I went to the track this weekend, and rode along as a Ferrari 488 Spider reached frightening speeds. And while the acceleration it could achieve over 100 mph was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen or felt in my entire life, what I’m still thinking about three days after are ... the seats, which were just so damn comfortable. Too comfortable, perhaps.
The seats look like a pretty simple proposition, leather numbers with some wrap around so you don’t fall out of the window taking corners at 90 mph. Still, it hits you immediately when you first get in. The seats are firm but not too firm. You feel properly and safely hugged by them but not suffocatingly so. The leather is slick, but not too slick. The leg room is ample. On the passenger side, you’re sitting back enough to have a good view of the driver’s gauges. At speed, the seats make you feel like you’re in a proper rocket ship. The Ferrari 488 Spider’s seats, I do declare, are perfect.
Another thing that’s nice, on the passenger side? This little screen in front of you, your own personal speedometer and tach.
One thing that’s not nice? The seat belt, a simple three-point affair, which felt entirely inadequate, especially when we got up to 150 mph on the straightaway at New Jersey Motorsports Park before slamming on the brakes for Turn One at Thunderbolt, which threw my body forward in a violent way, sometimes nearly overwhelming the seat belt.
Those seats, though. If you ever get a chance, drop by a Ferrari dealership and sit down in a Spider. You don’t even need to turn it on. Just have a seat and stretch your legs out. I guarantee you’ll see what I mean.