Leaked Specs Reveal 488 'GTO' To Be Race-Engined, CF-Festooned Monster

A substantial leak of information has revealed myriad stats for the Ferrari 488 GTO

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

Prepare to get even more hyped about Ferrari’s incoming 488 ‘GTO’, as there’s been a substantial leak of stats that reveal just how bonkers the thing will be.

A series of images from an internal presentation obtained and posted by Ferrari Photo Page has given the world an immensely detailed run-down on the car. The key takeaway? The V8 engine is essentially pinched from the 488 Challenge racing car (below), and thanks to some new developments, it’ll be the most powerful V8 Ferrari has ever produced. A power figure beginning with a ‘7’ seems inevitable.

Leaked Specs Reveal 488 'GTO' To Be Race-Engined, CF-Festooned Monster

It’ll feature more carbonfibre than any other “range car” Ferrari has ever made, with the front bonnet, front bumper, active rear spoiler and rear bumper all made out of the stuff. Overall, the tweaked body will allow for a 20 per cent increase in aerodynamic efficiency.

The motorsport-inspired interior has aluminium floor panels, racing seats and a lack of glovebox (because weight reduction bro, etc), and the 20-inch wheels have each received a whopping 40 per cent drop in mass. They are - of course - wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 semi-slick tyres.

Anything else? Well, Maranello claims the car has been built using “the highest racing technology transfer on a street homologated Ferrari.” Oh, and it’ll apparently have “extremely direct steering ratio.” Ferrari steering isn’t exactly known for being sluggish, so this thing is not going to be for the faint-hearted.

It’s expected to arrive and go on sale later this year.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

Diiid somebody say “ACTIVE AERO”?!!!!!

Maybe it’ll be the first Ferrari that won’t have a secret Nurburgring lap time.
Inb4 new Ring Leader

Flux

This is going to be really tough for Ferrari: GTO is one of their most legendary and important designations, usually reserved for the fastest and most exciting cars. Therefore, if they decided to use the GTO badge for the 488, they should be aiming to create the fastest and most exciting car amongst the competitors… And the competition is serious:

Lamborghini’s Huracan Perfomante is one of the best sounding and driver-focused cars out there at the moment, plus apparently did a sub-6:50 lap.

McLaren’s 720S is absolutely ballistic and might be faster than all of the holy trinity cars, let alone when the LT version comes out, which will be the true competitor for the 488 GTO.

Porsche’s GT2RS offers laptime record for the Nurburgring yet is cheaper than all of the above.

Ferrari really have to pull out a hat trick in order to justify the GTO branding. I hope they do

First Challenge Stradale, then Scuderia, then Speciale, now GTO.

I find it odd that Ferrari keeps changing the name of the hardcore versions of their V8 mid-engined cars. All are great, but you’d think they would choose one hardcore brand name and stick to it.

720S vs 488 GTO …
place your bets

“but does this car deserve a GTO name, it wasn’t built to be a racecar” WHO CARES! A name is just a name, this is going to be a very special car no matter if it has GTO or speciale or anything like that on it. You can write prius all over it but that won’t change the way it performs.