It isn’t like Ferrari to miss an opportunity to celebrate its heritage. Its most recent front-engined GT is literally called 12 Cylinder, after all. But having produced some legendary mid-engined, V8 road racers, a wonderful chapter of Maranello history was closed, by its standards, fairly unceremoniously. The F8 Tributo, despite its name, didn’t follow its predecessors with a derivative that replicated the past by stripping weight and increasing power. With that car now gone and the 296 GTB assuming its place, the final eight-cylinder, flat-plane-crank berlinetta was the sensational 488 Pista. We just didn’t know it was in the moment. Time, then, to usher the grand finale of Ferrari V8 track cars into the register of PH Heroes.
The back catalogue of road-legal, track-ready Ferrari V8s is out of this world. The 348 GT Competizione, much like its Porsche 964 RS contemporary, wasn’t really understood at the time, being too intense and too demanding for most customers back then - only to be adored 30-odd years later as a properly hardcore Ferrari V8. The F355 that followed never really received the same treatment, surely as a result. Some people made the Challenge race car street legal, and there was a very rare Fiorano Handling Pack at the end of its life, but nothing really like the car before - or the icons that followed.
The 360 Challenge Stradale remains the early-00s pin-up of the breed, equipped as lavishly as a glider yet blessed with gorgeous handling alongside a V8 loud enough to wake the dead. The 430 Scuderia that followed in 2007 was arguably even greater, perfecting the automated manual and introducing the Bumpy Road setting to the racetrack refugees for truly thrilling on-road thrills. Then came the 2015 Speciale, taking power to more than 600hp and boasting technology like Slide Slip Control to make the driver feel heroic at the national speed limit.
The Pista was announced at the Geneva motor show in 2018, the apotheosis of the turbocharged 488. By then stripping out and boosting up supercars obviously wasn’t new but, Ferrari being Ferrari, it took things to another level. Weight was reduced by 90kg to just 1,280kg dry with extensive use of carbon fibre, and the GTE/Challenge race car influence extended beyond the S-Duct and punchier rear diffuser: the crank was lighter, the exhaust manifolds were made from Inconel, the intake plenum was carbon and the con-rods titanium. For 720hp at 8,000rpm - this was no mere GTB remap. The burly 568lb ft torque maximum only arrived in seventh gear, the torque limited in first to sixth to make the Pista feel more naturally aspirated. Nobody else did that.
The chassis was less of a focus than aerodynamics for the Pista. There was 20 per cent more downforce at 124mph - 240kg - for only two per cent more drag, with a rear spoiler 30mm higher and 40mm longer than a 488. The ride height was a tad lower, the springs stiffer, the dampers recalibrated; Michelin Cup 2s were standard. The Pista aimed to take full advantage of the 488's already exceptional chassis.
You hardly need to know any of that when presented with a bright red Ferrari decked out like a race car. Even as a cynical car journalist, there’s not much more exciting on four (carbon) wheels than a mid-engined Maranello rocketship. This example, generously loaned to PH by Alexander’s Prestige, is even more special than most Pistas as a Piloti Ferrari edition. Following the 488 GTE’s World Endurance Championship triumphs in 2017 - a Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ title - Ferrari announced a Tailor Made Pista at Le Mans 2018; the Pilotis, appropriately enough, were offered to the 488 racing drivers. This 2019 example is one of just 40 made, with a livery inspired by the AF Corse #72 488 GTE and signed by racer Davide Rigon. You’ll have your own views on race car liveries on road cars (an opinion we’ll probably agree on) though with just 3,000 miles to its name in five years this is about as close to a brand-new Pista as it’s now possible to get.
Even with some prior experience of a 211mph, 720hp, mid-engined Ferrari, it’s amazing just how docile a Pista can be. Everything written about the really fast supercars suggests it’ll need the reactions of a fighter pilot and the guts of a deep sea fisherman to take full advantage, yet this is borderline cuddly. The DCT could shame many a torque converter, the ride is magic carpet quality - aided by carbon wheels here in collaboration with the ceramic brakes - and the interior makes considerably more sense than a modern Ferrari cabin because the buttons are actually buttons. Don’t be fooled by the livery or the half-finished interior - track-focused road cars come little more agreeable.
Truthfully, the impression at ordinary speeds is of a Cayman or Emira rival, such is the feeling of agility, compactness and approachability. There’s stunning pliancy in the Bumpy Road suspension mode, wonderful pedal feel to meter out exactly how violently you’ll start or stop, and steering that, though very fast, does offer a modicum of a feel. It’s a red Ferrari that’ll do more than 200mph - it’s quite obviously a supercar - yet it engages like your favourite mid-engined sports car at normal speeds. Quite some party trick.
But there's no party trick quite like lighting the blue touch paper on a Ferrari V8. Lag wasn’t entirely eliminated for this turbo installation (despite the claims) yet no similarly configured engine feels so natural, so urgent as the F154 3.9. A McLaren or AMG V8 feels borderline lazy by comparison, such is the way the Pista reacts to the throttle pedal, be that at 2,000rpm or four times that. Even now, the performance is utterly outrageous; 720hp will always produce that, yet Ferrari was seemingly very keen for its headline figure to be exploited: ratios are short, the shifts as fast as a sequential, the delivery of the power encouraging the use of every single last rev. Only Maranello could produce a twin-turbocharged engine of such effervescence and such joy. Even sounds quite good. As the 296 has proved with hybridisation, there really is very little to fear from new tech when Ferrari is approaching it.
Combine a chassis of such exquisite quality with a powertrain from the gods and the Pista makes for absorbing, exhilarating company. Even on the road. Prior experience on track, complete with Loctite-spec Cup 2Rs, revealed a Ferrari that’d best all the lap times from any competitor. And outskid them all as well. The genius of this car is in making so much power feel appropriate, and one of the less forgiving chassis configurations seem so approachable. Everything about the 488 Pista feels tailored to ensure the driver has the most fun possible, with CT Off - one step up from Race on the Manettino, one down from ESC off - perfectly judging its inputs to make you feel like one of those Pilotis this car is named after at any occasion. Nothing else with more than seven hundred horsepower and two driven wheels makes reaching the limits feel so accessible or so exploitable.
That the Ferrari does this while feeling entirely authentic, rather than some contrived, drift mode-enabled sports car, is just another trait that guarantees it Hero status. However you want to drive, the wizardry of the 488 Pista makes it exceptional. From urban dawdling to lap time smashing to larking about like it’s an old BMW, there really is little better. Maybe the new eight-speed DCT is even sharper still, and maybe the 9,000rpm Speciale enthralls to another level again, but rest assured the accidental farewell to the V8 track stars is more than fitting. It’s magnificent - fun at all speeds, vividly fast and very obviously a compelling driver’s car.
There’s a price to pay for the privilege, understandably enough. A 488 Pista still commands more than a quarter of a million on the used market, despite both the F8 Tributo and 296 GTB having arrived since 2018. You’re looking at nearer £300k for one with a four-figure mileage, and a bit on top for a Spider. Incredibly enough, 10 per cent of the Pilotis ever made are for sale on PH at the time of writing, all commanding at least £440,000. That specification is probably one for the Ferrari aficionados, really, but the Pista itself is a Maranello masterpiece for the ages: awesomely fast, spectacular to behold, and - perhaps most importantly of all - an absolute riot even when the limit is 70mph. Bring on that 296 Speciale, or whatever it’s called. This is an awe-inspiring act to follow.
SPECIFICATION | FERRARI 488 PISTA
Engine: 3,902cc, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 720@8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 568@3,000rpm (in 7th gear)
0-62mph: 2.9sec
Top speed: 211mph
Weight: 1,385kg
MPG: 23.9
CO2: 263g/km
On sale: 2018-2020
Price new: from £252,765
Price now: from £250,000
Huge thanks to Alexander’s Prestige for their help with this feature. The glorious 488 Pista Piloti is for sale here, and its stocklist is available here
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