LOOSE SPIDERS

BRISTLING WITH PISTA PARTS, FERRARI’S F8 TRIBUTO SPIDER HAS ANY MCLAREN COVERED IN THE ROOF-DOWN STAKES. OR DOES IT?

- BEN BARRY

SUPERCAR TESTS ARE always memorable, but a few seconds of this Ferrari F8 Spider and McLaren 720S Spider showdown stick so vividly in my memory it’s like rewinding a video. The McLaren is up front, roofs are lowered to let warm evening air swirl in and, after a long run uphill, the topless 720 brakes for a left-hand hairpin. Twin rear archlights glow red as its active rear spoiler rises gracefully like a Samurai war fan. There’s a rifle-crack of a downshift and the McLaren’s V8 briefly growls over the Ferrari’s, the Italian car still running in a higher gear.

I brake and pop in a downshift, momentarily raising the Ferrari V8’s volume above that of the McLaren. We rush around the corner. Climbing back on the power, 530kW has the Ferrari’s Michelins chewing on the grainy surface while the McLaren’s rear Pirelli P-Zero Corsas are wreathed in smoke. There’s raucous noise, heaving acceleration and the smell of toasted rubber rushing into the Ferrari’s cockpit. Few driving moments have engaged my senses so completely.

If this test is unforgettable, I’m struggling to remember comparing two machines quite so evenly matched. Both are mid-engined supercars with folding hardtops that open in a little over 10 seconds. Both rocket from standstill to 200km/h in around eight seconds, courtesy of twin-turbocharged V8s with flat-plane cranks and dual-clutch gearboxes. And both sail past $500K before you even get into the lavish options that push these test cars towards $600K. Their 530kW and 770Nm outputs, 2.9sec 0-100km/h times and 340km/h top speeds are interchangeable.