Discussion
Drove one today as part of the test-drive program. Went along in my 675LT so was an interesting back-to-back comparison. There was a surprising degree of commonality - power and speed felt the same, but F8 way more linear in delivery. Steering was very similar, which surprised me given the last Ferrari I drove (a 458) felt much twitchier. Brakes on the F8 had more initial bite, gear change similar. Main difference was F8 more plush, which is to be expected.
At the end of the day though, the 675LT feels more special - from the way the doors open, to feeling a lot more of the road, to the reactions from other road users.
At the end of the day though, the 675LT feels more special - from the way the doors open, to feeling a lot more of the road, to the reactions from other road users.
heihei said:
Drove one today as part of the test-drive program. Went along in my 675LT so was an interesting back-to-back comparison. There was a surprising degree of commonality - power and speed felt the same, but F8 way more linear in delivery. Steering was very similar, which surprised me given the last Ferrari I drove (a 458) felt much twitchier. Brakes on the F8 had more initial bite, gear change similar. Main difference was F8 more plush, which is to be expected.
At the end of the day though, the 675LT feels more special - from the way the doors open, to feeling a lot more of the road, to the reactions from other road users.
I was very impressed with my F8 tributo drive and its seems a big step up from 458/488 in terms of quality and performance.At the end of the day though, the 675LT feels more special - from the way the doors open, to feeling a lot more of the road, to the reactions from other road users.
Biggest surprise to me compared with a 675LT was how good a job Ferrari have done dialling out turbo lag. Unless you knew it was turbo charged I don't think you would notice it was that good
Would I prefer it to a 720S, Yes probably but its unfair to compare it with a lightweight track variant 675LT IMHO which naturally offers far more feel and engagement
WilliamWaiver said:
I was very impressed with my F8 tributo drive and its seems a big step up from 458/488 in terms of quality and performance.
Biggest surprise to me compared with a 675LT was how good a job Ferrari have done dialling out turbo lag. Unless you knew it was turbo charged I don't think you would notice it was that good
Would I prefer it to a 720S, Yes probably but its unfair to compare it with a lightweight track variant 675LT IMHO which naturally offers far more feel and engagement
Yes, they have given the F8 a much more linear power ramp, which IMO, makes for more fun on track, as you can feel where you are in the rev range a little easier.Biggest surprise to me compared with a 675LT was how good a job Ferrari have done dialling out turbo lag. Unless you knew it was turbo charged I don't think you would notice it was that good
Would I prefer it to a 720S, Yes probably but its unfair to compare it with a lightweight track variant 675LT IMHO which naturally offers far more feel and engagement
Comparatively, the 488 delivers big swathes of power along with flashing shift LEDs.
X-Box said:
Yes, they have given the F8 a much more linear power ramp, which IMO, makes for more fun on track, as you can feel where you are in the rev range a little easier.
Comparatively, the 488 delivers big swathes of power along with flashing shift LEDs.
That's a good improvement - one of the problems with turbo cars (inc 488) is that you tend to drive by lights, rather than feeling the power/revs peakComparatively, the 488 delivers big swathes of power along with flashing shift LEDs.
footsoldier said:
X-Box said:
Yes, they have given the F8 a much more linear power ramp, which IMO, makes for more fun on track, as you can feel where you are in the rev range a little easier.
Comparatively, the 488 delivers big swathes of power along with flashing shift LEDs.
That's a good improvement - one of the problems with turbo cars (inc 488) is that you tend to drive by lights, rather than feeling the power/revs peakComparatively, the 488 delivers big swathes of power along with flashing shift LEDs.
To my ears, found the F8 a backward step sound wise... more bass but lacking elsewhere. Looking forward to upcoming drive in the Spider which will hopefully improve things with the dropped rear window. Still thank I’d rather have a 488 Pista than an F8 for the sake of an extra £15-20k if buying as a weekend toy and not a daily. No chance I’ll be trading in the 488 for an F8; tiny gains on the road just not worth the cost.
garystoybox said:
To be honest, having now driven the F8 at length back to back with my 488, i honestly can’t feel that much difference in response or lag between the two cars; both being linear and virtually lag free. With the 488 I did find I hit the limiter a title more often than my 458 at first, with the F8 feels a little more free and still pulling hard over the last 300-400 revs before the limiter but not a lot in it on the road Imo. Likely feel it more on the track where I haven’t yet tried the F8.
To my ears, found the F8 a backward step sound wise... more bass but lacking elsewhere. Looking forward to upcoming drive in the Spider which will hopefully improve things with the dropped rear window. Still thank I’d rather have a 488 Pista than an F8 for the sake of an extra £15-20k if buying as a weekend toy and not a daily. No chance I’ll be trading in the 488 for an F8; tiny gains on the road just not worth the cost.
I agree with this..I also have a 488 and concur with you that it has virtually zero lag just like the F8 i drove..The F8 is slightly faster although the gain very hard to detect on the road as the 488 is already ballistic fast..My 488 definitely sounds better no doubt due to the GPFs on the F8..I configured a new F8 to an identical spec to my 488 and it came to £264K which translates to about £120K to change..Not worth that much IMO for a 10% better car..I'd much rather get a nice two year old 812SF for £230K which is a totally different proposition and great value at those levels.To my ears, found the F8 a backward step sound wise... more bass but lacking elsewhere. Looking forward to upcoming drive in the Spider which will hopefully improve things with the dropped rear window. Still thank I’d rather have a 488 Pista than an F8 for the sake of an extra £15-20k if buying as a weekend toy and not a daily. No chance I’ll be trading in the 488 for an F8; tiny gains on the road just not worth the cost.
Another point is i also configured an F8 to the same level as a Pista i've seen and the F8 came to more money..! The biggest gain in the F8 over my 488 was that it seemed easier to drive especially in the steering dept..
Had my drive yesterday...all around the tunbridge wells area, lovely to look at, not a fan of the wheel design and I got the worst spec for me possible to test drive (comfort seats, coupe (not a spyder that I may of considered with the carbon buckets).
Yes its fast, but the noise is at best ok, as easy to drive as a fiesta, (no drama)...even at medium to fast speeds just no excitement or the feeling you are driving something special. Wheel spun a bit too easily and there was multiple squeeks from the car...not just the brakes!
Quite dissapointed and I really think if you have a 488/458, you simply will not bother with the change.
Underwhelmed and now is not even a consideration. Looks the part, just no excitement!
Yes its fast, but the noise is at best ok, as easy to drive as a fiesta, (no drama)...even at medium to fast speeds just no excitement or the feeling you are driving something special. Wheel spun a bit too easily and there was multiple squeeks from the car...not just the brakes!
Quite dissapointed and I really think if you have a 488/458, you simply will not bother with the change.
Underwhelmed and now is not even a consideration. Looks the part, just no excitement!
I think they look way nicer with a bonnet stripe
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFlQ4VxAWKv/?igshid=4n...
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFlQ4VxAWKv/?igshid=4n...
Edited by PrancingHorses on Thursday 1st October 17:25
lambo666 said:
Had my drive yesterday...all around the tunbridge wells area, lovely to look at, not a fan of the wheel design and I got the worst spec for me possible to test drive (comfort seats, coupe (not a spyder that I may of considered with the carbon buckets).
Yes its fast, but the noise is at best ok, as easy to drive as a fiesta, (no drama)...even at medium to fast speeds just no excitement or the feeling you are driving something special. Wheel spun a bit too easily and there was multiple squeeks from the car...not just the brakes!
Quite dissapointed and I really think if you have a 488/458, you simply will not bother with the change.
Underwhelmed and now is not even a consideration. Looks the part, just no excitement!
Interesting. The one I drove had no squeaks apart from the brakes, it had the forged 5 double spoke wheels in silver and they looked great. The problem with such a quick car is that at sensible speeds it doesn't feel fast, unless you plant the throttle, but hen you are going way too fast for the roads. On the track I thought it was great. You could drive it hard all day without being totally knackered which is the sort of thing I look for on my Euro trips.Yes its fast, but the noise is at best ok, as easy to drive as a fiesta, (no drama)...even at medium to fast speeds just no excitement or the feeling you are driving something special. Wheel spun a bit too easily and there was multiple squeeks from the car...not just the brakes!
Quite dissapointed and I really think if you have a 488/458, you simply will not bother with the change.
Underwhelmed and now is not even a consideration. Looks the part, just no excitement!
There is no doubt though, at this level the gains are always marginal.
I drove it a few days ago, and wasn't impressed.
THE GOOD:
It looks beautiful, and is much nicer than the 488. Beauty is subjective however.
I also love the Ferrari indicator system now, having got used to it on my Lusso, and wish all cars used this system. The same goes for the magnetic charger plug.
The suspension is very good indeed, such that it was almost comparable to the 720S hydraulic system for ride quality - but sadly not for its ability to keep the tyres connected to the road.
THE BAD:
The electric steering is good for electric, but pales in comparison to any McLaren’s hydraulic steering for feel and feedback. The F8 wheel is better than the fidgety over geared 488 and 458 steering though.
The brakes were good but over-servoed, and pedals not quite so perfectly positioned for left foot braking. I dislike having fixed gearshift paddles too, and prefer paddles that rotate with the wheel.
The really bad thing was the car really struggled to put its power down, with the rear wheels scrabbling for grip every time I used full throttle in second gear on the country lanes (I drove in Sport at first, but Race for 70% of the drive). The rear suspension then bounced so hard that the courtesy light panel behind the rear view mirror fell off, hanging from its wiring. Build quality?
It was also not really thrilling to drive and sounded quite poor.
THE GOOD:
It looks beautiful, and is much nicer than the 488. Beauty is subjective however.
I also love the Ferrari indicator system now, having got used to it on my Lusso, and wish all cars used this system. The same goes for the magnetic charger plug.
The suspension is very good indeed, such that it was almost comparable to the 720S hydraulic system for ride quality - but sadly not for its ability to keep the tyres connected to the road.
THE BAD:
The electric steering is good for electric, but pales in comparison to any McLaren’s hydraulic steering for feel and feedback. The F8 wheel is better than the fidgety over geared 488 and 458 steering though.
The brakes were good but over-servoed, and pedals not quite so perfectly positioned for left foot braking. I dislike having fixed gearshift paddles too, and prefer paddles that rotate with the wheel.
The really bad thing was the car really struggled to put its power down, with the rear wheels scrabbling for grip every time I used full throttle in second gear on the country lanes (I drove in Sport at first, but Race for 70% of the drive). The rear suspension then bounced so hard that the courtesy light panel behind the rear view mirror fell off, hanging from its wiring. Build quality?
It was also not really thrilling to drive and sounded quite poor.
I'm driving one next week. I love the 488 as a track car but prefer my 458 as a road car. I can't imagine that yet more power (the 458 doesn't leave you wishing for more on the road, particularly as you can rev to 9000, where conditions allow and don't have to short shift all the time) will bring something to the party that I really need. However, I'm open to being persuaded. I am thinking however that my next move will be into a 458 Spider, not something more modern. I have an Atom 4 coming for broon trooser track moments anyway.
Gassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff