Ferrari 488 Spider makes public debut at 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show

Kuala Lumpur/Frankfurt: The Italian carmaker has finally lidded off its all new prancing horse christened as the Ferrari 488 Spider. The car joins GTB coupe, with its 660 hp V8 sending it from 0-100 Kmph in 3 seconds.

Ferrari 488 GTB is the second member of the 488 family. This open-top, V8 supercar arrives only six months after theGTB was first introduced, and becomes the most powerful drop-top ever to come out of Maranello. The car was recently unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show and will arrive in dealers next summer. The car was earlier revealed online in July in its new shade Blu Corsa.

The 488 GTB walks on the similar design cues of the earlier 458 Spider, Although the 488 uses a two-piece retractable hardtop, that neatly and electrically transforms the new coupe into flying buttresses in only 14 seconds. Ferrari claims that the whole assembly weighs 25 kg less than an equivalent soft-top setup mainly because of the fabric roof used on the old F430 Spider. Just like every drive top Ferrari ever made, the 488’s roof can only be operated when the car is stationary for safety reasons., but it can then be in 14 seconds. However the added strengthening required to make up for the loss of a fixed roof means the Spider is 50kg heavier than the 488 GTB, but it’s still 10kg lighter than a 458 Spider. But the aluminium chassis is and body construction means the new car’s retained the same torsional rigidity as the coupé.

According to Maranello, the all new Ferrari 488 Spider is the “most aerodynamically-efficient spider ever.” This is due to aerodynamic features such as the active front bumper and blown rear spoiler carried over from the GTB. The also features a smaller rear window that can be lowered for more noise or deployed to reduce the buffeting when the top is down. The 1,525 kg prancing horse is anchored on a 20-inch wheels with staggered tyres, 245/35 up front and 305/30 at the rear.

The 488 Spider features the carried over powerhouse from the earlier GTB. It is powered by a new 3.9-litre twin turbo V8 and seven-speed F1 dual-clutch transmission. Capable of producing a 660bhp at 8,000rpm and 760Nm of torque at 3,000rpm. The Spider is arguably fast, as the car claimed a 0-62mph time of three seconds flat. That’s identical to the hard-top GTB’s time, and 0.4 seconds faster than the old 458 Spider powered by the 562bhp 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8. Whether the roof is up or down, the 488 will still top out at 327 kmph. Yet Ferrari claims 10.7 Km/l and CO2 emissions of 260g/km.

The car is soon to make the debut in Malaysian Auto market.