Ferrari has just shown the first full pictures of its replacement for the 488 GTB, and it’s a mid-engined 710 horsepower angry red beast called the F8 Tributo. While still based on the 2009-vintage 458 Italia underpinnings, the body and interior are all new, and the drivetrain is essentially the same as the one in the bonkers 488 Pista.
“Tributo” is the Italian word for “tribute” and not “three butos” as I originally thought. A tribute is sort of a tax, so you can think of it as the Ferrari F8 Tax, if you’d like. I’m not planning to.
Ferrari is very proud of the 3.9-liter turbocharged V8 they’ve stuck behind the seats, as you can tell from their press release:
“The name is an homage to both the model’s uncompromising layout and to the engine that powers it – with a massive 720 cv and a record specific power output of 185 cv/l, it is the most powerful V8 in Prancing Horse history for a non-special series car and sets the benchmark not just for turbos, but for engines across the board. The 3902 cc V8 won “Best Engine” in the International Engine of the Year awards three years running in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and, in addition, in 2018, was awarded the title of the best engine of the last two decades.”
The new 710 horsepower/568 lb-ft of torque engine gives the Tributo a 49 horsepower bump over the 488 GTB it’s replacing, and Ferrari says it’s 10 percent more aerodynamically efficient, so if you buy one you can test that out in your basement wind tunnel.
The interior is new, with a new vent design and the steering wheel is smaller, to “enhance the level of tactility,” whatever that means, and the car includes
“a new version of the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE+) which can be activated in the manettino’s RACE position for the first time, a move designed to make performance on the limit easier to reach and control for an even greater number of drivers.”
I think they mean it’s easier to drift, now. For everyone, even if most need a helping Dynamic Enhancer hand.
The design is still clearly an evolution of the 488, but it’s a little more flowing and cleaner. There’s a Lexan cover over the engine so everyone can appreciate it when you’ve parked it across three handicapped parking spaces, and there’s a new spoiler that wraps around the traditional twin round taillights.
Ferrari hasn’t said how much these will cost, but our sophisticated pricing algorithm has computed that it should fall somewhere between the cost of a new Nissan Versa and a Bugatti Chiron, with perhaps a bit of bias to the side of the Chiron. The actual car will be shown at the Geneva International Motor Show if you want to sit in it and try to steal the shift knob.