2020 Ferrari F8 Spider first drive review: The perfect summer fling

The breadth of overall flexibility in fashionable supercars is staggering. A 710-horsepower Ferrari F8 Spider will make you chortle maniacally when you start it and rip your deal with off with its cornering force. But it will also run errands with the docility of a Honda Accord. A pretty loud, pretty flashy Honda Accord.

Every new Ferrari has to be engineered to lap the hell out of Fiorano or Monza, even if most will hardly ever even see so considerably as the parking good deal of a race circuit. That would make a car like the F8 Spider surprisingly straightforward to stay with and love each and every day — particularly on a warm summer afternoon in Southern California. But make no error, that isn’t going to indicate it can be any considerably less thrilling. 

You’ve already met the F8 Tributo, the pretty worthy successor to the amazing Ferrari 488. The F8 packs far more energy, its interior is far more luxurious and its exterior style would make a more robust statement — for better or worse. I am going to be truthful, my own descriptors of this car’s styling aren’t accurately beneficial — “a minimal considerably” is what is prepared down in my notebook — but it definitely wouldn’t be a Ferrari if it failed to flip heads. I can’t feel of one more car that virtually induced so many gawking-induced wrecks above the class of 24 hours.

When you take out the roof, which requires just fourteen seconds, the Spider does absent with just one of the F8 Tributo’s most controversial characteristics: the rear window. On the Tributo, this is built of Lexan, and sliced 3 occasions for visible interest. Does it glance awesome? Sure. Does it absolutely destroy rearward visibility? You betcha. As an alternative, the Spider has a body-coloured rear panel, underneath which is where by the roof is stowed when folded again. This signifies you can’t essentially see that monstrous V8 from exterior the car. But it signifies you can see what is driving you through the rearview mirror. Kind of difficult to determine which is far more crucial with a Ferrari.

Soon after all, that engine is just one hell of a showpiece. As in the F8 Tributo, the Spider’s three.nine-liter twin-turbo V8 would make 710 horsepower and 568 pound-ft of torque, and thanks to a lighter crankshaft and flywheel, the engine weighs about forty lbs . considerably less than the just one in the 488. Substantial facet intakes feed awesome air into the turbochargers, and the significant inset tailpipes belt out a music that isn’t really as intoxicating as a naturally aspirated V8 rasp, but it will yet wake the neighbors two blocks absent on a cold begin.

Location off in Los Angeles targeted visitors, I observed the F8 Spider had a pretty temporary studying curve. Thrust a button for reverse, pull the ideal paddle to set the seven-pace computerized transmission into to start with equipment. Use the toggles on the steering wheel to activate the flip alerts (I hate this, by the way). Hit the suspension button on the still left facet of the wheel to set the F8 in Bumpy Street mode, giggle at the cuteness of the identify and then love the suddenly smoother journey high-quality. Never trouble with just about anything but the default Sport mode in city streets or on the highway. And really don’t trouble seeking for any driver assistance characteristics. There aren’t any.

Even prior to you get to a very good driving highway, the F8 Spider clearly communicates its intentions. The steering is borderline darty with its quickness, but presents you a great deal of detail about what is happening where by your tires satisfy the pavement. The brakes are a minimal difficult to modulate, but give a reassuringly robust chunk, allowing you know they will be there to deliver you again to actuality should really you get carried absent. The V8 has a enormous reserve of energy, but it isn’t going to truly feel like a dam that’s about to burst. You can roll onto the throttle and speed up up to highway speeds swiftly, but not overwhelmingly so.

But when you get off the highway and issue that homely nose up a canyon highway, holy cannoli, does the F8 rip. Ferrari rates a -to-60-mph acceleration time of 2.nine seconds, matching that of the hardtop F8 Tributo, the shift lights on the steering wheel flashing red just prior to you pull the paddle and slap into the up coming equipment. The rear-wheel-drive Spider has no difficulty clawing into the highway and placing the whole brunt of its energy through these 305-area tires. The front finish lifts a little bit as you start ahead. The V8 wails. The globe flies by. Do not allow go, and be certain your hat’s on limited.

This is where by you locate the other finish of the F8’s capacity spectrum. Every flip is satisfying. Every energy-on minute out of a hairpin would make me smile. Every action in the F8 is so great that it starts off to truly feel effortless soon after a whilst. And just when I feel I’m not offering the car my all, digging even deeper into the throttle reveals a whole ‘nother stage of aggression I hadn’t but found out.

I could do this all day extended.

That’s particularly accurate presented how comfy the F8 Spider is, even with the — gulp — $nine,112 carbon fiber racing seats (which of class then signifies introducing the $2,531 racing seat lifter, as well as the $one,266 prancing horse emblems on the headrests, and you should really absolutely have them completed up in blue like my tester). With its shallow middle tunnel and slim row of local weather controls on the decreased part of the dashboard, what appears to be a small cockpit is essentially really roomy, particularly with the Spider’s countless headroom. There isn’t accurately considerably in the way of storage place, having said that, even in the front trunk, which is significant enough for a pair of backpacks and not considerably far more.

Really should your co-driver get bored (hint: drive faster), the $4,556 seven-inch touchscreen passenger show has far more characteristics than it did in the 488, demonstrating things like multimedia and navigation information, as well as general performance metrics like acceleration and cornering forces so they can again up the practical experience with genuine knowledge.

Talking of in-car tech, well, there isn’t considerably to converse of. A rudimentary infotainment process is housed in a small display screen in the gauge cluster, managed by a knob and some buttons to the ideal of the steering wheel. The practical experience isn’t all that fantastic, so I recommend just functioning through Apple CarPlay, assuming you might be an Iphone consumer, and assuming you really don’t thoughts paying out a wholly absurd $4,129 for the privilege of applying your own tech.

Not that money actually issues when you might be conversing about a Ferrari. Soon after all, the $302,500 setting up rate — which contains $three,950 for vacation spot and a $one,300 fuel guzzler tax — is actually just the commencing. As soon as you possibility it up to your suitable spec, you can be shelling out a boatload of extra hard cash. The Giallo Modena car you see below? It can be obtained $94,494 in include-ons, including titanium exhaust pipes, carbon fiber parts and a high quality audio process. At $396,994 as tested, this Ferrari is far more high-priced than any house I’ve at any time lived in. Neat.

The genuine determine to care about is $23,000, for the reason that that’s how considerably far more the Spider expenses than the F8 Tributo coupe, which is basically chump transform if you can currently pay for to park a Ferrari or 3 in the driveway of just one of your many households. That large caveat out of the way, I say stay a minimal and go for the Spider. It seems to be just as very good (so I’m explained to) and performs each and every little bit as admirably, no matter if you might be managing through canyons or just managing errands.