The Speciale loathes compromise; cares little for your frazzled senses after a long-distance drive. It’s noisy, physical and hyperactive; a rubbish motorway car. Two-thousand miles around Europe in one would probably send you deaf and dumb. So be it. It’s the job of the Italia to be a more balanced grand tourer. The Speciale is a glorious monument to vivid, visceral, microcosmic thrill in the here and now.
The headlines speak little of the transformation this car has been through, but they are as follows. Ninety kilogrammes of weight saved, most notably in the chassis, body and cabin specification. An extra 35bhp of peak power found, via a wide-reaching cylinder head and piston redesign, and a move to a compression ratio of 14:1. Transmission shift time improved by as much as 44 per cent. Body design comprehensively reappraised, with new drag-reducing active aerodynamic features adopted front and rear. And new faster-acting twin-solenoid adaptive dampers fitted as part of a wide-ranging rolling chassis update bringing with it lighter alloy wheels, carbon-ceramic brakes from the LaFerrari hypercar, stiffer springs and special Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
Watch Autocar test the 950bhp LaFerrari
The Speciale’s cabin is deliciously sparse. It’s not just that equipment has been taken away – although it has (no audio system here, but you do get air-conditioning). It’s that the architecture of the interior itself has been pared back. There’s nowhere on the door to rest your elbow; just a carbonfibre panel with a lonely-looking handle on it. The centre console has been slimmed down; the glovebox removed completely and replaced with a passenger kneepad. Short of a street-legal Radical or something similar, driving environments don’t get much more purposeful.
The Radical wouldn’t be much noisier, either. The Speciale’s 4.5-litre V8 barks to life, and snarls with rapier-sharp voice, like it could vault out of the car and take a chunk out of the nearest kerbstone at any moment.
And still, all becomes forgotten preamble the instant you’re moving. Responsiveness such as you find in the Speciale is rarely even attempted in a road car, even more rarely delivered. That 398lb ft of torque doesn’t look huge on paper, but a good chunk of it is there to be tapped into immediately. Keep that foot in and the howling force of that V8 from 6000 to 9000rpm is something to marvel at and savour. There again, performance isn’t as violent as some cheaper alternatives - although this is still a very fast car indeed.
And yet the chassis feels ready to go faster – always, and in every circumstance. The chance to test this car on the track will come later. But on the road and in the dry, the Speciale’s reserves of lateral grip are simply incredible. Sidewindow-headbuttingly so. The steering’s absolutely pin-sharp and almost scarily direct at first. It’ll be too much for some, without a doubt.
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@ egonolzen
Maybe so.....
but your anti Porsche rant is too obvious. I can only urge you to look at the reviews of the GT3 in any magazine. ANY!
egonolzen wrote:gaco1
its not anti-Porsche, but it is obviously true. What is more telling is that you have completely failed to address my points. The magazine articles you reference are to be taken with a pinch of salt after all... the 991 GT3 is lemon and the proof is in the pudding. Had it been a 997 GT3 RS, then your point would be arguable but alas that's not the case, so get over it.
You're right...
....I ABSOLUTELY fail to understand your points. But I quess you know better than the collected press although I rate their credibility obove yours. Sorry.
@egonolzen
Yep, sadly this is usually the problem with fanboys, they are only able to see things through blinkered eyes.
Ferrari 458 Looks
The 458 is an absolute beast in the flesh, combining a striking balance between voluptuous and aggressive styling.
Having said that, I am referring to the original, standard-spec 458 and not the Speciale.
The Lamborghinis, however, are strictly aggressive-avant-garde in their styling and quite striking, while their concepts are becoming ridiculously horrendous. (Egoista, anyone?)
@ Matt Saunders
'The new Porsche 911 GT3 may be a smarter buy'
Forgive me as I write this, for I do not wish to come across as a troll, but honestly it would be perfectly understandable for a well read individual to conclude that that comment you made is bordering on moronic, if not patently ignorant.
For your information, there are some 800 prospective buyers of GT3s some of whom have been waiting to receive the cars fro months and the best they will get is a car with with replacement engine following Porsche's royal f*ck up of the GT3 engine. So what on earth is Autocar doing allowing this sort of comment to be published?
On every level, buying one of these Ferrari's is the smarter choice because not only will it undoubtedly be more exciting to behold, drive and own, but it is highly likely to hold its value better too, both in the medium term and the long term.
Your basic analysis smacks of either stupidity, ignorance, or worse, bias through sponsorship. Seriously, get a grip.
I'll have to say that you are the one soundig biased....
...look at the reviews of the GT3. The conclusion is clear - it's one hell of a car for half the Price of the Ferrari.
So a smart buy? Of course it is