More, albeit small, details continue to emerge about the next evolution of the Ferrari 488, a hardcore performance beast rumoured to debut later this year as the next in only a handful of models ever deemed worthy of the coveted GTO name.
Its testing regimen is being undertaken with increasing frequency, divided between the Nurburgring in Germany and Ferrari’s own track grounds of Fiorano in Maranello. Where we last left off, it was pretty much confirmed that the Italian supercar maker was working on a successor to the excellent 458 Speciale, using an uprated engine with over 522kW along with other major go-faster changes.
Ostensibly, it’s to lock horns with Porsche’s most potent 911 yet, the GT2 RS that lapped the Nurburgring in 6 minutes and 47.3 seconds - the fastest for any production car at that time. A record it stole from Lamborghini not long after their Huracan Performante was announced to be the new lap time king.
A recent leak that seems to reveal slides from an internal presentation of the new top-end variant was posted by Ferrari Photo Page, and sheds more light on to the serious performance Ferrari is aiming at.
For one thing, its engine is purported to be derived from the 488 Challenge race car, with much more exotic internals that reduce weight by up to 10 percent. The displacement is likely to stay fixed at 3.9-litres, while its V8 layout fed in each bank by its own turbocharger as before. But thanks to its racing-sourced improvements and increased turbocharger pressure, power will rise from the standard 488 GTB’s 493kW and 760Nm to somewhere beyond 522kW and 800Nm.
Aside from using brute force, Ferrari’s new 488 will employ a variety of advanced aerodynamic solutions to keep the car planted through the corners at full tilt, explaining why even at this latter stage of development, much of the car’s body remains under extensive camouflage whenever it heads out onto public roads.
The standard 488 does employ many of these clever active aero bits, allowing the car to develop over 320kg of downforce without, say, needing an obstructive fixed rear wing. This GTO is, naturally, expected even to exceed the 350kg, surpassing the 340kg quoted maximum downforce of the Porsche 911 GT2 RS.
Elsewhere, the 488 GTO is expected to undergo a significant diet to eek out every last power-to-weight advantage it can. Much more of the car is expected to be constructed of carbon fibre, including the 20-inch wheels which wear its own bespoke compound of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
For more on Ferrari cars, check out our Showroom.
