Ferrari 488 Pista Quickly Approaches Hypercar Territory
With a top speed of 211 and an engine that makes 710 horsepower, the Ferrari 488 Pista has the goods.
Ferrari’s new 488 Pista represents a bit of a head-scratcher. Not because of it’s increased performance over the 488 GTB, but because of where it sits in today’s automotive world. It’s certainly surpassed the expected norm of supercars, so does that essentially make it a hypercar?
One could argue that a supercar should have more horsepower than the 710 you get from the Pista, especially considering the current competition. But it wasn’t that long ago when the Pagani Huayra, unmistakably a hypercar, was put before our eyes, and that came out with only 10 more horsepower than this Ferrari.
Perhaps, even with its dual clutch paddle shift gear box, the 488 Pista could be seen as the last “pure” hypercar. Relying only on its 3.9 liter twin-turbo V8 engine. Sean Carson from Auto Express notes that engine has been significantly enhanced from the one you get in the GTB, saying, “with the torque that you get from the engine now, the punch you get out of corners is absolutely astonishing.”
Changes to the engine give it a 50 horsepower boost from 660 horsepower in the GTB. A lighter flywheel, lighter crankshaft and titanium connecting rods all work together to lower rotational mass, allowing it to rev freely “just like it were naturally-aspirated,” says Carson. But additionally, there’s faster spooling twin scroll turbos as well. All in an effort to bring back some liveliness that was a cause of much attention with the 488. Essentially, the Pista has been almost completely re-engineered by Ferrari.
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Of course, for this car’s name sake, it’s not just road manners that matter. It needs to work on a race track, like Ferrari’s own Fiorano Circuit. Given the 200 pound weight advantage over the 488 GTB, Carson says “exploiting the car’s beautiful balance is even easier. But it’s not just one area [of improvement] that makes the Pista such a joy to drive. Every part works in harmony, which means this special series Ferrari is exactly that.”
Exotic materials, extreme engineering and incredible pace? Sure sounds like a hypercar to us.
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