Simply Abu Dhabi XXIV

2 3 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I T hink of the quintessential Ferrari, and it has to be the mid-engined V8s – whether it’s the 458 Italia, the F430, 360, the F355, or even going right back to the car that defined Ferrari for me as a child, the MagnumPI 308. Ferrari’s history may have been in V12s and motor racing and thankfully both still exist, but for the mainstream, it’s the mid- engined eights that people associate withMaranello – and the newest member to the club is the delicately sweet 488. Harking back to the great 308, the 488 has revitalised the GTB badge for the hardtop. The ‘B’ stands for Berlinetta, but it also has the drop-top which, although first seen on the V6 Dino, was only dubbed ‘Spider’ with the 308 onwards. However, the 488 is an enigma in that it rekindles a bygone era with the 488GTB badge, yet echoes the future by introducing turbochargers to the game with the aim of reducing emissions. My first experience with the 661bhp, 3.9-litre, twin-turbo V8 was on the Dubai Autodrome circuit one sweaty night. Being used to the sewing machine-like revs from the old V8s that would sing to oblivion, I was disappointed that this is no longer the case. The newer turbo engine bounced off the rev limiter several times and encouraged earlier changing up of gears, almost diesel-like by comparison thanks to its 760Nm of torque being developed lower at just 3000rpm. Only in a Ferrari could you describe an 8000rpm redline as diesel-like, although that’s still a 1000rpm drop from the 9000rpm limit on the old 458. That gives you an idea of the power that’s ready to be unleashed – more in fact than the fabled V12 Enzo which itself was superior to the F50 which used a V12 engine pretty much taken straight from Alain Prost’s 1990 Formula One car. However, getting an extended period behind the wheel of the 488 in both GTB and Spider form some time later put any fears to rest after I found that a quick re-programming of the brain to understand the new powerband of the new engine resulted in me maximising the additional power the 488 has over its predecessors.