Ferrari F8 Tributo

The elevator pitch on the F8 is ‘more user-friendly 488 Pista’, broadening the special series car’s intense dynamic palette to include greater refinement and on-board comfort. It’s also touted as the conduit for a new design language, although we’d argue that some of Centro Stile’s riffs have been rehearsed on Ferrari’s SP one-offs. You might also speculate that the Tribute moniker hints that the mid-engined V8 – a Ferrari staple since the 308 GTB arrived in 1975 – has reached an evolutionary end-point. Ferrari is working on a down-sized V6, and the word is that a new modular engine family is imminent that should secure the formats that have made Ferrari what it is, until the point internal combustion is banned, anyway. But maybe no more V8s.

The days when Ferrari made engines and threw the rest in for free (© Enzo Ferrari) are long gone. The 488 Pista’s engine was the starting point here, but even that epic was deemed improvable. This latest bi-turbo unit certainly nails the numbers: 710bhp at 8000rpm, 568 torques, and an incredible specific power output of 182bhp-per-litre. The F8’s intake is borrowed from the Challenge race car, and the air intakes moved from the car’s flanks to the rear either side of the blown spoiler. The cooling flow, says Ferrari, is higher and more energetic, the car’s thermal efficiency greatly enhanced. Combustion has also been improved, the pistons and cylinder heads have been beefed up to cope with the higher loads (peak pressure in the combustion chamber is up by 10 per cent), and there’s less inertia in the rotating masses. In other words, the engine ramps up at a rate that is frankly dizzying for a road car. The redesigned exhaust manifold is 9.7kg lighter than the 488’s, it’s made of Inconel, it’s cleaner, and up to 5dB louder.

Please note, this vehicle is no longer for sale.