A Preview of the 2019 Ferrari 488 GTO

Ferraris have always been synonymous with speed and aerodynamics. These high-end racing machines are as powerful as they attractive, and the company is hardly done dropping your jaw yet. There have been some pictures floating around the internet with some hard to believe specs for the 2019 Ferrari 488 GTO. The more that people are seeing and hearing about this dream machine, the more the hype is growing around the entire new line. Before you get too excited to read this entire article, perhaps it might benefit you to read about some of the features and new additions to the model that haven’t been made available or were inferior in other models. Here are some things that every car buff should know about the 2019 Ferrari 488 GTO.

Design Upgrades

While the pictures that you are able to see on the internet for the 2019 models are not entirely consistent, you can see differences in the design from the previous models like the 488 GTB. One of the things that you can notice rather quickly are the increased size of the side intakes. There is also a new design to the bumper air intakes, providing a sleek new look. Other design upgrades can only really be speculated on, as much of the vehicles that were able to be seen were heavily covered as to not reveal trade secrets as they tested performance.

Power and Muscle   

When you get back to the days of Ferrari’s original line of GTO models, you start to witness the power and torque that these racing machines had. While there has been nearly a decade in between the last GTO (the 599 GTO in 2010) and this latest creation, it is apparent that bulking up the 488 was always an idea that the minds at Ferrari were toying around with. There is even more legitimacy added to this new venture given that Ferrari is best know for racing their 488 in competitions. This means that whatever comes out on the market with this new GTO model suffix is going to have a lot more power and performance enhancements than you have seen on any model of Ferrari in the past. 

Weight Saving Protocols   

In order to truly be competitive with some of the other companies that are vying to offer the best sports car or racing machine, Ferrari is going to have to implement some weight saving technology. As it stands, their 488 GTB is almost 20 pounds heavier than competitors like the McLaren’s 720S. Without undergoing some changes in how much the entire vehicle weighs, it will continue to lag behind these other performance machines off the line in terms of acceleration. That being said you can expect the GTO to boast a faster acceleration rate and a lighter body.

KERS Style Hybrid System

In terms of actual racing performance, the company has looked to enhancements like what have been used in the LaFerrari model, boasting a hybrid system. When this system is in place, the vehicle is able to recover energy from under braking and from the engine simultaneously. Additionally, this system is designed to provide torque fill when RPMS are lower and boost performance and torque while running the engine at higher RPMS.

The Racing Engine

With so much competition on the market for being the best, it is no wonder that Ferrari is being so secretive about the design changes and internal modifications that have been made. One thing that we know is that the new GTO is supposed to have a higher engine output in terms of horsepower. This will exceed the 3.9L twin turbo charged V-8 engine that can be found in the 488 GTB which is able to achieve an impressive 660 horsepower. The new engine, whatever its specs might be is going to exceed 700hp, which will ultimately require a new design to aerodynamics and the chassis.

While there is still a lot of things that are being kept a secret about the latest creation from the Ferrari factory, one thing is definitely clear: everything is about to change. In a constant struggle to be the best among the steep competition from Porsche, Mercedes, and Lamborghini, it is not surprising that when the GTO goes back in action after nearly a decade away, it is going to be a force to be reckoned with.