Used Ferrari 488 Pista 2018-2020 review

It duly weighs 18kg less than the V8 in a 488 GTB and, running a slightly higher compression ratio and shorter induction tracts than its relation, makes 710bhp between 6750rpm and 8000rpm, and up to 568lb ft of peak torque at 3000rpm. However, torque is electronically governed depending on your selected gear in order to give the engine’s performance a more progressive feel, which means peak torque actually only ever figures in seventh gear – just as was the case with the 488 GTB.

Where suspension is concerned, the Pista gets retuned SCM-E adaptive dampers and coil springs stiffened by 10%. It also has a new electronic lateral dynamics controller called the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE), which uses subtle brake interventions to trim the car’s cornering line and operates in addition to the influence of the torque-vectoring e-diff.

The brake servo also comes from the 488 Challenge racing car, as does the inspiration for many of its special aerodynamic features. Among the latter are the downforce-generating S-duct at the leading edge of the bonnet; the winglets and air ducts at the lateral extremes of the front bumper; the various changes to the aerodynamic underbody; and the enlarged rear wing and ‘active’ rear diffuser. Downforce is 20% up compared with the 488 GTB, with no associated drag penalty.

Drive it flat out, for outright lap time, and the Pista begins to feel a bit too mobile in its handling; like its penchant for perfect drifts is slowing it down slightly and it could do with greater high-speed stability. The car certainly doesn’t have that aura you find in a McLaren Senna which suggests you could lap it for days on end without finding the limit of its grip and speed.

Rather than testing your bravery and the muscle power in your neck and thighs, the Pista is a track car that appeals more to your senses than some, and that flatters your skill level and dials up the fun factor. In other words, it’s very good indeed.

The Pista is the kind of car to make any track driving session unforgettable. Pointy and alert in its every move, and super-responsive in almost everything it does, it feels nimble and balanced in a way to surpass its every rival.

The flipside of that pervasive nimbleness? Well, the car didn’t really threaten to beat our dry handling track lap record, which speaks to the fact that there isn’t the very last word on high-speed stability or aerodynamic downforce here.

Driving the car quickly means dialling down the stability and traction control systems into ‘CT off’ mode, and adopting a style in which the car feels habitually on the brink of oversteer – with its outside rear wheel always spinning slightly beyond the limit of traction – and constantly being ready with smooth and precise degrees of opposite lock. It’s always exciting, but it does sometimes feel as though you’re overdriving the car rather than getting into the perfect groove with it.

COMFORT AND ISOLATION

Ferrari reckons that more than half of Pista owners will use their cars on the track. The firm will tell you that the everyday usability of the car matters a great deal – but you suspect it wouldn’t have figured highly enough to have been allowed to erode the highly strung, thrill-a-minute character of this car one iota. And neither should it have.

And, sure enough, the Pista is entirely usable in any case. That wailing V8 settles to a reasonably civil hum at lower crank speeds, particularly when you’re using Sport mode on the manettino, and although the wheels and suspension allow plenty of unfiltered road roar to make its way into the cabin, the effect isn’t too bad on smoother surfaces.

Drive the Pista fairly gently and you could tour in it, and hold a conversation with your passenger without shouting. Drive it more as Ferrari intended and you’ll need earplugs to prevent your ears ringing after a busy couple of hours – although, even at pace, the noise level isn’t exactly bothersome.

The car’s B-road ride is certainly more busily reactive than in the average supercar and can still seem terse and even a little bit wooden if you’re really pressing on, although it improves with the dampers set to ‘bumpy road’ mode.