Ferrari 488 GTO rumoured as 911 GT2 RS, Huracan Performante rival

FERRARI is preparing a faster, more powerful, track-focused special edition of the 488, and the Italian supercar maker could resurrect an iconic badge to slap on its rump.

A 488 test mule has been spotted in Europe, setting tongues wagging and prompting UK mag Autocar to speculate that it could be released next year as a 488 GTO.

The GTO badge has only been used by Ferrari three times: first on the 250 GTO and 288 GTO – which were both race cars – then on the far more modern 599 GTO.

The 599 GTO was the first dedicated ‘road’ car to wear the iconic label, however the badges appearance displeased purists as there was no direct link to a race car. The 599 GTO was a road-legal ‘lite’ version of the highly-strung 599XX track-only model, which was sold to customers through the XX program.

Purists can rest easy with the 488 GTO, though, as the mid-engined supercar that provides the car’s basis already has a pair of GT racing versions competing in the GT3 and GTE categories around the world - plus a Ferrari Challenge one-make race version. However if it becomes a reality, it’s likely the 488 GTO will have more power than each of these track beasts.

If the GTO name isn’t revived for the more focussed 488, it could wear badges similar to its forbears the 360 Challenge Stradale, 430 Scuderia, and 458 Speciale.

Of course, a special edition 488 would have improved performance, with the 488 GTB’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 stretched to produce more power.

Autocar speculates this could be as much as 521kW and 760Nm. Accompanied by weight saving efforts to get the kerb weight under 1400kg, acceleration to 100km/h could be as quick as 2.7 seconds while the 0-200km/h run could be dispatched in roughly 7.5 secs.

Bigger brakes and more focussed suspension are a given.

Downforce will also need to be increased with the new model, improving on the GTB’s current 325kg at 250km/h. With Ferrari’s engineers having access to the F1 team’s full-size wind tunnel, that shouldn’t be an issue.

How much? Who knows, but as with all ultra-limited Ferarri specials if the factory isn’t already telling you about it, you’ll probably never own one anyway.