Ferrari 488 Pista Spider Makes World Premiere At Pebble Beach

The 50th drop-top model from the Maranello marque races to a top speed of 340kph. Acceleration from 0-100kph in a mere 2.85 seconds

By MW Staff

December 04, 2019

Ferrari has unveiled the 50^th drop-top model to come out of its assembly lines in the form of the 488 Pista Spider. The car debuted at the world-famous Concours d’Elegance at the Pebble Beach in California, USA.

The Prancing Horse claims to have set a new performance benchmark via this car ‘with an unprecedented weight-power ratio.’ This translates into continuous and unending acceleration all the way up to the car’s red line.

It’s made possible by the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine that lets out north of 710 horses and combines it with increasing torque (max 770Nm) at all engine speeds. The powerplant propels the car to 100kph from dead halt in just 2.85 seconds, with a top speed of 340kph. The unique engine sound is now even more riveting thanks to the open-top configuration, says the Italian carmaker.

“The Ferrari 488 Pista Spider represents the natural development of the defining design of the coupé version. The Ferrari designers’ primary objective was to maintain unaltered the perfect marriage of aerodynamic efficiency, purity of form and racing spirit,” it adds.

This concept takes shape through elements like the central livery. It runs along the length of the car, up to the rear wing next to the spoiler. It helps recall the movement of the airglow and exalt the lines of the car. The use of carbon-fibre and Alcantara throughout the car and the employment of aluminium for small parts has also saved weight and furthered the philosophy behind the car.

“In terms of engineering, the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is directly derived from the 488 Pista which encapsulates all the racing experience gathered on world’s circuits with the 488 Challenge and the 488 GTE. As a result, the new Spider offers the highest level yet of technological transfer from the track to a road-legal drop-top car,” Ferrari underlines the heritage behind the new 488.

Elsewhere, there are also new diamond-finish 20-inch alloy wheels with a novel 10-spoke star-effect interpretation of Ferrari’s traditional mid-rear engine berlinetta-style rims. Also available are the optional one-piece carbon-fibre wheels which offer a 20 percent weight reduction over the standard forged alloys.