When I used to be a child, the present “Magnum, P.I.” was a large hit. I’m courting myself, however I used to be solely round 3 or 4 years outdated when the original series got here out, however I knew the star of the present wasn’t Tom Selleck’s Thomas Magnum character. It was the Ferrari 308 GTS he drove round Honolulu. That was the car, and for me it was love at first sight.
In 2021, practically 40 years later, Ferrari (RACE) revealed the 296 sports car — the successor to the newest 488 and, in fact, Magnum’s 308.
Upon debut, the reward for the 296 was common. It regarded the half: horny, low slung, but still stylish.
But underneath the hood was a soiled phrase: “hybrid.” In this case, a V6 (!) — not V8 or V12 — turbocharged, with plug-in hybrid tech. Would the Ferrari devoted settle for trendy know-how in a machine that’s speculated to stir the soul? Would Thomas Magnum?
I drove the 296 GTS hybrid, the folding hard-top variant, earlier this yr through the World Endurance Championship race in Austin, the place Ferrari competes with its hybrid race car, the 499P, within the Le Mans Hypercar class.
And that’s not by likelihood. Ferrari is a race workforce first, automaker second. But it takes applied sciences meant for the monitor and brings them to its street automobiles. Think semiautomatic shifting with paddles, for instance, which got here from F1 automobiles to street automobiles just like the F355.
The 296 is definitely beautiful. Ferrari Centro Stile inside design heart has had its hits and misses over time, however the 296 is a particular winner for them.
The exterior design of the car flows into the cabin, with comfy, ergonomic seats, supple leather-based, and high-end appointments comparable to French stitching and embroidery. The visibility within the car is top-notch, although looking the again was difficult with its minuscule rear windshield.
Now the vital half: driving. Fears over whether or not a V6 turbocharged hybrid would sound like a Ferrari have been overblown. The magicians at Maranello in some way acquired the turbo 6-cylinder to sound like a race engine — high-pitched and fast to rev. I might argue it is likely one of the best-sounding engines in the marketplace immediately.
How Ferrari engineers did this with a turbo engine — which usually muffles consumption and exhaust sounds — is a darkish artwork. Ferrari supposedly used some intelligent engineering to pipe in additional sound, and it works.
Combine that sound with the whole system output of 819 horsepower whenever you embody the hybrid system, and you’ve got a rocket ship. The electrical motor fills within the gaps when a gas-powered engine has to shift gears, and it feels just like the car can hold accelerating earlier than the motive force chickens out.