Ferrari 488 GTB is the stuff of legend…

Ferrari 488 GTB

I’m somewhere in southern Wisconsin with the sun setting behind rolling hills. Holsteins stand placidly, waiting for their dinner bell.

The cows could care less about the little red blur I’m driving and the shattering noise the Ferrari 488 GTB is trailing in its wake.

Riding shotgun is my friend Tim Roberts, owner if this 488. Grinning from ear to ear, Tim is constantly urging faster.  He knows these roads, so what the hell.

Another pull at the right paddle, then another, while the red lights do their progressive dance at the top of the steering wheel, alerting me that I’ve got another upshift coming.

Forget what you read about 2.9 seconds to 60 MPH, or a 203 MPH top speed.  Driving the Ferrari 488 GTB is sitting 10 feet from the stage at an Iron Maiden concert. It’s watching the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. It’s your first real kiss as a youth.

Some of that has to do with the new twin-turbo 3.9-liter V-8 and the 100 HP the Ferrari 488 gained over the older 458.

Ferrari 488 GTB

But more importantly, the 488 turbocharged engine produces huge gains in torque way down at the bottom of the rev range.  Plant your right foot at any speed and it’s explosive acceleration that would leave the 458 in its dust.

Of course, the engineers at Ferrari have packed the 488 with the newest technology and advanced aerodynamics, and I’m certain that all translates into sharper cornering and faster braking on the track.

Ferrari 488 GTB

But the Ferrari 488 is just so much more than its predecessors. Gone is the twitchy feel of the 458 or the nervousness of the 458 Serie Speciale.  In its place, Ferrari has built a sensationally  useable car, and one sports car enthusiasts wait in line to buy.

Part magic, part myth, the reason the 488 is so good is that the package transcends the cold hard numbers that every publication is so quick to quote.

The Black Prancing Horse

Driving the Ferrari 488, and Ferraris to come, makes you part of a legend stretching back to 1949. Seated behind the most famous logo in the world, you’re connected to a history of wins and losses, scandals, an autocratic owner, and legions of people that have lived and died, behind that Black Prancing Horse.

Not the fastest sports car, certainly not the most expensive, the Ferrari 488 simply runs away from everything else when it comes to excitement, romance, and glamour.

Thanks again to Tim Roberts for always being so generous with his time and cars.

Dave