“God, I bloody love this car. More than an F8 Tributo, more than big brother SF90. With that Ferrari made the tech usable, here it's made it fun”
Top Gear|April 2022
The bends never end. Mile after mile of golden third gear curves, diamond-like chippings in the road twinkling in the sun, dappled shade rushing by, surface scrubbed and polished, tarmac twisting onwards, writhing back and forth, up and down, views bubbling at the fringes. Numbing in its monotony, if you couldn't appreciate the perfection of it.
OLLIE MARRIAGE
“God, I bloody love this car. More than an F8 Tributo, more than big brother SF90. With that Ferrari made the tech usable, here it's made it fun”

I have to self-administer mental slaps to stop myself thinking I'm in a dream sequence with a chorus of angels on accompaniment. The car's not helping. The rhythm of this road is one the Ferrari 296 GTB slips into effortlessly. It compresses in, then springs out, a movement that comes as naturally to it as breathing to us. In and out, in and out. Just doing what it does. Just sweeping along.

It takes Mark and Charlie in the hired 'chase' car 10 minutes to catch up. They're green, the Seat Arona's brakes are smoking. I hadn't been going intentionally quickly, but every so often, when third became fourth became fifth, I was aware. Mental slap time.

Encapsulated in those miles, though, is the genius of the 296 GTB. This is a deeply, furiously complex car. It never feels like that to drive. Neither on road, nor on track. But there's also another contradiction at the heart of Ferrari's latest and - well, let's share this now shall we - greatest* achievement. As the occupants of the hard-pressed Arona can attest, the 296 generates speed without effort. It's by no means alone in that, but so often these days the engineering necessary to give cars that astonishing rapidity further distances the driver from the experience. Not here. Along with the simplicity comes tactility. (*only technically speaking. In a back catalogue that includes the 458 Speciale, F40, F50, 288 GTO and 812 Competizione, there's no definitive.)

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2022-Ausgabe von Top Gear.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2022-Ausgabe von Top Gear.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS TOP GEARAlle anzeigen
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
BBC Top Gear UK

HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO

For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?

time-read
7 Minuten  |
November 2024
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
BBC Top Gear UK

BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO

In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 2024
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
BBC Top Gear UK

THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION

Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 2024
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
BBC Top Gear UK

Koenigsegg Jesko Attack

The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 2024
STIC LAPS are back!
BBC Top Gear UK

STIC LAPS are back!

It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 2024
URBAN OUTWITTERS
BBC Top Gear UK

URBAN OUTWITTERS

Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour

time-read
8 Minuten  |
November 2024
FUTURE FERRARIS
BBC Top Gear UK

FUTURE FERRARIS

If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 2024
DIRTY DOZEN
BBC Top Gear UK

DIRTY DOZEN

Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...

time-read
9 Minuten  |
November 2024
MYTH BUSTER
BBC Top Gear UK

MYTH BUSTER

\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 2024
The S2000 from a parallel universe
BBC Top Gear UK

The S2000 from a parallel universe

Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024