Special, if not actually Speciale: Ferrari 488 Spider, first drive, CAR+ December 2015

Updated: 31 March 2016

What about those side scoops, do you like them? We had reservations, but they work in the flesh

► We drive the new Ferrari 488 Spider
► Topless model gives you best of both worlds
► Chasing the redline thrill of 458s past…

The new Ferrari 488 Spider eases itself into gigantic, monstrous speed like a greased frog slipping into a bath of warm milk. No splosh, no drama, just a sudden flash of slithery movement, and with a deep croak you’re gone, up the road, disappeared. All it takes is a flex of your right foot, and the response is instant and overwhelming; a tsunami of torque scoops you forwards in an irresistible lunge. You sense the effortless nature of it, the lack of resistance, as though the weight of the car, the buffeting air, the raw physics of it all are casually swept aside by this titanic engine.

Compared to this slipperiness, the outgoing 458 Speciale was like riding a wasp through the gas cloud of an erupting volcano. The new 488 is a very different car.

Ach! Tsk tsk Mark! Ferrari will be mad with you for making that comparison! ‘This is not the new Speciale,’ they kept saying on the Spider launch, held about 80 miles south of Maranello. And they’re right, of course: this isn’t a hardcore, stripped-back racer-for-the-road, this is the Spider, the Hollywood Hills Ferrari, the Kings Road cruiser. In most territories (including the UK) it will account for more than half of 488s sold, and since the arrival of the folding hardtop (introduced in the 458 and continued in the new car) it’s been fast gaining popularity. And you can see why – it weighs only 50kg more than the 488 GTB, it has the same engine, the same 0-62mph time of 3.0 seconds, the same suspension, the same aluminium chassis… but if the sun shines you can drop the roof in 14 seconds. Spiders, Ferrari tells us, are driven further than coupes, on average, and Spider drivers are more likely to have their partners alongside for the trip. Usable and civilised, and nothing like the Speciale at all.

But hard luck Ferrari, because I’m going to continue making the 458 comparison, for three reasons. First, because the Speciale was the last Ferrari I drove, so I can’t help myself; second, when I wrote that story (CAR, October 2014) I described it as ‘Peak Ferrari’, saying no car would ever match it, ever, from now to the end of time – a bold statement I feel I need to refer to. And finally, because the Speciale was – as every enthusiast knows – the final iteration of the normally aspirated V8, and the 488 Spider is a turbo. So is it better or worse?

All you 458 owners out there will feel right at home. Manettino dial remains the key to the kingdom

Well, as I say, there’s no escaping, it is different. Before I drove the new Spider, Ferrari gave us a technical briefing with a slideshow, and when you see the power and torque of this 3.9- litre turbo overlaid above the 458’s 4.5-litre V8, it really hits home. The lines on the graph were like spaghetti – not just because peak power is up from 562 to 661bhp, and torque is up from 398lb ft to a whopping 560lb ft, it’s also the way it delivers. Ferrari has gone to great lengths to eliminate lag in the 488, using fancy bearings and titanium alloys in the turbocharger. So peak torque – and I mean Bentley-style gobfuls of the stuff – is available from just 3000rpm. No wonder it takes off like a wet amphibian. And just as the engine characteristics are so different, that in turn changes the way you drive.

Some things haven’t changed. The new Spider looks awesome – I had reservations about those side scoops when I first saw the pictures, but in the metal they look the business. The interior is a tweak on the 458, still brilliant and full of character. But drop that roof and you hear the changes as you start up – the engine has a deeper note, more like a burble than a mechanical whirr. Once you’re rolling, that burble becomes a trombone, rising with that immediate torque – and no, there is no lag. But the way the torque comes in has a strange effect – I found myself short-shifting, pulling the paddle earlier in the rev range to change up, riding the torque. In the 458 – and especially the Speciale – each gear was wrung out to the redline, just for the electrifying noise and drama you got at the higher revs. That kind of excitement is missing from the new turbo V8. Okay, it is mind-boggling fast – I mean, terrifyingly, brutally fast, borderline too fast on these roads, with corner after corner coming at you like targets in an arcade game. With so many hairpins, so much steering lock and so much torque, the traction control was blinking constantly, a silent indicator of the gargantuan torque available. I turned the traction control off with the little manettino switch on the steering wheel, and sure enough the 488 will oversteer out of any corner, anywhere, second or third gear, uphill or downhill, eyes tight shut or wide open in terror. Thankfully, the gorgeously balanced and supple chassis, along with that super-fast and accurate steering, allow you to gather it up in a lovely arc, but you have to be seriously on your toes.

Again, this kind of casual oversteer is different to the outgoing 458, which would slide but only with more deliberation, more revs and more commitment. The 488 is a drift monster, as well as a cruiser.

So it’s different – but what about better or worse? That’s like asking, do you want to ride a wasp or a warm, buttered frog? Personally I’m a wasp man: I loved the 458 Italia because it was spine-tingling, in a way I don’t feel the 488 Spider is; and I still stand by my claim that the Speciale was the best Ferrari for all eternity. But that doesn’t mean the new 488 Spider isn’t a mind-blowing experience, and a sensational car to drive. It simply isn’t a 458.

And 14 seconds later it looks like this. Roof up or down, it’s one beautifully proportioned Italian

The specs: Ferrari 488 Spider

Price: £204,400
Engine: 3902cc 32v twin-turbo V8, 661bhp @ 8000rpm, 560lb ft @ 3000rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 3.0sec 0-62mph, 203mph, 24.8mpg, 260g/km CO2
Weight: 1525kg
On sale: Now