ferrari 488 pista

Ferrari takes the veil off the new 488 Pista Spider at Pebble Beach

Before people knew it, Ferrari has already created its 50th droptop model. The Italian sports car maker unveiled its 50th droptop model and the latest member of the Special Series family – the new Ferrari 488 Pista Spider – at the highly prestigious Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach in California.

Earlier this year, Ferrari introduced the 488 Pista Coupe and the track-oriented Piloti 488 Pista Special Edition. The 488 Pista is the considered as the successor to Ferrari’s V8-engined Special Series – the 360 Challenge Stradale, 430 Scuderia and 458 Speciale. Now, the latest Special Series is welcoming its new member in a convertible form. The decision to unveil the new 488 Pista Spider in the United States was influenced by the fact that Ferrari’s North American clients have been keen connoisseurs of high-performance convertibles since the 1950s.

Essentially, the difference between the Coupe and the Spider versions of the Ferrari 488 Pista is that the latter features a droptop, which roof system is more complex than the fixed one. Because of increased complexity of its convertible roof, the new 488 Pista Spider is around 200 lbs (91 kg) heavier than the 488 Pista Coupe. Since both versions of the Ferrari 488 Pista are powered by the same powerplant -- a twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 engine that delivers 720 hp of max output and 770 Nm (568 lb.-ft.) of peak torque – this difference in weight results to a very slight disparity in terms of performance.

Four color themes are available for the new Piloti Ferrari 488 Pista

It turns out that aside from the Rosso Corsa traditional finish (red), the Piloti Ferrari 488 Pista Special Edition is also available in three other color finishes. This means that prospective clients could purchase the Ferrari 488 Pista in Piloti Ferrari specifications in any of the four color themes.

As expected, the Piloti Ferrari 488 Pista was introduced into the world wrapped in Rosso Corsa, which is regarded as the red racing color of racing cars from Italy. But aside from the Rosso Corsa, the 488 Pista Piloti Ferrari can also be finished in Argento Nurburgring, Nero Daytona, and Blu Tour De France. Each color theme is named after a significant sporting event or location.

Argento Nurburgring is essentially a silver theme that makes the 488 Pista Piloti Ferrari looks sportily elegant. Nero Daytona, meanwhile, wraps the 488 Pista Piloti Ferrari in black for a sleek, athletic appearance. On the other hand, Blu Tour De France, lends the 488 Pista Piloti Ferrari with a solid façade.

Pogea Racing upgrade package for Ferrari 488 GTB is even better than the Pista

Ferrari decided to boost the 488 GTB and made its mid-engined V8 machine beefier for a more hardcore 488 Pista, which we saw around 2 months ago. Now, the engineers from Pogea Racing learnt from this and did the exact same thing, while managing to squeeze out even more power from the biturbo 3.9 liter V8.

If the 488 from Maranello can bring out 720 horsepower and 770 Newton metres (568 pound feet) of torque, the FPlus Corsa project pushes its output even more by another 100 horsepower and 130 Newton metres (96 lb ft), giving it a total output of 820 horsepower (603 kilowatts) and 900 Newton metres (664 lb ft).

The engine isn’t all that was tweaked here, as Pogea Racing decided to play with its exhaust system and decided that it would install stainless steel flaps to make the most out of the V8’s beautiful soundtrack. After all the upgrades that had been done to the powertrain, there is a palpable impact on the Ferrari 488 GTB’s performances as it has become quicker than the Pista.

Ferrari 488 Pista offers massive 711 hp, 700 Nm to hit 0-100 km/h sprint in 2.85 seconds

Ferrari's latest 488 Pista is one car that could outdo even the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. And after all the major leaks, the said vehicle is finally here. In fact, the press release included all the figures that you would like to know, proving that the 488 GTB you are looking at now is a much more powerful and substantially lighter version of the 488 GTB.

The 488 Pista (Italian for “track”) was brought to Maranello, and it has lost a lot of weight since then – a significant 90 kilograms (198 pounds). It now has a dry weight of only 1,280 kilograms (2,822 pounds), when the car is fitted with all the available optional lightweight goodies.

So after all the weight this car has lost, the automaker decided to give it an additional 50 horsepower for an overall output of 711 horsepower (530 kilowatts), which the automaker says is the largest increase in engine power for a special series car.