Ferrari sells entire 488 Pista Spider allocation

FERRARI Australasia has confirmed that its allocation of the just-revealed 488 Pista Spider has already sold out, with customer deliveries to start in the middle of next year.

While pricing will not be announced until later this year, the 488 Pista Spider is expected to command a hefty premium over its sold-out fixed-roof counterpart, which was priced from $645,000 driveaway.

For reference, the 488 Spider costs $56,900 more than the 488 GTB, meaning the Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder-rivalling 488 Pista Spider could break the $700,000 barrier.

Revealed at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey County, California, the 488 Pista Spider is a carbon-copy of the 488 Pista, excluding its upgrade to a power-folding hardtop.

This structural change means the 488 Pista Spider is 100kg heavier than its coupe sibling, at 1380kg (dry weight), although it is 145kg lighter than the 488 Spider due to its stringent use of carbon-fibre and Alcantara, among other lightweight materials.

While the 488 Pista Spider rolls on diamond-finished 20-inch forged-alloy wheels with a 10-spoke design as standard, buyers can instead opt for one-piece carbon-fibre rims that provide a further 20 per cent reduction in weight per wheel.

Even though the 488 Pista Spider matches the 488 Pista in the sprint from standstill to 100km/h, at 2.85 seconds, it is 0.4s slower to 200km/h, at 8.0s. Both models claim a top speed of 340km/h.

The 488 Pista Spider adopts Ferrari’s 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine, tuned to produce 530kW of power at 8000rpm and 770Nm of torque at 3000rpm when in seventh gear – up 38kW and 10Nm over the 488 Spider.

Similar to the 488 Spider, the powertrain in the 488 Pista Spider is mid-mounted and exclusively sends drive to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Upgrades to its engine include Inconel exhaust manifolds, a lightweight crankshaft and flywheel, turbochargers with integrated rev sensors and a redesigned air intake line – all of which come from the 488 Challenge racecar – plus titanium con rods and carbon-fibre intake plenums.

Aerodynamics have been honed due to the adoption of a Formula 1-inspired S-Duct – or serpentine inlet – which improves airflow in conjunction with the redesigned front diffusers that feature a ramp angle optimised for the 488 GTE race-car to provide stronger suction and downforce.

Furthermore, the underbody vortex generators and rear diffuser have been tweaked, while the rear duck-tail spoiler is taller and longer than before.

The 488 Pista Spider also features the Italian brand’s sixth-generation Side-Slip Angle Control set-up, which incorporates its E-Diff3, F1-Trac, magnetorheological suspension (SCM) and Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE) systems.

However, the 488 Pista Spider does visually distinguish itself with its central livery that runs the length of the vehicle. Ferrari says “this continual expansion of the stripe recalls the movement of the airflow and exalts the lines of the car”.

According to the company, the 488 Spider Pista is the 50th drop-top model in its 71-year history. This reveal comes six months after the preceding Portofino launched in Australia.

Sales of Ferrari’s model line-up have boomed this year in Australia, with 135 vehicles sold to the end July – a 19.5 per increase over the 113 deliveries it made during the same period in 2017.

As such, the marque currently outpaces rival brands in the $200,000-plus sportscar segment, including Lamborghini and Aston Martin that have both totalled 78 year-to-date sales.