The official debut of the 488 Spider has taken place at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. This is the latest chapter in Maranello’s ongoing history with open-top V8 sports cars. This is the most high performance Spider ever built by the Prancing Horse and is powered by the 488 coupé’s 3902cc turbo-charged V8 which punches out a maximum of 670 CV with the Variable Torque Management system guaranteeing smooth, progressive torque delivery in the higher gears up to a maximum of 760 Nm at 3,000 rpm.
The 488 Spider uses the RHT (Retractable Hard Top) which debuted on the 458 Spider as world-first for such a solution on a mid-rear engined car. The RHT can be raised or lowered in 14 seconds even when the car is moving. When down, the roof only takes up 100 litres of space rather than the 150-200 litres required to stow a conventional hard top. This incredibly sleek solution is absolutely vital to the aerodynamics and styling of the whole rear of the car.
It is also very light thanks to the use of aluminium and an extremely simple mechanism. The result is a saving of approximately 40 kg on a traditional hard top option and around 25 kg on a soft top. In addition to the innovative RHT, the Ferrari 488 Spider also has a glass electric rear window that can be adjusted regardless of whether the RHT is deployed or retracted. This ensures superb in-cabin comfort even at high speeds when the top is dropped. In fact, occupants can easily carry on a normal conversation at speeds of over 200 Km/h. As we expected the 488 Spider is breathtaking!
