FITTING TRIBUTE
Ferrari celebrates its mid-engined V8 sports car heritage with a heavily revised and more powerful version of the 488 GTB
The Ferrari F8 Tributo is billed as a replacement for the 488 GTB, Ferrari’s mid-engined supercar.
But in reality, it’s a very heavy facelift of that model. Claimed to mix some of the grunt and grip of the 488 Pista with the everyday civility of the 488 GTB, it could just be the greatest all-rounder of the current super sports car crop.
The Tributo name? That’s a nod to the car featuring the most powerful V8 engine so far in a series-production Ferrari and as a celebration of the past 40-odd years of the firm’s mid-engined V8-powered berlinettas.
So, what do we have? Well, compared to the 488 GTB, the F8 Tributo delivers an extra 50hp and a 10% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency, plus it weighs 30kg less — all of which gives credence to the claim that it’s faster and more agile than its predecessor. Based on the twin-turbocharged 3.9-litre unit used in the 488 Pista, the F8 Tributo’s V8 packs 720hp and 770Nm.
The F8 Tributo adopts a similar S-duct layout as the 488 Pista, with air channelled in through the bumper and out over the bonnet, helping to deliver 15% of the F8’s overall downforce improvement. There’s also a new ‘blown’ rear spoiler that contributes 25% of the gain. The radiators housed in the nose have been repackaged, allowing the introduction of new front diffusers that deliver 25% of the aero gains, while in the middle of the underbody are vortex generators that conjure up the final 15%.
With increased straight-line pace and improved aerodynamics comes the requirement for enhanced handling. For starters, we’re now onto version 6.1 of the firm’s Side Slip Control (SSC), which allows every greater oversteer before seamlessly intervening to save tyres and blushes. Spring and damper rates are, with some minor tweaking, pretty much the same as the 488 GTB’s.
Before you even so much as grab the door handle, you’ll need to take a moment to take in the F8 Tributo’s exterior. The firm’s ever-increasing push to kneel at the altar of aerodynamics means the F8 Tributo isn’t an elegant car in the traditional sense, but there’s something very appealing about its overt visual aggression. The roof and doors are carried over from the 488 GTB, but everything else is new, with almost every scooped, scalloped, vented and vortexed surface having been penned with the single-minded pursuit of performance.
The focus is equally evident inside: the low-slung driving position helps place you squarely at the centre of the action, while there’s the familiar cowled rev-counter flanked by the TFT dials and new, smallerdiameter steering wheel that houses
all the major controls within a finger or thumb stretch.
Press the wheelmounted red starter button and the V8 yelps into life before settling to an urgent idle. Ferrari claims the 0-100kph sprint takes 2.9sec, which is basically hypercar-quick. And it feels it. Name any mainstream McLaren model and the F8 Tributo feels like it has it covered.
The F8 Tributo benefits from the clever Variable Boost Management system that ramps up torque gradually and naturally so there’s simply no turbo lag, just instant, savage response to your right foot, the car accelerating precisely as much as you ask for. No matter what the revs or what the gear, it just goes punching with real violence and revving quickly and freely all the way to the 8,000rpm cut-out. So well integrated are the turbochargers that it doesn’t feel like there’s forced induction at work here, instead like a naturally aspirated unit with huge reserves of torque and an insatiable appetite for revs.
This impression of warp-drive acceleration is enhanced by the gearbox, which delivers upshifts so quick and smooth that they’re close to seamless. Downshifts are even more entertaining, thanks to a quick blip of the throttle and the explosive cracks and pops from the exhausts.
Speaking of noise, the V8 still lacks the operatic quality we expect from a Ferrari; there’s not the same tingly and fizzing raw appeal as the old naturally aspirated unit of the 458. But those days are long gone, and this is the new reality, so we just have to deal with it.
Yet Maranello’s neatest trick is to have developed a chassis that makes such volcanic performance accessible. Much of the suspension and many of the control systems are either carried over or improved 488 Pista and 488 GTB hardware, meaning the F8 Tributo benefits from a rare balance and approachability through the corners.
As we’ve come to expect from Ferrari, the steering is extremely quick, but not to the point of nervousness. No more than a quarter turn of lock is needed to aim the F8 Tributo through most bends. This then gives you confidence to lean on the increasingly excellent Slide Slip Control and start edging the tail out a little, even on the road.
It’s this expressiveness that’s at the heart of the F8 Tributo’s appeal, and it’s something it shares with both the 488 GTB and the 488 Pista. While many supercars only unlock their secrets at maximum attack, the F8 Tributo gives you options at saner speeds, allowing to enjoy more of its talents for more of the time.
The F8 Tributo’s real party trick is combining near-488 Pista performance, precision and playfulness with everyday usability. The McLaren 720S might be a fraction faster and Lamborghini Huracan has that engine, but neither can match the extraordinary exploitability of the Ferrari’s performance and handling.