Ferrari 488 GTB Revealed With 660 Turbo Horses

Ferrari just officially revealed the 488 GTB, marking the exit of another naturally aspirated model from its lineup.

The Maranello-based exotic car company will show its new sports car in person for the first time next month during the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, but it released complete details about the new model in advance of the show. Like the California T, the 458 replacement uses a 3.9-liter turbocharged V8 although in this case the force-fed engine makes 660 hp and 560 lb-ft of torque. That stands as a 63-hp increase and 162 lb-ft jump in torque over the naturally aspirated 458 Speciale.

But a boosted engine isn’t the only improvement that the 488 GTB will offer Ferrari’s well-heeled customers. Revisions to the body offer a 50 percent increase in downforce, which is enough to make it half a second quicker around the Fiorano test circuit than the model it replaces for a time of 1 minute and 23 seconds.

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Driving accessibility was one of Ferrari’s primary goals in developing the turbocharged successor to the 458. Accordingly, the brand says it turned to its XX program to glean data from gentlemen drivers (read non-pros) to calibrate the electronic vehicle control systems to make the newly powerful car more manageable for the people who are likely to buy it.

The new car uses an electronic differential and the latest version of Ferrari’s side slip angle control system (SSC2). According to the company, SSC2 now also controls the active dampers for further handling improvements during extreme cornering.

Apart from being even more performance capable than Ferrari’s previous mid-engined sports car, the body was also re-designed. In this case, the company says it penned the car to serve as a nod to the original 308 GTB.