iRacing Ferrari 488 GT3 Impressions - how do you like it?

[Kenadian]

After turning countless laps last night at the new track Snetterton last night I found the Ferrari 488 to be quite a fun car to drive.

Incidentally the name Snetterton always makes me think of Snidley Whiplash, the villain from Dudley Do-Right from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. This in turn gets me thinking of Boris Badenov and Natasha and it's back to childhood for me lol.

Anyway, it's tough to tell after just one outing but the car felt stable although more skittish than I'm accustomed to when trying to get on throttle early out of corners but that could be due to a myriad of things I'm doing wrong.

For the most part it felt like a slightly more skittish version of the GTE but aside from that pretty close. It certainly handles better than I thought it would as a GT3 car.

The one thing that I was most surprised about it was how well it actually handled the landmine curbs without missing a beat. Sure you have to delay throttle but I was expecting it to be all kinds of out of control bouncing off a curb and it wasn't, at least last night.

What are your thoughts on the new Ferrari 488 GT3, is it what you hoped it would be?

 

[Nejtun]

I drove the Ferrari first at Snetterton back to back to back with the BMW.

First off the Ferrari is a nice car to drive, much like the new crop of vehicles that have been produced by iRacing recently, So, Good job there! If I had to compare it to any of the current GT3 cars it feels very much to me like a refined version of the Mclaren.

As I haven't driven Snetterton in quite sometime it was difficult comparing a car I know inside out (BMW) to something completely new (Ferrari) So I moved on to Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit while it was still fresh in my head.

The Ferrari feels pretty good on baseline (had to add some fuel to make it match my BMW) but I think there is a great deal of time to be found in it, it is pretty planted in the corners and is REALLY easy to catch when things go tits up in the corners It doesn't have quite the top end speed of the macca, or the "planted to the ground" feeling of the BMW but it is very nicely balanced.

I was almost 2 seconds slower in the Ferrari BUT I did have quite a nice setup on the BMW and was running baseline on the 488 so as i mentioned, there is more to be squeezed out of the Ferrari

Finally ,depending on complexity, a lot of paints go directly across from the GTE car. I couldn't find a piece out of place on my own paint but more complex designs might have to make a few adjustments.

Buy it it is nice and should give the merc a run for its money for now at least

 

[Deb]

Yeah, after running all those laps at Snetterton last night, I think I am going to drive it this season to switch up from the AMG. I agree with Nate, it is a nice alternative to the AMG. I caught up with Wyatt Gooden last night in a PS session on Road Atlanta (well I didn't literally catch him), but he did send me a setup for the 488 GT3 on Road Atlanta. If anyone is interested in it, let me know and I'll put it in the folder.

 

[Jes_971]

He did send me a setup for the 488 GT3 on Road Atlanta. If anyone is interested in it, let me know and I'll put it in the folder.

Yes, please!!!!

 

[Deb]

Here it is. I was just in a HS and was running consistently in the 1:19s to very low 1:20 even on full fuel. The more I drive it, the more I like it. It has great grip, just seems like you can really push it. Some were down in the 1:18s so still time to be found, but I was running very close to my optimal.

 

[Brainling]

I like it. I did a race at Snetterton this morning and it races really well. It's predictable and controllable and gives you the confidence to push and squeeze time out of it when you need to, knowing if you make a mistake you'll probably catch it. I enjoy driving it enough that it will give me some incentive to drive GT3 again, which I was having trouble finding the motivation to do with the GTE cars out. I think far and away this is the best feeling GT3 for my driving style. I've always enjoyed the Macca and as others have said this drives like a slightly more tame Macca that isn't trying to kill you every corner.

Still driving GTE at Petit Lemans though

 

[Jes_971]

Agreed, Brain. I think this might get me back into league and GT3.

 

[Jeeve79]

Its on same track as McLaren but a bit easier to handle and push. Also better turn in then Macca. Great over curbs. So far as i have tested GT3 cars, i like BMW and Ferrari the most, also Macca is a big challenge and good fun.
I do think Iracing needs to look at engine sounds and tire rubbing/squeeling sounds. Other sfx are really good in Iracing but engine sounds are a bit monotone, specially Ferrari, i expected more from the engine note.

Here is how it should sound, Iracing is lacking that deep grindy rumble sound a race engine makes. And look, this guy goes to 6th gear at Kemmel straight.

 

[little P]

I watched all those videos all the way through thanks Jeeve. What a great sounding race car! Puts F1 to shame, but then so does my 5 year old vacuum cleaner. And my last sneeze.

 

[Peeble]

Could the lack of some of that be related to the current shift sound bug?

From the forums:

I haven't tried the new curb sounds but the gear shifting sounds in the cup car sound very amateur.

They should have the compressor shifting sound but it turns out the sounds are broken. In fact every car that has unique shift sounds (nearly all of them) are using the clunky defaults. A fix will be in the next patch.

 

[Jeeve79]

I agree P, F1 sounds today are pathetic.

 

[little P]

I agree P, F1 sounds today are pathetic.

Assetto Corsa just released a Ferrari pack (been looking forward to this pack a lot!) and I immediately took the F2004 out for a spin (literally it turned out most of the time) - the last of the V10 screamers. I was fortunate to be in attendance when these amazing machines were still running. Taking this one for a blast around Monza was absolutely spine tingling. Love it!

 

[Jeeve79]

I once saw Alonsos Renault V10 going around Zolder at Renault Days and i was blown away by the sound. It was so loud it was like he was coming around the corner at any moment but actually he was on the other side of the track. I cant imagine what it would sound like with 20 of these.

 

[little P]

Nice, there really hasn't been anything quite like them eh. I even saw/heard two of them around our national stadium many years back, they were being demonstrated around the race of champions track at Wembley by David Coulthard and I forget who else now. The noise in the stadium environment was akin to a T-Rex letting rip right next to your face...

 

[Brainling]

F1 may not sound great right now, but the cars are some of the fastest they've ever been. If you appreciate engineering than the modern cars are amazing. They get all that power out of a V6 and get a huge amount of their horsepower from a hybrid drive. The down force on the cars is insane. The corner entry and exit speeds are pretty absurd, with the drivers feeling as much as 5G's in some high speed corners. I could go for a better engine note but at the same time I appreciate the engineering of a modern F1 car because it's really impressive.