FIRST DRIVE
Ferrari 488 Pista: All hail being beaten up by the best beast
Don’t be impressed just by the extra power — the Ferrari 488 Pista is the most complete sports car of its era, says Michael Taylor
If the 458 Speciale was a damn-near perfect version of the 458, it’s almost impossible to say what the 488 Pista is. Because it’s better — and faster — than the Speciale was. If it’s at all possible, the Pista is delicate, delicious and ferocious all at once. Put simply, it’s as good as sports cars get. My collarbones are still sore to the touch four days after I’d volunteered to be beaten up by the 488 Pista. And I liked it. The most powerful production V8 engine built at Maranello will do that to you and it will, unofficially at least, lap the Fiorano test track every bit as fast as hybrid hypercar LaFerrari. It’s not necessarily the way the sleek two-door launches off the line (all-wheel-drive cars have harder initial launches), though 2.85 seconds to 100km/h is a long way from risible. It launches about as hard as any other rear-driver with licence plates, but that barely matters because the Pista does its heaviest hitting after it’s rolling, sling-shotting towards the next corn...
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