Pista Spacers and Lowering

I wouldn't do more than 1/2 inch (if that) for fear of scraping the rear diffuser, unless of course you swap out for some stiffer springs.

Sweet car, by the way.

 

I have 15 mm all around and looks great! Next will be novitec springs then adjust the height to liking and drive!

 

Do you really push and drive the car hard on road and track? If so, don't lower it on stock springs. Your diffuser fins will hit much more and upset the handling every time they slam into the road. If you are more of a cruiser and only do the occassional spirited jaunt and throttle bursts on smooth roads, you can lower it a bit on stock springs. But if you give the car a frequent proper flogging on uneven roads with dips and crests, and the car sees some deep squats or landings from airtime here and there, you will need stiffer springs for sure. Otherwise you will go through diffuser fins as fast as you go through brake pads.

 

How good are your streets in the OC? Are you going to track? What is the grade of your home/work driveway? All of these things factor in to your decision to lower. Sometimes you engage the FAL to get in to your driveway and forget to drop it. Then when you back out you scrape the f-ck out of your rear diffuser fins. I use the FAL all the time and still installed skid plates on my Huracan before autocrossing for the first time. $299 for the plates plus $15 for the rivet gun, did it myself one Saturday afternoon took 2 hours. Saw the Pista IRL and the front lip didn't look crazy low like my GT3.

 

Is it really appropriate to mess up with Ferrari's settings?
Or A) they do not know what they are doing B) we do not not care about the results, these cars are only for posing or C) whatever other option?
I don't know what to think

 

It's not a question of Ferrari not knowing what they are doing. But you have to remember that they set up the car based on a series of compromises for varied road conditions and drivers.
As an example, if you want to track a normal 488, it has been well proven that it needs more camber to perform at its best and stiffer springs with MPSC2 rubber is also a viable addtion. The Pista is more focused, but it can still be set up more focused one way or another. Several here have installed Novi springs on their Pistas, done corner weighting and changed camber etc. Their cars are quite a bit better as track cars and run better and faster than the cars without modifications. The only cars I've seen here that has not performed as well as stock, have been the cars with oversized wheels and aftermarket tyres. They understeer into the end of next week...

So yes, it is very appropriate to dial in a car based on personal preference. I have even heard of a guy here considering F8 springs for his Pista as he only uses it for cruising.

 

No doubt there's a bit of wheel gap on the 488/Pista.

But in all fairness it really isn't noticeable unless you are intentionally looking for it. The way the lines of the car blend in and contour around the wheel arches gives the illusion that the car sits much lower than it actually does.

 

I may drop mine slightly. They sit a bit too high - it should help with cornering and keeping the car flatter in high speed turns.

 

How so? You don't change the spring rate by lowering the car. All you do is lowering the bottom spring perch a bit. Don't forget to get a full alignment done after lowering. If you want an actual effect in terms of better handling and flatter cornering, why not get the Novi springs? The Novi springs don't need to give an aggressive stance with a lot of drop. You could lower it 10-15mm and still get the benefits, both in terms of lowering and handling, but also not bottom out.

Additionally don't forget that adding spacers has the same effect as installing softer springs, as spacers move the loading point further away from the suspension pivot point. The slightly stiffer springs might reduce the squat that was mentioned.

 

Your margin for scraping is higher but you make a good point about squatting. I never really felt it until I autocrossed my Huracan and could feel it coming out of sharp turns at WOT.

You have experience with GT3's so you'll be more savvy and negotiating instances when scraping can occur. Never in my life have I taken more driveways/entrances/speed bumps carefully or at an angle or stuck my head out the window as I have in my GT3.

Agree with you some of Ferrari's recent offerings come stock looking like a 4x4.

 

Although I only have a regular 488GTB I wish there were track guys among 488/Pista Ferrari owners that have tried various alignments, suspension heights and tires. I have not seen anyone or anything written about real world setting on these cars...everything I have read is speculation or guys arguing the factory knows better. I come from the Porsche world and a track guy...although I do not get to track much anymore. There is tons and tons of info on Rennlist....plus my own trying various things out about ride height, rake and alignment.

When I got my 488 I asked my dealer about an alignment and lowering the car as it looks like it sits up so high. Just like the Porsche GT cars the coiler adjustment is for corner balance and not really just to lower the car. Dealer explained that for street use you greatly increase the chance of outright rear diffuser damage and other parts under the car scraping on the street...or in my case at Sebring which is a bumpy track in parts. My home town dealer said that they would lower and align the car quoted around $2k to do it...LOL...wow seriously jeez...but it will scrape and damage parts and lowering it too much will affect warranty of the suspension system, drive line etc.

The 488's really do not sit up high if you measure from the bottom and compare to other sports cars like GT3's etc. Ferrari for some reason just designs in huge wheel gaps...and they have not changed this in the F8 either.

 

My understanding is that the reason US cars have that unsightly gap is due to US laws related to ride height or bumper height. For FOW cars they sit lower (considered Euro ride height). Someone mentioned lowering to Euro height is perfectly OK and doesn't result in any negative consequences, other than making more use of the a lift if equipped. I did it on my 488 GTB and didn't have any major issues. The car looked much better. I haven't done it on the Pista yet though. Considering it.

 

I do. Clearly the car will never see a race track or mountain pass. The word show pony comes to mind though.

 

I think this was true years are ago, but now its not true, they are all the same height.

I suspect the big wheel gap is for ride comfort- if you look at these cars on the track, you will see they compress the suspension considerably- so they are designed for a lot of suspension travel.

I'd imagine lowering would mean you should also change the springs.

You guys are right- its all interconnected- so you can't make one change without affecting something else.

 

Can you share what the “Euro Spec” ride height is?

 

If you have axle lift, there isn't much room to lower the front. You can lower the back but then the car will be out of balance. I have axle lift, I was able to lower very minimally but I maintained the balance; here is a pic of mine after it was lowered:


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I don't know the specifics, I just know that I remember always hearing that US cars sat higher because of federal regulations. Again is it still true? I don't know. My dealer didn't have a problem lowering both my 488 and my Cali on the stock coil overs. It lowered them both about an inch and it looked much better. I didn't ask them to do it on the Pista but as I said, I'm considering it.

 

As Kevin1244 showed, that's about it for lowering on the stock perches. It's minimal but it does improve the looks IMHO.

 

https://www.prestigeimports.com/vehicle-details/used-2019-ferrari-488-pista--north-miami-beach-fl-id-34216890

Lowered with Novitec springs and
spacers = perFection!!