Ferrari is upping the performance ante once again, some 40 years after the debut of the Prancing Horse’s first mid-rear-engine V-8 production model, the 308 GTB.
The latest supercar to roll out of Maranello, Italy, is the Ferrari 488 GTB, which the Italian automaker says “provides track-level performance that can be enjoyed to the full even by non-professional drivers in everyday use. Its response times, nimbleness and on-the-limit driving guarantee a unique sense of exhilaration and unparalleled driving pleasure.”
Believe it.
Power comes from a 3.9-liter, turbocharged engine that produces 661 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. Ferrari specs show zero to 100 kilometers per hour acceleration — 0-62 miles per hour — in 3 seconds flat with 0-200 km/h taking just 8.3 seconds. Top speed is 330 km/h, just a tick over 200 mph. We’re talking seriously fast here.
Oh, and the new motor isn’t just powerful. It’s on song, too.
“As is always the case, Ferrari's engineers have dedicated great attention to perfecting the 488 GTB's sound, creating a new soundtrack that is full, clear and totally distinctive, as expected from any Prancing Horse engine,” Ferrari states in its release.
Ferrari won’t actually show the car in the flesh until next month’s Geneva Auto Show, nor has it released an MSRP, but you can bet this 488 GTB will be sold out in short order.
Aerodynamics play a key factor in the car’s performance, with Ferrari saying the 488 GTB’s drag is reduced while at the same time it produces 50 percent more downforce than the previous model. Add it up, and the 488 GTB sets a record for aerodynamic efficiency among production Ferrari models.
As you would expect with a high-tech, high-performance car, electronics are state-of-the art as well.
Or as Ferrari states, “The evolved version of Ferrari's side slip angle control system (Side Slip Control 2 – SSC2) is more precise and less invasive, providing greater longitudinal acceleration out of corners. Aside from integrating with car's F1-Trac and E-Diff, the SSC2 now also controls the active dampers, which renders the car's dynamic behavior during complex maneuvers even flatter and more stable.”
The styling is distinctive, too, resembling a Ferrari 458 Italia on steroids. The dominant visual cues are the wide rear fenders with multiple air intakes per side. The interior is high-tech as well, looking like the most comfortable Formula One cockpit ever.
While we don’t all the details of the Ferrari 458 GTB quite yet, we do know this much: It’s pretty badass. And that makes it good enough to be our Cool Car of the Day.
