The Ferrari 488 is one helluva supercar, but now, it looks like there's a go-faster competition variant just about to officially break cover. It's called the Pista, which is Italian for track, and the specs were just leaked ahead of the full reveal. Read on for the info.

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The Full Story

This latest info comes from Autocar Japan, which just posted a series of leaked images and specs on the forthcoming racer. Essentially a more hardcore iteration of Maranello's bread and butter 488, the 488 Pista gets a slew of updates that make it that much better on the track.

Kicking it off is a retune for the powerplant. The Pista once again finds a twin-turbo 3.9-liter V-8 mounted in the middle of the machine, but this time around, it was tweaked to produce 711 horsepower, besting the standard 488's 661 horsepower by a stout 50 ponies. Torque is also up, now rated at 568 pound-feet, an increase of about 7 pound-feet over the standard 488.

To make the most of the newfound output, the 488 Pista also drops a few pounds, tipping the scales at a lithe 2,821 pounds (dry weight). By comparison, the standard 488 GTB has a dry weight of 3,020 pounds, which means the weight shaving comes to about 200 pounds total.

The extra power and lower weight make the Pista quicker, cutting two-tenths of a second from the standard 488's 0-to-62 mph time, bringing it down to 2.8 seconds. Top speed is clocked at 211 mph.

To properly round it out, it's reported that downforce was increased thanks to the know-how gleaned from Ferrari's various motorsports programs, while the electronics for the traction control and braking system was got a few tweaks and tunes for better at-the-limit performance.

Pricing lands somewhere around the $300,000 mark, an increase of about $50,000.

It's a rather impressive package, no doubt about it. But when it comes to bragging rights at the track, Porsche might have something to say about it.

In the running against Ferrari will be this – the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Like the 488 Pista, the 911 GT2 RS is a pumped-up, hardcore, no-nonsense performance machine aimed at killing all lap times.

The specs are surprisingly close compared to those of the Ferrari. Output is rated at 700 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque thanks to a twin-turbo rear-mounted flat-six engine, which drives the rear axle through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Acceleration looks like 2.7 seconds in the 0-to-60 mph test, while top speed comes to 211 mph. The Porsche also gets loads of aero stick and an insanely stout braking package to match, while customers can opt into the Weissach package to drop the weight even further. There's loads of carbon fiber outside, bucket seats and a roll cage inside, and the whole thing is tagged with a price tag of roughly $300,000.

Which would you rather have?

Look for a full reveal of the new Ferrari 488 Pista soon.

References

Ferrari 488

Read our full speculative review on the 2018 Ferrari 488 Pista.

Read our full review on the 2017 Ferrari 488 Challenge.

Read our full review on the 2016 Ferrari 488 GTB.

Read our full review on the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS.

Read more Ferrari news.