SUPER OVER?

FERRARI'S INCREDIBLE 296 GTB OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONSIDER HOW FAR THE SUPERCAR HAS COME AND WHETHER THE GENRE STILL RETAINS ITS LUSTRE

- ANDY ENRIGHT

A PICKLE inspired this story. More accurately, a slice of pickle. It arced through the air from the passenger window of a Hilux just as the filter light turned green, hitting the windscreen of the yellow Ferrari with a fat splat. I watched it start to slide down the glass before the coefficient of friction arrested it, waiting for me to figure out which of the steering wheel controls operated the wiper.

For a moment I was captivated by that pickle. Not for what it was, or for the fact that whoever threw it would have to negotiate his burger without it, but more for what it represented. It was as much a slice of resentment as a slice of dill. The car I was driving had provoked such a visceral reaction that, in that moment, I couldn't quite decide whether that was a good or bad thing. You certainly don't buy a supercar to be ignored.

The Ferrari 296 GTB isn't readily overlooked. At the moment it's the supercar du jour. With 610kW of electrically-boosted power at its elbow, its acceleration to 200km/h is to a McLaren F1 what a McLaren F1 is to a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS: of a wholly different dimension. It's worth reminding ourselves that this is the baby, an entrylevel mid-engined Ferrari, powered in this instance by a dinky 3.0-litre V6.

It wields that power judiciously. Mat the throttle hard and there's none of that tarmac-tearing rambunctiousness of a McLaren 720S, at least not away from a standing start. It's quick but not Plaid-style concussive. An Ferrari has been limiting torque in the lower gears since the introduction of the 3.9-litre F154 turbo V8 in the California T. Whereas that had been quite a subtle way of introducing the Cali's 755Nm to the rear treads, it's now far more pronounced, with a surprisingly civil launch process before, battery condition and drive modes allowing, the 296 looses off the full avalanche of Newton metres in third gear.