Ferrari F8 Tributo revealed: 2019 Geneva Motor Show

Meet the Ferrari F8 Tributo, the successor to the 488 GTB.

As revealed in MOTOR’s story earlier today, the F8 Tributo is the swansong for this generation of Ferrari sports car and may well be the final non-hybrid mid-engined model from Maranello.

It’s effectively an extensive facelift of the Ferrari 488 GTB, incorporating a lot of the technology introduced on the hardcore Ferrari 488 Pista, as well as the latest generation interior and infotainment systems.

The core of the F8 Tributo remains 488, but there have been extensive styling revisions at the front and rear. The nose incorporates the S-duct introduced by the 488 Pista which Ferrari claims increases downforce by 15 per cent. New LED headlights allow for additional brake cooling ducts and the whole car is claimed to be 10 per cent more aerodynamically efficient than the car it replaces.

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At the rear the switch to quad taillights has been made, while the Lexan rear screen shaves weight with its louvres both extracting hot air from the engine bay and also providing a subtle nod to arguably Ferrari’s greatest road car, the F40.

Weight is down by 40kg compared to the 488 GTB to 1330kg dry, but the F8 shares the Pista’s enhanced 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8, producing an incredible 530kW at 8000rpm and 770Nm at 3250rpm. This is a 38kW/10Nm increase over its predecessor and has resulted in even more mind-boggling performance figures.

The sprint to 100km/h is claimed to take just 2.9sec, a 0.1sec improvement, but 0.5sec has been shaved from the 0-200km/h time, now just 7.8sec, while top speed is 340km/h.

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Dynamically, the F8 introduces version 6.1 of Ferrari’s Side Slip Control and Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer, activated when the steering wheel-mounted manettino is set to Race, is said to make accessing the prodigious performance easier for a wider variety of drivers.

Ferrari's SP38 one-off

The most obvious changes have taken place inside, with the dash, centre console and door panels all being redesigned. The 488’s ageing architecture has been updated with new round air vents, a smaller steering wheel with revised control placements, new generation infotainment and the addition of a 7.0-inch touchscreen passenger display.

Local pricing and specification has not yet been announced, but expect the first F8 Tributos to arrive in Australia towards the end of 2019 for around $500,000. As ever with Ferrari, get your name down quick to avoid a very long wait list.