Just back from a holiday in Italy where my gal and I saw all 5 of the great car company museums. While I was there I did the usual tourist thing and rented a 488 Spyder. Did not get it on track unfortunately but was able to drive it in and around Modena for 30 minutes. Here is my quick down and dirty review..

-I forget how amazing the lines and design of a modern Ferrari are. Not smooth and classy like early cars but busy and purposeful everywhere..

-The steering is very light, just like the reviews say. Weirdly light. Almost Honda Accord light.

-Steering feel is not as good as a 7.2 RS period.

-There is zero turbo lag. Zero. The TT V-8 sound is great but not as natural and visceral as the Mezger.

-Paddle shift is fast but still just a tad slower than my 991 GT3 felt and it was not quite as seamless.

-The ease at which the car drove was the most surprising thing. Truly anyone could climb in and drive it. Same can't be said of a 7.2RS.

-Is it fast? It's so fast initially that under full gas I couldn't look down at the gauges, I could only look up the road.

-It's another level fast. It pushes you back in the seat in the first 3 gears like a 454 Chevelle SS did. Violent. It easily lights the tires up in 3rd under full gas.

It's quite a strange experience. On one hand it's the fastest car I will ever drive (0-100kph in 3.0 seconds) and it truly made the 7.2RS feel slightly slow and the ease of which you could drive the car is kind of spooky for a car that has 660hp. It's that modern GT conundrum, not much of an experience at low speeds and then all hell breaks loose at full gas. I think it's speaks to what we all love about 997 Gen GT cars. The experience and involvement at 50mph is the same as at 150mph. The cars are raw and alive at all times. They don't even drive the same day to day! In the end I was glad I drove the car and experienced modern day super car acceleration but I certainly didn't want to come home and sell the RS and figure out a way to buy a 488.

 

Very well put. Much respect.

 

PORSCHE
There Is No Substitute

 

Well put. My time in a 488 didn't do much for me. 458 did more surprisingly. Clearly I place great importance on sound

 

Manual pre 991 Porsche. There is no substitute..... : )

 

I have to assume the 458 would give back some of that visceral feeling. It’s a car I feel like I need to try for sure. It’s the only non Porsche car on my to do list for now..

 

I drove my friends 16M Scud and the thing was a blast. The sound from the motor was intoxicating. Steering feel wasn’t close to 997 RS though. Felt slightly more faster than my 997.2 RS.

Little too raw interior with no sound deafening and exposed carbon. Definitely would be the only Ferrari I could see myself driving. Badass machine.

 

Ok, good! Saw a 430 Scuderia at C&C today as well. Chris Harris seems to like them as well . Any experience?

 

Scud is my fav Ferrari. I'm sure the 16m is that much more.

 

I love my 458 Spider. Different experience than my 997.2 RS but just as pleasurable for me. I'm keeping them both.

 

So jealous. That's my perfect combo. Only thing better would be to add a Singer. That 3-car combo would be 100% perfect.

 

I don't have a Singer although it's on my short list. But I do have a '83 SC freshly back-dated to a 1974 IROC tribute with a 3.6 Varioram motor. The air cooled cars are also a lot of fun!

 

With 13+ years of Stradale and 9+ years of Scuderia ownership, the car that is the winner is the Stradale, too many reasons to type and after all this is a Porsche forum.

 

I can understand that view. Especially if more than one mid-engine v8 Ferrari in the stable, the 2nd would always be a CS for me. It's one of the most unique driving experiences I've ever owned. But if only one, Scud is Goldilocks pick for me: new vs old, function vs emotion, Dr Jeckll/ Mr Hyde personality. Scud exudes Ferrari with just a smallest poke of the throttle. It feels like the Ferrari cousin of the 997 RS's imo. CS is more special for sure and has no substitute. If a hard core Ferrari guy, with a multi-Ferraro stable, CS is the no-brainer at current values. Me being a Porsche guy and wanting maybe 1 Ferrari, Scud is my pick amongst the NA v8 'holy trinity' (CS, Scud, Speciale). I hope I stay in the minority on that view so that if I want to go back to it one day, values haven't run away. Because I think it gets the least amount of love of the 3.

 

Would either of you trade a PTS 7.2RS for any of those three? 🤔