Friday 14th June 2019

Pista smashes Hockenheim record | Time For Tea?

We knew the 488 Pista was fast, and sportauto at Hockenheim proves the point - hold on!

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Although Ferrari Berlinetta focus has now shifted somewhat to the F8 Tributo, the phenomenal performance of the 488 Pista remains something to behold. This is a car with nearly twice the power of an F355, for example, and all manner of formidable chassis tech to make the very best of it. As would be hoped for in a car named Pista, the 488 is a sensational track car.

This video serves to highlight the Pista's prowess pretty clearly. It's another sportauto production with Nordschleife supremo Christian Gebhardt driving, this time taking on the Hockenheim GP circuit where it set a lap record in the Aventador SVJ... Apologies to those holding on for some surprise, because here it is: the Pista is faster around a lap. By more than a second. Don't forget, either, that the Lamborghini was 1.8 seconds ahead of a GT2 RS - it is some achievement.

While the Cup 2 R tyres will have contributed something to the lap time, the Lamborghini would surely have been on the Trofeo R Pirelli; even allowing for tyres of similar stickiness, the cornering speeds of the Ferrari are consistently a couple of km/hs ahead of the Lamborghini, and it might accelerate out of them even more fiercely.

It's easy to see where the tenths mount up, and the result speaks for itself - the Lambo lap was incredible, this Pista one utterly sensational. It even looks quite good fun. Watch it below, along with a 0-200mph run, and have a think - what on earth is going to beat this?

 

Image: Hans-Dieter Seufert, for sportauto

[kars]

All credit goes to the cup2 R, tires makes all the difference.

[RumbleOfThunder]

The GT2 RS is faster under the same driver, track and conditions. Of that I have no doubt.

[WojaWabbit]

kars said:

All credit goes to the cup2 R, tires makes all the difference.

Yup. Super sticky, super soft.... super for a few laps and that's about it. Andrew Frankle had this to say about them:

Edited by WojaWabbit on Friday 14th June 16:56

Edited by WojaWabbit on Friday 14th June 17:00

[jayemm89]

Look at the standard tyres on say a Ferrari 360, they look like a wet tyre! So much tread.

It does seem like we have reached a level of madness with some of the tyres that are being supplied now. Even the super wealthy, as rightly pointed out, cannot be arsed with the faff of a tyre that performs like an old school qualifying one.

[FurtiveFreddy]

Michelin says:

"When driving on track the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyre needs to warm up, so start slowly at the
manufacturer’s inflation pressures and build up speed over a few laps"

That's not the same as 1 warm up lap and 3 hot laps repeated twice, but I sympathise.

Maybe the non 'R' Cup would have been a better choice, or the Trufeo?

Why weren't the Ferraris fitted with Pirellis anyway?

[kars]

Apex rental companie boss from Nordschleife use Nankang ar1 tires, (street legal hard core R comps) they are faster and cheaper then regular cup2 & trofeo R, and lasts equally long, but not as fast as the street legal qualifying tire cup2 R.

[Fittster]

RumbleOfThunder said:

The GT2 RS is faster under the same driver, track and conditions. Of that I have no doubt.

Do you have evidence?

[FurtiveFreddy]

kars said:

Apex rental companie boss from Nordschleife use Nankang ar1 tires, (street legal hard core R comps) they are faster and cheaper then regular cup2 & trofeo R, and lasts equally long, but not as fast as the street legal qualifying tire cup2 R.

I've just been looking a track tyres for a new project. There's no way the Nankangs would beat the Pirellis but they would save you a lot of money if you were putting them on a trackday rental car for Billies to drive.

[anonymous-user]

Now that modern supercars all have more power than traction (thanks to ubiquitous turbo engines managed by modern control systems) really all that separates any given car is now its tyres and its driver. Anyone saying "x" is faster than "y" really has no point left as all modern cars are fast, all modern cars can lap quickly, and any differences are vanishingly small and all massively outweighed by driver skill, drive bravery (not the same thing at all!) and the state and type of tyres fitted....

[Ed.]

Fittster said:

RumbleOfThunder said:

The GT2 RS is faster under the same driver, track and conditions. Of that I have no doubt.

Do you have evidence?

Richard Hammond said so?

[Chuck328]

Interesting, given ( I believe) that the Cup 2 R was to take on the Trofeo, how many laps would that tyre have managed before being declared dead?

[NIgt3]

kars said:

Apex rental companie boss from Nordschleife use Nankang ar1 tires, (street legal hard core R comps) they are faster and cheaper then regular cup2 & trofeo R, and lasts equally long, but not as fast as the street legal qualifying tire cup2 R.

AR1’s are definitely not quicker than trofeo’s!! Similar pace to cup2’s, but don’t last as long as the cups! (Standard cup2’s, not these new cup2 r’s)

[NIgt3]

Chuck328 said:

Interesting, given ( I believe) that the Cup 2 R was to take on the Trofeo, how many laps would that tyre have managed before being declared dead?

Yes they where, trofeo’s are a great tyre and for the grip they produce last ok (130 laps of spa and 20 of the ring). These new cup2 r’s last NOWHERE near that and are also a complete rip off (in gt3 sizes I was told well over 2000euro)

[GranCab]

Rolled up sleeves saves 1 second a lap easy ...

[Darran-95030]

As impressive as the Trofeo R is, The Cup 2 R is pretty much a racing slick. What are they running... about 2mm of tread from new. That tyre is a MASSIVE advantage. Shouldn't really be bragging about lap times here boys.

[simonbamg]

RumbleOfThunder said:

The GT2 RS is faster under the same driver, track and conditions. Of that I have no doubt.

Top gear just proved you wrong

[BVB]

Stunning! And the 488 won Le Mans this weekend too. Imagine what the F8 Tributo does..... And then there's the SF90 Stradale. Ferrari are way out front.

[BVB]

The 488 engine has won world's best engine 4 years running now.

[Oxford1971]

Record fastest around the Top Gear Test track on last nights show.