FLYING COLOURS

Ferrari’s high-tech 296 GTB has taken our breath away in isolation. What is it like back-to-back with the cream of 2022’s performance cars? Does a new golden era beckon or are the old ways still the best?

- James Taylor

Eight hundred and thirty horsepower. eight hundred! (and 30.) that is more power than Michael Schumacher had at his right foot when he won the first of his Ferrari-powered F1 titles in the year 2000. in a car with number-plates, two seats, and a stereo, cruise control and air-conditioning. right now, though, the Ferrari 296 gtB is whispering briskly along in edrive mode, powered solely by the 167-hp electric motor sandwiched between its eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox and all-new twin-turbo V6. that millennium-era-F1-worthy total output comes from the combined might of motor and engine, for the 296 is a plug-in hybrid at the crest of Ferrari’s new wave of road cars. When you call on more power, the V6 harrumphs into life with a disgruntled burr, as if it is been grumpily roused from slumber.

it is the first V6 in a Ferrari-built road car since the dino and if it does not sing or zing like Ferrari V8s of old, it is a nuanced sound, with depth and presence. and serious performance. the tiniest hint of a clear straight is all you need to dispatch dawdling traffic. even in sixth or seventh gear, acceleration is mighty. nuance and depth: that sums up the 296 in general. there are a lot of layers to dig through in this car and not only in terms of its technology, its drive modes, and its interface. (the cruise control, music and air-con can be a nightmare to operate via fiddly and laggy touchpads. Sometimes there is no response to a command, despite tapping my thumb on the pads as if i am attempting a slapbass solo; at others, they respond when my palm brushes them by mistake, putting the 296 into full-power “Qualifying” mode.)