Matthew DeBord/Insider
- I tested a $396,994 Ferrari F8 Spider, the convertible version of Ferrari's extremely powerful F8 Tributo supercar.
- The F8 Spider rocks a 710-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8.
- The engine comes from the track-oriented 488 Pista. It's the most powerful motor Ferrari has ever dropped into a mid-engine production car.
- Despite mountain-moving power and blistering speed, I found the F8 Spider to be oddly soothing to drive. It's almost too good for it's own good.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
This wasn't my first go-round with a drop-top, mid-engine prancing horse supercar based on the stupendous Ferrari 488.
In 2018, I drove the convertible, or "Spider" version of the 488 up to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut to watch non-ragtop, racing-car versions of the car circle the famous track for an IMSA event.
Since then, Ferrari has updated the 488 and changed the name to "F8 Tributo," a reference to the potent V8 that propels the machine. I haven't yet had a crack at the hardtop, but Ferrari did let me borrow a $397,000 example of the Spider, in a dashing "Giallo Modena" paint job, for a mere day to make a run out to the eastern tip of Long Island.
I'll spoil the ending and let you know right now that the Ferrari was almost too good for its own good. Here's why:
The 2020 Ferrari F8 Spider, in all it's beachfront, bright-yellow glory! My test car started at $297,250. But options, options, and more options took the sticker to a hair under $397,000.Matthew DeBord/InsiderThe F8 Spider is the convertible version of the F8 Tributo, which arrived in 2019 ...
... To replace the 488 in Ferrari's lineup. The F8 Tributo sported a completely redesigned front end.
Read the review.
I borrowed the convertible version of the 488 to take a drive up to Lime Rock Park, a legendary track in the Connecticut countryside.
Read the review.
It wasn't all sand and sun for the F8 Spider on my drive, which covered about 400 miles, from the New Jersey suburbs to the Montauk, on Long Island. The F8 looked gorgeous in the golden light of an East Coast sunset.Matthew DeBord/Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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