Saar: The 50^th droptop model to flaunt the prancing Italian horse logo is powered by a 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 with 720PS/770Nm on tap.

During this year’s Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach in California, Ferrari took the wraps off the topless version of the 488 Pista. Called simply as the Ferrari 488 Pista Spider, it becomes the 50^th droptop model to wear the prancing Italian horse logo. Like its hardtop sibling, the 488 Pista Spider uses Ferrari’s most powerful V8 engine, which was tagged as the Best Engine in the world for the third consecutive year at the 2018 International Engine of the Year Awards.

The engine is a 3.9-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 that puts out 720PS of power and 770Nm of torque. No points for guessing, those figures are identical to the hardtop 488 Pista. However, because of the fold-away roof configuration, Ferrari had to add 91kg-worth of strengthening to instate the rigidity factor in the 488 Pista Spider. Although the added weight hasn’t impacted the 0-100kmph time, which is 2.85 seconds, the sprint from nought to 200kmph takes 8 seconds in the convertible. That’s 0.4 seconds slower than the hardtop. Ferrari claims that the top speed of the new droptop is 340kmph.

Another important aspect of go-fast cars is the weight-to-power ratio. Compared to the 1.72PS/kg in the 488 Pista, the convertible manages to achieve 1.92kg/PS. In this case, the lower the ratio, the better is the performance. Ferrari claims that the 488 Pista Spider’s driving dynamics have been fine-tuned to deliver a combination of “razor-sharp acceleration, braking efficiency, lightning-fast gear shifting, precision steering, grip, stability and superb handling.” All that is partially down to the new lateral dynamics control system, which is called the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer.

If the added weight is a concern for you, you can opt for the one-piece carbon-fibre wheels instead of the 20-inch diamond-finish alloys. Ferrari claims that the optional wheels offer a 20 per cent weight reduction over the standard set. The company is yet to announce the pricing of the 488 Pista Spider, which will be part of its Special Series catalogue.