an alreay highly

focussed model line, and each employs race-

bred technology that’s far more than mere

marketing speak – both the Ferrari and Porsche,

for example, take engine and aero components

directly from their racing counterparts.

They are all very special. But are any of them

F40 special?

The new option:

Ferrari 488 Pista

O NE Of MARANEllO’s bEst

The Ferrari 488 Pista blew us away when we

first tested it, going on to win CAR’s Sports Car

Giant Test 2018, a prize we don’t dish out lightly.

Driving it on UK roads for the first time hasn’t

dulled its impact.

To drive one is to marvel at the way it

corrupts the laws of physics, to wonder just how

it does it. There’s so much front-end grip the

Ferrari’s apparently impervious to understeer,

and doesn’t so much accelerate as time-travel.

The speedometer is a gigantic digital screen,

white numbers against a black background.

When you’re pressing on and your eyes are out

on stalks, scanning the rapidly approaching

horizon, you’re aware of a vague white blur as

the numbers tick-tick-tick faster than you can

think. At a cruise, the same display proves how

millimetrically precise the throttle response

is. By flexing the sole of your foot against the

pedal you can increase or decrease the speed by

1mph increments, the 710bhp engine entirely

tractable and not in the least bit peaky. The

most powerful production V8 Ferrari’s yet built,

it’s a couple of hundred horsepower to the good

over the also-turbocharged F40.

The steering, too, is uncannily accurate. It

might not brim with feel like his F40’s steering,

but a few metres into our journey Bullard

notices its lack of self-centring effect, and its

immediate response.

‘It’s as sharp as anything, this car,’ he says.

‘Tremendous bite on the brakes immediately,

too, and the gearbox feels as smooth as an old

slush box – we’re already in seventh gear at

30mph. You barely feel any turbo lag at all, even

when you’re just breathing on the throttle.’

Instant response is a huge part of the

Pista powertrain’s character. Race-derived

lightweight internals dramatically reduce

inertia: 18kg has been shed compared with

the regular 488’s engine; the crankshaft alone

weighs 1.7kg less. Variable torque management

gives a feeling of increasing acceleration in

any gear, almost like a naturally-aspirated

engine. There are times when I feel a little

more lag from lower revs in higher gears than I

remember from when we last tested the Pista,

but the powerband is still incredibly broad for

such a highly-tuned engine – and when you’re

into it, it accelerates so dramatically it might

as well be lag-free. What’s equally impressive

is how obedient the Pista is at lower speeds.

Visibility is as good as it gets by supercar

standards, and its adaptive dampers soak up

bumpier stretches of road better than many

exec saloons.

Peter isn’t completely sold on the interior,

and it's hard to disagree having just stepped

from the F40’s evocative environment of blood-

red bucket seats, analogue dials and kevlar

architecture. ‘I don’t feel like the carbonfibre

trim is necessary. It’s not race-car technology,

or part of the car’s structure like in the F40 – it

just looks like somebody wanted some carbon

in there. The steering wheel is a thing of beauty,

though, even crowded with switchgear.’

Bullard's smiling as we park. ‘What an

annoyingly brilliant sports car,’ he says. ‘Every

input produces a result – and because it’s so

damn clever, every result is a good result.’ There

is a lot of digital cunning going on beneath

the surface in the 488 Pista, with independent

stability-control systems constantly working ⊲

F

The shortlist

The Pista's stability

control systems work

to keep you on the apex

and out of the scenery