The Ferrari 488 GTB at HR Owen, Knightsbridge London! The replacement for the 458, and the car we were awaiting. Why? The answer is very simple; the Ferrari 488 GTB is powered by a turbo V8 engine. This is the end of the atmospheric engine era for the Ferrari. The turbo V8 will offer better fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and I am sure it will be faster than the car it replaces.
I am not totally against the turbo engine Ferrari. The F40 was a turbo engine. However, what I am against in Ferrari is sharing exactly the same interior with the previous car. I know Ferrari goes really fast, it is a Ferrari so I shouldn’t need to focus on this. On the other hand, when the price tag of a Ferrari 488 is more expensive than the average house, this leads me to look for these types of details.
For me, the Ferrari 488 has failed. It is very fast, handles fantastically, and is probably one of the most engaging Ferraris to drive, yet the interior has not changed. The 488 is not a face lift either. Ferrari should have introduced a completely new interior. They are playing in the luxury market, and with the previous models, Ferrari has always changed the interior with the new models.
So why has Ferrari kept the same interior of the 458 inside the 488? The answer is the cost! Introducing a new interior means many hours of designing and engineering. It is not an easy process. I could understand and accept this if the Ferrari 488 was priced in the Alfa Romeo range! Unfortunately, Ferrari’s price range is quite high.
You might say that the Bentley Continental GT has the same interior, as Porsche does not make radical changes, and the Aston Martin is the same. Unfortunately, all these competitors do not offer a radical exterior design revision for their new models. Particularly, the Porsche 911 has been more or less the same car for the last 50 years!
However, the Mercedes S-Coupe definitely offers a brand new interior!
So, should we ignore the Ferrari 488? Of course not! However, I could not get excited by the old interior.
