After introducing the 488 Pista Coupe and the Pista Piloti special edition reserved to Ferrari’s client racing drivers, the squad from Maranello has now chopped off the car’s roof. The new 488 Pista Spider represents the 50th droptop model launched by the Prancing Horse and utilises the company’s most powerful V8 engine ever made.
Rekindle with the coupe
At the heart of the new 488 Pista Spider is the winner of the 2018 International Engine of the Year Awards, a twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8 with 720bhp and 568lb-ft of torque. The advantage the new Spider has over the coupe is that you can take the top off to hear the symphony of the V8, which has earned the title for the Best Engine for the third consecutive year.
In terms of performance, the 0-62 mph sprint time of 2.85 seconds mirrors that of the coupe, while the run from a standstill to 124 mph is completed in 8 seconds or 0.4s more than the version with the fixed roof. Flat out, it will do a coupe-matching 211 mph.
Because of the roof’s increased complexity, the new Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is approximately 91 kilograms heavier than the coupe, but that’s the price to pay for having a roof that can be lowered to better hear the V8’s soundtrack.
If you’re worried about the convertible supercar putting on a few kilos, there’s an optional one-piece carbon fibre wheels set shaving off 20 percent of weight compared to the standard diamond-finish 20-inch alloy wheels. To keep the weight in check, Ferrari removed the carpets and replaced them with patterned aluminium footplates while the driver’s door handle is nothing more than a simple strap.
As with the coupe, its convertible counterpart gets a cool body stripe extending from front to rear to mimic the airflow and make the car look even prettier.
Pricing details have not been disclosed, but you can imagine the 488 Pista Spider is more expensive than the coupe.
Gallery: Ferrari 488 Pista Spider
Pebble Beach world premiere for the new Special Series
The 50th drop-top model from the Maranello marque
Maranello, 25 August 2018 – The Prancing Horse’s new Special Series model, the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider, has been unveiled during the world-famous Concours d’Elegance® at Pebble Beach in California.
The Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is the 50th drop-top model from the Prancing Horse and a premiere in the US was a natural choice given that, ever since the 1950s, North American clients have always been keen connoisseurs of high-performance convertibles.
The new car sets a new benchmark for Ferrari for spider performance with an unprecedented weight-power ratio of 1.92 kg/cv. A result made possible by the adoption of the most powerful Ferrari V8 engine ever, which was recently named Best Engine in the world for the third consecutive year at the 2018 International Engine of the Year Awards. The 3902cc twin-turbo V8 unleashes 720 cv and combines that power with increasing torque at all engine speeds for continuous and unending acceleration all the way to the red line. The unique engine sound is now even more riveting thanks to the open-top configuration.
The Ferrari 488 Pista Spider represents the natural development of the defining design of the coupé version. The Ferrari designers’ primary objective was to maintain unaltered the perfect marriage of aerodynamic efficiency, purity of form and racing spirit.
This concept is underlined by the characteristic central livery which runs the whole length of the car, expanding towards the rear where it finishes at the end of the rear wing next to the spoiler. This continual expansion of the stripe recalls the movement of the airflow and exalts the lines of the car.
The philosophy that imposed an uncompromising choice of materials for the bodywork is also revisited in the interior solutions, with weight being saved by the use of lightweight, pared-back components. As well as the generous use of carbon-fibre and Alcantara® throughout, the carpets have been replaced by patterned aluminium foot plates and the driver’s-side door handle is now a simple strap.
In terms of engineering, the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is directly derived from the 488 Pista which encapsulates all the racing experience gathered on world’s circuits with the 488 Challenge and the 488 GTE. As a result, the new Spider offers the highest level yet of technological transfer from the track to a road-legal drop-top car.
The vehicle dynamics honed for this Special Series 8-cylinder convertible deliver a seamless combination of razor-sharp acceleration, braking efficiency, lightning-fast gear shifting, precision steering, grip, stability and superb handling. The result? A completely captivating and unprecedented driving experience. This was achieved thanks partly to the new lateral dynamics control system, the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE), which makes on-the-limit driving more intuitive, controllable and predictable.
The car features new diamond-finish 20” alloy wheels with a novel 10-spoke star-effect interpretation of Ferrari’s traditional mid-rear engine berlinetta-style rims. Also available are the optional one-piece carbon-fibre wheels which offer a 20% weight reduction over the standard forged alloys.